TRANSCRIPTIONS BY BRUCE CHAPMAN AND COLIN CHURCHER
OF ARTICLES
BY AUSTIN CROSS IN THE OTTAWA CITIZEN




Austin Near "Heaven" as "Canadian" Sweeps Across The Continent,
Published April 1955

Adjoining picture has Austin Cross boarding ‘The Canadian’ and waving to the cameraman.
 
  Caption reads: ‘He’s Not An MP – No. 1 railroad fan of Ottawa, and possibly of Canada, Citizen columnist Austin F. Cross wears a look of happy anticipation as he boards the CPR’s gleaming new “Canadian” on its inaugural run April 24th, 1955. He’ll report on the train’s progress as far as Winnipeg.  Photo by Newton.
 
     ‘ABOARD THE CANADIAN
     ‘Somewhere between heaven and earth am I, as I ride through the air, deliciously suspended from a roomette aboard the new Canadian Pacific’s glamor train ‘the Canadian’.  Reputed fastest of all coast-to-coast trains in Canada’s history, it is a bit more.  It is as fine a train as I ever saw.
      ‘With its glass-end observation car, its double domes for day coach and sleeping car passengers alike, it is something more than that.
                   subtitle: ‘An Institution
     ‘Still only a few hours old, ‘the Canadian’ is already an institution.  You feel proud as you ride this train of trains, this super sumptuous string of stainless steel, this thrilling Canadian institution.  I am trying to say that, trainwise, I never had it so good.
     ‘What impressed me most as slid slowly through Ottawa, threaded through Britannia and Stittsville before easing around the edge of Carleton Place was the crowds.  They jammed roads and station platforms everywhere.  This is not just a train going someplace, this is a tour of triumph.  They hung on to the rafters at Almonte and even forelorn Snedden produced a quorum.  There were people all along the tracks at Arnprior, and as we ripped through Renfrew, it seemed the whole town was down to wave us through.  Soft music wafts us on our way..  The dome car offers sun bathing and there are other enticing amenities.
                  subtitle: ‘Tour Of Triumph
     ‘But it seems to me that ‘the Canadian’ has a charm and an atmosphere all its own.  This train has elegance.  It has beauty.  It has an air.  It will keep anybody hustling even to equal this sumptuous club on wheels.  As I said before, this is not just a train going some place, it is a tour of triumph.

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Updated 11 May 2019