compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du canada french canadian national system map a canadian national emd sd70m 2 unit in chicago illinois . reporting mark cn locale canada united states dates of operation december 20 1918 1918 12 20 present track gauge 1 435 mm 4 ft 8 1 2 in standard gauge previous gauge 3 ft 6 in 1 067 mm narrow gauge on trackage in prince edward island until 1930 and in newfoundland until september 1988 length 20 400 mi 32 831 km website www.cn.ca canadian national railway company type public traded as tsx cnr nyse cni industry rail transport founded december 20 1918 ; 97 years ago 1918 12 20 headquarters montreal quebec canada area served canada contiguous united states key people robert pace d. comm . chairman luc jobin president & ceo net income us 21 billion 2008 owner cascade investment 12 % website www.cn.ca the canadian national railway company reporting mark cn is a canadian class i railway headquartered in montreal quebec that serves canada and the midwestern and southern united states . cn s slogan is north america s railroad . cn is a public company with 24 000 employees . 1 it had a market capitalization of 32 billion cad in 2011 . 2 cn was government owned having been a canadian crown corporation from its founding to its privatization in 1995 . bill gates was in 2011 the largest single shareholder of cn stock . 2 cn is the largest railway in canada in terms of both revenue and the physical size of its rail network and is currently canada s only transcontinental railway company spanning canada from the atlantic coast in nova scotia to the pacific coast in british columbia . its range once reached across the island of newfoundland until 1988 when the newfoundland railway was abandoned . following cn s purchase of illinois central ic and a number of smaller us railways it also has extensive trackage in the central united states along the mississippi river valley from the great lakes to the gulf of mexico . today cn owns about 20 400 route miles 32 831 km of track 3 in 8 provinces the only two not served by cn are newfoundland & labrador and prince edward island as well as a 70 mile 113 km stretch of track see mackenzie northern railway into the northwest territories to hay river on the southern shore of great slave lake ; it is the northernmost rail line anywhere within the north american rail network as far north as anchorage alaska although the alaska railroad goes further north than this it is isolated from the rest of the rail network . the railway was referred to as the canadian national railways cnr between 1918 and 1960 and as canadian national canadien national cn from 1960 to the present . contents 1 history 1.1 creation of the company 1918 1923 1.2 cn telegraph 1.3 cnr radio 1.4 cn hotels 1.5 canadian national steamship company 1.5.1 west coast 1.5.1.1 former canadian northern pacific ships 1.5.1.2 former grand trunk pacific steamships 1.5.1.3 cn built steamships for the west coast 1.5.2 east coast 1.5.3 cargo ships 1.6 pros and cons of nationalization 1.7 cnr as a social and economic tool 1.8 deregulation and recapitalization 1.9 cutbacks and refocusing 1.10 cn s u.s. subsidiaries prior to privatization 1.11 privatization 1.12 contraction and expansion since privatization 2 cn today 2.1 projects 2.2 recent controversies 3 corporate governance 3.1 heads of cnr 4 passenger trains 4.1 early years 4.2 new services 4.3 decline 4.4 expansion and service cuts 5 locomotives 5.1 steam 5.2 electric 5.3 turbo 5.4 diesel 5.5 freight cars 5.6 overseas intermodal containers 5.7 north american intermodal containers 5.8 container chassis 6 major facilities 6.1 active hump yards 6.2 other major yards 6.3 intermodal terminals 7 see also 7.1 former component railways 7.2 former subsidiaries 7.3 joint partnerships 8 references 9 further reading 10 external links history edit the canadian national railways cnr was incorporated on june 6 1919 comprising several railways that had become bankrupt and fallen into federal government hands along with some railways already owned by the government . on november 17 1995 the federal government privatized cn . over the next decade the company expanded significantly into the united states purchasing illinois central railroad and wisconsin central transportation among others . now primarily a freight railway cn also operated passenger services until 1978 when they were assumed by via rail . the only passenger services run by cn after 1978 were several mixed trains freight and passenger in newfoundland and a several commuter trains both on cn s electrified routes and towards the south shore in the montreal area the later lasted without any public subsidy until 1986 . the newfoundland mixed trains lasted until 1988 while the montreal commuter trains are now operated by montreal s amt . creation of the company 1918 1923 edit an early logo or herald of the canadian national railways . it was replaced by the cn worm in 1960 . in response to public concerns fearing loss of key transportation links the government of canada assumed majority ownership of the near bankrupt canadian northern railway cnor on september 6 1918 and appointed a board of management to oversee the company . at the same time cnor was also directed to assume management of canadian government railways cgr a system comprising the intercolonial railway of canada irc national transcontinental railway ntr and the prince edward island railway peir among others . on december 20 1918 the federal government created the canadian national railways cnr a title only with no corporate powers through a canadian privy council order in council as a means to simplify the funding and operation of the various railway companies . the absorption of the intercolonial railway would see cnr adopt that system s slogan the people s railway . another canadian railway the grand trunk pacific railway gtpr encountered