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News articles about Alberta Central Railway heritage
including the Mintlaw elevator, ACR pillar in Red Deer and history
of the ACR
but excluding
Mintlaw bridge and
Benalto station, each with its own
news page:
Jan. 19, 2017, Red Deer Advocate (Lana Michelin) & Jan. 26, Central Alberta Life
Group formed to try to save aging grain elevator
Fight to save grain elevator
Blackfalds grain elevator could be saved
'The new owners don't know what to do with the grain
elevator . . . we don't want to lose such a poignant piece of local
history' - Bob Gugin, Old Prairie Sentinel Distillery
 The 94-year-old Mintlaw grain elevator near Blackfalds just
might escape the wrecker's ball for a second time.
The smallish Searle Grain Co. elevator built in 1923 initially had a
date with a demolition crew some 60 years ago.
That's when a heritage-minded Central Alberta farmer saved the
15,000-bushel structure by moving it onto his farm, located seven
kilometres northeast of Blackfalds, from its original site, south of
Red Deer.
Now the aging elevator's roof is sagging and the farm's current
owners would like to see it gone. Kim Bloomfield, the Blackfalds
farm's co-owner, told an agricultural publication last year she's
hoping the wooden structure can be moved or dismantled, "because we
can use the space for something else."
"The new owners don't know what to do with the grain elevator,"
admitted Red Deer-area resident Rob Gugin. But he's rather attached
to it, since he incorporated an image of the Mintlaw elevator on
corporate logos for his new Lacombe-based Old Prairie Sentinel
Distillery.
Gugin said a regional group was recently formed to try to save the
elevator, since these 'sentinels of the Prairies' are becoming so
scarce. "We don't want to lose such a poignant piece of local
history..."
The committee plans to discuss fundraising ideas for moving it to
another property, added the entrepreneur, who's heartened that
Bloomfield is willing to listen to ideas for preserving it.
But the big question will be where can the sizable structure be
relocated?
Photo: This grain elevator, formerly located in Mintlaw,
now sits on Reg and Kim Bloomfield's farm northeast of
Blackfalds. Red Deer
Advocate Photo
Sept. 24, 2014, Red Deer Express (Michael Dawe)
A look back at the
Alberta Central Railway
 This year marks the 100th
anniversary of one of the final chapters in the history of one of
the grandest dreams, and greatest disappointments in Red Deer's
history.
The dream was the construction of a 'transcontinental' railway,
centered in Red Deer, and extending from the Hudson Bay to the B.C.
coast.
When the last of the Alberta Central Railway was constructed in the
summer of 1914, the line only consisted of a branch from Red Deer to
Rocky Mountain House and operated as a minor subsidiary of the
Canadian Pacific Railway.
The origins of the Alberta Central actually went back to May 1901
when a railway charter was granted by the federal government to a
group of Red Deer and Ontario businesspeople. Originally, the line
was to run from Delburne area to Rocky Mountain House.
However, over the years, the A.C.R.'s charter was amended to allow
it to build a line from the Fraser Valley through the Yellowhead
Pass to Moose Jaw, with extensions to Saskatoon and the Hudson Bay.
For a long time, very little happened with the A.C.R. other than the
periodic time extensions to its charter by the federal government.
Eventually, people began to tire of the lack of concrete action.
Demands were made that the A.C.R. either start immediate
construction, or else sell its charter to a more bonafide railroad
company.
Action finally came in April 1909 when the Federal Government
offered a subsidy of $6,400 per mile to a railway constructed
between Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House.
Soon crews of surveyors were laying out a rail route. Some brushing
and grading commenced in the spring of 1910.
The driving of the first spike in Red Deer by Prime Minister Sir
Wilfrid Laurier in August 1910 was a wonderful public relations
event.
It seemed proof that the construction of the A.C.R. was finally fact
and not political fiction. However, a severe thunderstorm cut short
the A.C.R. ceremony. It seemed symbolic of the problems which were
to follow.
In late 1910, the Canadian Northern Western Railway started
construction of a line from just north of Red Deer westwards to
Rocky Mountain House and then onto the Brazeau coalfields at Nordegg.
This new competitor was anxious to build as fast as possible.
Therefore, it closely followed the route which had already been
mapped out by the A.C.R.
