The GTPR followed the original Sandford Fleming "Canadian Pacific Survey" route from Jasper, Alberta through the Yellowhead Pass, and the track-laying machine crossed the BC/Alberta border in November 1911. In the mountain region, costs escalated to $105,000 per mile, compared with the budgeted $60,000. Following the CNoR paralleling through the Rockies, which created of duplication, the GTPR rail bed largely became redundant. The more northerly Pine Pass option, as specified in its charter, may have been a better choice in terms of developing traffic, and in improving the current CNR network (especially if the later Pacific Great Eastern Railway route had opted for the Monkman Pass crossing).