financial difficulty on march 7 1919 when its parent company grand trunk railway gtr defaulted on repayment of construction loans to the federal government . the federal government s department of railways and canals took over operation of the gtpr until july 12 1920 when it too was placed under the cnr . the canadian national railway was organized on october 10 1922 . finally the bankrupt gtr itself was placed under the care of a federal government board of management on may 21 1920 while gtr management and shareholders opposed to nationalization took legal action . after several years of arbitration the gtr was absorbed into cnr on january 30 1923 . in subsequent years several smaller independent railways would be added to the cnr as they went bankrupt or it became politically expedient to do so however the system was more or less finalized following the addition of the gtr . canadian national railways was born out of both wartime and domestic urgency . railways until the rise of the personal automobile and creation of taxpayer funded all weather highways were the only viable long distance land transportation available in canada for many years . as such their operation consumed a great deal of public and political attention . many countries regard railway networks as critical infrastructure even to this day and at the time of the creation of cnr during the continuing threat of the first world war canada was not the only country to engage in railway nationalization . in the early 20th century many governments were taking a more interventionist role in the economy foreshadowing the influence of economists like john maynard keynes . this political trend combined with broader geo political events made nationalization an appealing choice for canada . the winnipeg general strike of 1919 and allied involvement in the russian revolution seemed to validate the continuing process . the need for a viable rail system was paramount in a time of civil unrest and foreign military intervention . cn telegraph edit restored cn telegraph counter on display at the saskatchewan railway museum cn telegraph originated as the great north west telegraph company in 1880 to connect ontario and manitoba and became a subsidiary of western union in 1881 . in 1915 facing bankruptcy gnwtc was acquired by the canadian northern railway s telegraph company . 4 when canadian northern was nationalized in 1918 and amalgamated into canadian national railways in 1921 its telegraph arm was renamed the canadian national telegraph company . cn telegraphs began co operating with its canadian pacific owned rival cpr telegraphs in the 1930s sharing telegraph networks and co founding a teleprinter system in 1957 . in 1967 the two services were amalgamated into a joint venture cncp telecommunications which evolved into a telecoms company . cn sold its stake of the company to cp in 1984 . cnr radio edit main article cnr radio in 1923 cnr s second president sir henry thornton who succeeded david blyth hanna 1919 1922 created the cnr radio department to provide passengers with entertainment radio reception and give the railway a competitive advantage over its rival cp . this led to the creation of a network of cnr radio stations across the country north america s first radio network . as anyone in the vicinity of a station could hear its broadcasts the network s audience extended far beyond train passengers to the public at large . claims of unfair competition from cp as well as pressure on the government to create a public broadcasting system similar to the british broadcasting corporation led the government of r.b. bennett who had been a corporate lawyer with canadian pacific as a client prior to entering politics to pressure cnr into ending its on train radio service in 1931 and then withdrawing from the radio business entirely in 1933 . cnr s radio assets were sold for 50 000 to a new public broadcaster the canadian radio broadcasting commission which in turn became the canadian broadcasting corporation in 1936 . cn hotels edit main article canadian national hotels canadian railways built and operated their own resort hotels ostensibly to provide rail passengers travelling long distances a place to sleep overnight . these hotels became attractions in and of themselves a place for a rail passenger to go for a holiday . as each railway company sought to be more attractive than its competitors they made their hotels more attractive and luxurious . canadian national hotels was the cnrs chain of hotels and was a combination of hotels inherited by the cnr when it acquired various railways and structures built by the cnr itself . the chain s principal rival was canadian pacific hotels . canadian national steamship company edit canadian national operated a fleet of passenger and cargo vessels on both the west coast and east coast of canada which operated under a branch of the company known as canadian national steamships later cn marine . west coast edit the turbine steamship prince robert berthed at vancouver bc prince david as an armed merchant cruiser in 1942 swan hunter and wigham richardson of wallsend england built prince george and prince rupert for the grand trunk pacific railway in 1910 . 5 in 1930 cammell laird of birkenhead england built prince david prince henry and prince robert . 5 prince henry was sold in 1937 . 6 prince george was destroyed by fire in 1945 . prince david and prince robert were requisitioned in 1939 as royal canadian navy armed merchant cruisers converted into landing ships in 1943 and sold in 1948 . 6 in 1948 a second prince george was built by yarrows limited becoming cn s sole remaining pacific coast passenger liner . she was switched from scheduled routes to pleasure cruises and was the last cn ship that served the west coast . after a fire in 1975 she was sold in 1976 first to british columbia steamship company and finally wong brother enterprises