As the train proceeds eastward , the film tells the story of the challenges the builders faced in the granite cliffs of the Fraser Valley , where thousands of lives were lost ; among the fragile , erosive sandstone hoodoos of the Thompson River ; and bypassing the vast , deep lakes of the interior . As 2816 passes through Rogers Pass , the film explores the results of the gamble taken by the CPR and General Manager Van Horne to set aside the recommended northerly route in favour of a more southerly route that would dissuade incursions from American railroads but depended on an as-yet-undiscovered pass through the Selkirks and a viable pass through the steep Rockies . Coming out of the Selkirks , the film takes a side trip southbound along the Columbia River and with the use of CGI , tells the story of the 1903 collapse of Turtle Mountain , which partially buried the mining town of Frank , Alberta , and the heroic rescue of an oncoming train . Returning to the main line , the train follows the Kicking Horse River up the west side of the Rocky Mountains and the film looks at the challenges faced by the builders and the engines coping with the dangerous grades of the ‘ Big Hill ’ . As the train passes the continental divide , the sun comes out both literally and metaphorically on the majestic Rocky Mountains . This chapter celebrates the completion of the railway , the creation of Canada ’s national parks system , and the birth of a flourishing tourism trade before bringing the audience and railway crashing back to face the reality of the inestimable difficulties of winter in the mountains , and particularly the Selkirks . The film ends with the train steaming off across the prairies to cross the continent and arrive in the port city of Montreal . The final moments are shots of the weathered stone and wood gravestones of unnamed workers — a monument to “ the country they built — Canada . ” A train and history buff , writer/director Stephen Low had wanted to tell the story of the building of the CPR through Rogers ’ Pass following the success of his first 35 mm documentary , Challenger : An Industrial Romance ( 1980 ) , made at Canada ’s National Film Board . At the time the financing for the 35 mm project fell through , a disappointment which he now considers a blessing . Low says he was flabbergasted when he heard the CPR was restoring 2816 , which would enable him to tell the story from the viewpoint of a live steam engine . “ I always wanted to do this film regarding the single greatest Canadian story , ” he says . “ I wanted to tell it in IMAX because when you get up in a helicopter and look down , you say , ' Holy cow ! How could they have done that in the 1880s ? ' So every single shot is an illustration of the courage of these ( workers ) , in my view . They overcame incredible difficulties , the workers . There were a lot of deaths , from blasting and avalanches . In the end , the thesis of the film is that those difficulties made possible the things we treasure the most in Canada . ” Production began in 2006 when Low learned that 2816 was going to be travelling through Montreal and got permission to do a few days of filming with the IMAX camera . The resulting demo was shown to the CPR who agreed to cooperate with the production of a full-length IMAX film shot primarily on the main line between Vancouver and Calgary . Over the next five years , the Calgary-based CPR and the steam program worked together with the Montreal-based production company to fit in one or two shoots a year . The scheduling challenges included the availability and location of the locomotive , the traffic on the main line between Calgary and Vancouver , the weather in the mountains , and the availability of the production company , which was also simultaneously making three IMAX 3D films
1903 collapse of Turtle Mountain
Frank Slide
Rocky Mountain Express