Sandford Fleming

Sandford Fleming was a whirlwind inventor whose ideas came to

benefit not only his home country but the world. Canadians can thank

him for his “crazy” vision of building a railway clear across the vast

wilds of Canada.

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How many different dreams can one person follow? For Sandford Fleming, it seems there
was no limit.
When he was eighteen years old, having just arrived in Canada from Scotland, Fleming
was a budding inventor who wanted other active minds around him. So he established the
Royal Canadian Institute - a group dedicated to science, invention, and understanding. It
still exists today.
Apparently, working as a surveyor and running his new Institute wasn’t enough to fully
occupy his mind. On the side, Fleming took the time to design Canada’s first postage
stamp in 1851.
Meanwhile, his tireless energy and sharp mind got him a job as chief engineer of a
railway. That’s where Fleming developed his next vision - a railway clear across Canada.
It took a dozen years for Fleming and others to convince the new Canadian government.
Once the government had finally approved the idea, it gave Fleming the job of doing the
surveying for the mammoth railway. Fleming had to find the best route from the Atlantic
to the Pacific, over hundreds of kilometers of empty prairie and through mountain passes
where no one had ever climbed.