The early railways depended on coal to fire their locomotives. Vast deposits of coal were located along the eastern slopes of the Canadian Rockies. One of the richest mining areas on the main line of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, became known as the Coal Branch supplying coal to most of the railways in the prairie provinces. This is a brief history that also provides primary source resources in the the form of photographs, excerpts, figures and maps relating to the development of The Grand Trunk railway in western Canada.