when canada entered the great war in 1914, the young men of british columbia were mobilized and many c.p.r. employees volunteered for canada's armed services. engineers, deck and engine room hands were especially wanted by the navy. as the young men left, the local farms and businesses declined, and there was a fall off in tourism as well. in her last years, "rossland" like other c.p.r. inland steamers, transported troops. the economic downturn caused by mobilization forced c.p.r. to take a number of its steamers out of operation. "rossland" had been having boiler troubles, and rather than repairing them, c.p.r. took her out of service.