 In the summer of 1886, Macdonald traveled for the only time to western Canada, traveling from town to town by private railway car, and addressing large crowds.Macdonald traveled with his wife, and to get a better view, the two would sometimes sit in front of the locomotive on the train's cowcatcher.On 13 August 1886, Macdonald used a silver hammer and pounded a gold spike to complete the Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway.