Mount Macdonald Tunnel
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The Mount Macdonald Tunnel, located in the vicinity of Rogers Pass in the Selkirk Mountains of British Columbia, Canada, is a railway tunnel constructed through Mount Macdonald by the Canadian Pacific Railway. The Mount Macdonald tunnel supplements the nearby Connaught Tunnel that the CPR opened in 1911. Construction commenced in 1984, and the first revenue train passed through in 1988. At 14.7 km, the Mount Macdonald tunnel is the longest railway tunnel in the Americas.
The tunnel and the associated grade revision on the eastern approach to the pass lead to a significantly gentler slope for westbound trains. The new track separates from the old grade at Rogers (approximately 25 km east of the pass) and climbs at a lower grade. Numerous new bridges and the 1.9 km Shaughnessy Tunnel were required to reach the pass. The Mount Macdonald Tunnel is 91 m lower than the Connaught Tunnel. On the west side of the pass, the Mount Macdonald Tunnel track rejoins the older line 5.5 km west of the Connaught Tunnel.
The reduction in the westbound ruling grades allowed the Canadian Pacific Railway to remove the helper locomotives that had been required on the Connaught Tunnel route. This was especially important for the unit coal trains from the Crowsnest Pass area destined for Asian markets through the port of Vancouver, British Columbia. Trains predominantly travel east through the Connaught Tunnel and west through the Mount Macdonald.
