Steep grades, extreme climate, avalanche hazard, tunnels, trestles, and bridges-all in a wilderness setting-Rogers Pass packs a great deal of railway interest into 65 miles of track. Using 80 archival photographs, many previously unpublished, Gravity, Steam, and Steel: An Illustrated Railway History of Rogers Pass tells the stories of railway triumphs and tragedies on one of the most notorious sections of track in the world. For almost 125 years, CP Rail has battled the elements at Rogers Pass, spending hundreds of millions of dollars while creating solutions new to railroading.

Gravity, Steam, and Steel was conceived and written as a companion volume to The Spiral Tunnels and the Big Hill, which has sold more than 25,000 copies since publication in 1996.

Rogers Pass is a major focus in Glacier National Park (the park visitor centre is there) and the photographic material available from this area is incredibly diverse and interesting. There is no similar title on the market. Train buffs and locals will welcome this book. It will also be of interest the visiting public, many of whom want to broaden a casual interest in Canadian history.

Graeme Pole has been writing professionally since 1989. He is the best-selling author and photographer of six non-fiction books that describe the human history and the natural history of western Canada: Canadian Rockies SuperGuide, The Canadian Rockies: A History in Photographs, Walks and Easy Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, Classic Hikes in the Canadian Rockies, The Spiral Tunnels and The Big Hill and David Thompson. He has written and published one novel, Healy Park (1998). His wilderness essays and photography have been widely circulated.

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