In the mid-1920s, the author’s great-grandfather, Thomas E. Murray, bought Wickapogue, a large “cottage” on a vast piece of property overlooking the ocean in Southampton, on the south fork of Long Island, New York. TEM was born into near poverty in Albany, New York, in 1860, in a working-class neighborhood of Irish immigrants. He was only nine years old when he had to drop out of school, after his father, older sister, and infant brother all died within five months from a cholera outbreak....

I look at these fields and I try to imagine what they were: crop fields, maybe. Or fields of sheep. And these… power lines. I try to imagine that they lead somewhere – but they never do. Only under.In 1631, The Fens, the flat area of land stretching from Cambridge to Norwich, were drained.In 2050, The Fens return to the sea. Two children play in the waterscape. They tell tales of a mythic Waterman, who scours the water for sunken parts. But, in the bitter struggle ...

More than once, Tom Murray held someone as that person died in his arms in N. Ireland during the conflict between the Irish Republican Army factions and the British Army during the troubles from the '70s. One of those times was an undercover Captain of the British intelligence who was shot several times by the PIRA at point-blank range, during a PIRA Easter parade.Born a Catholic in Derry in the heart of the Bogside on the 12th of July. The very day the Protestant Orangemen march t...

Few stories in the annals of railroading are as compelling as the construction, evolution, and astounding successes of the Canadian Pacific and Canadian National railways. This sprawling volume combines two of Voyageur Press' most successful Railroad Color History titles into one volume taking in the grand scope of both railroads. Author Tom Murray presents fastidiously researched and concisely presented histories of each railroad, along with more than 300 photographs, including rare archi...

Russia has the Trans-Siberian Highway, Australia has Highway 1, and Canada has the Trans-Canada Highway, an iconic road that stretches almost 8,000 kilometres across six time zones.In the summer of 2012, on the highway's 50th birthday, Mark Richardson drove its entire length to find out how the road came to be and what it's now become. In his daily account of the 10-week road trip, originally published as a blog on macleans.ca, he follows the original "pathfinders," Thomas...

Rails Across the Prairies traces the evolution of Canada's rail network, including the appearance of the first steam engine on the back of a barge. The book looks at the arrival of European settlers before the railway and examines how they coped by using ferry services on the Assiniboine and North Saskatchewan Rivers. The work then follows the building of the railways, the rivalries of their owners, and the unusual irrigation works of Canadian Pacific Railway. The towns were nearl...

Whether you hike, bike, ride the rails, or drive, the shore of Lake Ontario can yield a treasure trove of heritage sites and natural beauty -- if you know where to look.Travel with Ron Brown as he probes the shoreline of the Canadian side of Lake Ontario to discover its hidden heritage. Explore "ghost ports," forgotten coves, historical lighthouses, rumrunning lore, and even the location of a top-secret spy camp. The area also contains some unusual natural features, including a mys...

Canada in the twenty-first century is a place of growth and expansion. Cities like Vancouver and Toronto have become word-class destinations for business and tourism. Meanwhile, smaller, less prominent communities face changes of different sorts, as residents depart for the opportunities present in our country’s largest cities. Nowhere is this more apparent than in Canada’s prairie provinces.Despite changes in population and the loss of such essential services as schools, post offi...

William C. Van Horne was one of North America's most accomplished men. Born in Illinois in 1843, Van Horne started working in the railway business at a young age. In 1881 he was lured north to Canada to become general manager of the fledgling Canadian Pacific Ralway. The railroading general pushed through construction of the CPR's transcontinental line and then went on to become the company's president. During his time with the CPR, Van Horne developed a telegraph service, launched the Emp...

Rails Across Ontario will take the reader back to a time when the railway ruled the economy and the landscape.Read about historic stations, railway museums, heritage train rides, and historic bridges. Follow old rail lines along Ontario's most popular rail trails. Find out where steam engines still puff across farm fields and where historic train coaches lead deep into the wilds of Ontario's scenic north country. Discover long forgotten but once vital railway structures, s...

The Lake Erie shoreline has born witness to some of Ontario's earliest history, yet remains largely unspoiled. Much of the area's natural features - the wetlands, the Carolinian forests - and its built heritage - fishing ports and military ramparts - provide much of interest for vistors to the region.Ron Brown has traversed this most southern coast line in Ontario, fleshing out forgotten stories of the past, from accounts of the world's largest freshwater fishing fleet, War of 1812...

Quill & Quire cited Unbuilt Toronto as a book filled with "well-researched, often gripping tales of grand plans," while Canadian Architect said that it is "an impressively researched exploration of never-realized architectural and master-planning projects intended for the city." Now Unbuilt Toronto 2 provides an all-new, fascinating return to the "Toronto that might have been."Discover the scrapyard statue planned for University Avenue, the flapp...