5 
1885 — Canadian Pacific Railway spans the continent. 
1893-94 - J. B. Tyrrell, famous Canadian geologist, 
studied the geology of the Churchill area following his return 
from Lake Athabasca via Chesterfield Inlet. 
1900 — E. A. Preble made a biological investigation of the 
west coast of Hudson Bay. His report (1902) includes general 
notes on the vegetation. 
1911 — Letting of the contract for the first 185 miles of 
grading on the Hudson Bay Railway between The Pas and 
Churchill. 
1912 — Extension of the boundaries of Manitoba to the 
sixtieth parallel and to the shores of Hudson Bay to include 
about half the former area of the District of Keewatin. 
1931 — Completion of the Hudson Bay Railway. It had been 
planned originally that the terminus should be Port Nelson, at 
the mouth of Nelson River, and by 1918 the right-of-way had been 
cleared and graded to this point, when construction work at Port 
Nelson was stopped because of a shortage of ships and material 
following the war. In 1927, work was resumed, and the track was 
completed to Mile 356, at which point the swing was made north 
to Churchill, the harbour of which provides a natural haven in the 
roughest of seas. Nelson River, unlike the Churchill, is subject 
to heavy silting. It had been feared that the foundation of the 
seventy-five-mile stretch over frozen muskeg south of Churchill 
would soften under the summer sun and absorb the roadbed, but 
trials showed that a substantial gravel fill on top of the muskeg 
acted as an efficient heat insulator, preventing the foundation 
from giving way. The grain elevator and port at Churchill were 
also completed in 1931. They are operated by the National 
Harbour Board, a branch of the Department of Transport. The 
harbour i£ open to shipping approximately four months of the 
year, exports consisting of grain, flour, lumber, and cattle, and 
imports ranging from automobiles to chinaware and glass. The 
grain elevator is one of the most modern and has a storage 
capacity of two and one-half million bushels. 
