I?d like to know what physical and political problems plagued the
construction of the Canadian Pacific Railway. I already know that The
Canadian Shield was a problem because of its many rocks and muskegs;
they also needed financial help to build it, but settlers refused to
give money; the Lake Superior part of the railway took 7 years to
build because it was not to be built on any American land; and some
settlers thought it was a crazy dream. Also, the part in the Rocky
Mountains was very dangerous: they had to use dynamite to blast a path
through and it killed many men. It was also difficult finding enough
workers before the Navvies were found.

I would read the following two books as great summaries of the period:

The Nationald Dream and The Last Spike : both by Pierre Berton

The Amazon.ca link is
http://www.amazon.ca/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/index=books-ca&field-author=Pierre%20Berton/ref=sr_sp_dp_1_1/701-1477078-5405958

The Amazon.com link is
http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/search-handle-url/ref=pd_sc/102-6202784-8738500?index=blended&field-keywords=pierre%20berton

If you are in Canada your local library should have these....

I've read both (about 20 years ago) and they are great reads, the read
like a novel not a history.