the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) rail head reached Hope. When the VV&E track reached Cannor in September 1916, the junction with the CNoR, GN acquired running rights on the Cannor–Hope leg. Consequently, the FW&S contract was substantially reduced. In the early 1910s, FW&S was the largest railway contracting firm in the west with 50,000 workers and of railway under construction. In July 1911, P. Welch & Co was awarded the Port Arthur–Sudbury leg of the CNoR in Ontario. That month, a joint venture between P. Welch & Co and Northern Construction (NorCon) was awarded the Hope–Kamloops leg of the CNoR in BC. Northern Construction was the contracting name of partners Mackenzie and Mann. PGE ramifications In February 1912, the province entered an understanding with FW&S to build, own, and operate, a Vancouver–Fort George line. By this time, Timothy Foley was in his 70s, so the day-to-day management rested with Welch and Stewart, who were in their 50s. That month, the Conservative administration of Premier Richard McBride introduced legislation for the Pacific Great Eastern Railway (PGE) to create a new railway (later corrected to ). Financially supported but not owned by government, the PGE model defied business logic. The railway was authorized to issue 4 per cent interest bonds to a total value of $35,000 per mile of the projected mileage, upon which the government guaranteed the principal and interest. In September 1912, P. Welch & Co was awarded the construction contract. Stewart took extended medical leave August 1912–August 1913, an extremely busy period for FW&S, when Welch divided his supervisory time between multiple major projects. McBride allowed the PGE and FW&S to be controlled by the same parties, which removed any incentive to build as quickly and economically as possible. The former sacrificed value for money, while the latter profiteered. In fact, the PGE was only partially completed before becoming insolvent, while FW&S made a 38 per cent profit on $16,475,630 billed. The FW&S profits from land sales were handled separately. Since both the PGE promoters and government suspected up front that the bond funding would be insufficient for the project, McBride had allegedly promised to provide additional aid to complete the project if this proved the case. Although construction began in October 1912, the first cost estimate was not prepared until late 1913, which revealed a $10 million projected funding shortfall. To attract investors in 1913, the interest rate