the intercolonial railway, finished in 1876, linked the maritimes to quebec and ontario, tying them to the new confederation. entrepreneurs in montreal sought direct lines into the u.s. and shunned connections with the maritimes, with a goal of competing with american railroad lines heading west to the pacific. joseph howe, charles tupper, and other nova scotia leaders used the rhetoric of a "civilizing mission" centered on their british heritage, because atlantic-centered railway projects promised to make halifax the eastern terminus of an intercolonial railway system tied to london. leonard tilley, new brunswick's most ardent railway promoter, championed the cause of "economic progress", stressing that atlantic canadians needed to pursue the most cost-effective transportation connections possible if they wanted to expand their influence beyond local markets. advocating an intercolonial connection to canada, and a western extension into larger american markets in maine and beyond, new brunswick entrepreneurs promoted ties to the united states first, connections with halifax second, and routes into central canada last. thus metropolitan rivalries between montreal, halifax, and saint john led canada to build more railway lines per capita than any other industrializing nation, even though it lacked capital resources, and had too little freight and passenger traffic to allow the systems to turn a profit.