Having not one but two railroads being built, literally side by
side, drove up construction costs dramatically.
However, with wages for labourers rising by 50% and with prices for
things such as oats soaring to three times the Alberta average,
there was soon a wonderful economic boom in Red Deer and across west
Central Alberta.
Unfortunately, the A.C.R. found it increasingly difficult to manage
financially.
The company did not have enough capital to fulfill its grand plans.
With prices and wages leaping, there was no way that the A.C.R.
could cover its day-to-day bills.
Finally, in late 1911, an agreement was made with the C.P.R. to have
that company take over the A.C.R.'s charter and the construction of
the line.
While some insisted that the C.P.R. would eventually follow through
with the grand plans to extend the A.C.R. from Moose Jaw to the B.C.
coast, it gradually became evident that the C.P.R. had no such
intent.
By late 1913 and early 1914, the construction of the two rail lines
began to wind down.
The A.C.R. was completed to Rocky Mountain House in the summer of
1914, and the C.N.W.R. finished construction to Nordegg.
The economy of Red Deer and area began to noticeably slow. The great
boom was finally coming to an end.
In 1983, the entire A.C.R. branch line of the C.P.R. was finally
abandoned. However, Red Deer County purchased the rail bridge across
the Red Deer River and a major portion of the old right of way, from
the C.P.R. for a possible utilities corridor/walking trail. Thus,
the legacy of the A.C.R. may continue.
Photo: Construction of the Alberta Central Railway (Mintlaw)
bridge across the Red Deer River, 1911.
Red Deer Archives P2631
March 31, 2010, Red Deer Express
(Michael Dawe)
Region celebrating century of
railroad heritage
One hundred years ago, in 1910, Red Deer enjoyed one of the
strongest booms in its history. A significant factor in that boom
was an enormous amount of railroad construction and development,
involving three different railway companies. Probably the most
important boost to the local economy came with the decision of the
Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to make Red Deer the major divisional
point on the Calgary-Edmonton line.
(more)
Oct. 24, 2008, Red Deer
Advocate (Brenda Kossowan)
Historic significance of concrete obelisk preserved in mural
 Signs marking the sole remnant of the best little railroad that
never was were to be unveiled today.
A chubby concrete obelisk that looks oddly out of place at its site
alongside Taylor Drive, west of the Capri Centre, the bridge
abutment is all that remains of a group of Red Deer and Ontario
business owners' plans to build a Western Canada railway network.
Backed by Red Deer MLA John T. Moore (Liberal), the Alberta Central
Railway got its greatest boost in 1910, when Prime Minister Wilfrid
Laurier and railways minister George Graham came to drive the first
spike at site near the Capri, wrote Red Deer archivist Michael Dawe.
But the plans fell short a year later when CPR took control of the
ACR, promising to complete construction of the railway. Boosted by a
federal subsidy of $6,400 per mile ($4,000 per kilometre), a railway
station and yards had been built along with the first section of the
line, running from Red Deer to Rocky Mountain House.
But the CPR eventually abandoned the project and the line was ripped
up, leaving only the two abutments where it bridged Waskasoo Creek.
One of the two abutments was removed to make way for construction of
Taylor Drive, wrote Dawe.
Fearing that the remaining abutment would meet a similar fate, Red
Deer historian Harlan Hulleman helped lobby the city to have it
preserved.
"I remember there being two, but when they built Taylor Drive, one
was taken down. So, some people worry that this last bridge abutment
might be thought of as too ugly to survive.
"So, the idea of putting a mural on the abutment is so that people
are aware of the significance of this railroad line and that we
preserve it," Hulleman said on Thursday.
He was among the people to attend the unveiling ceremony, set for 2
p.m. today.
Pat Matheson, public art co-ordinator for the City of Red Deer,
credited Hulleman with spearheading the creation and installation of
the sign that now marks the abutment.
"Hulleman raised funds for the project and approached the City of
Red Deer for permission to have the sign placed on the abutment,"
Matheson said in a prepared statement.
Local artist Shane Young designed the sign, featuring two historical
photographs from the ACR: a steam locomotive and an image of Laurier
and Graham driving the first spike.
Sign sponsor Indie Signs transferred Young's image to a
weather-resistant material and installed the sign on the side of the
abutment.
Photo: Taylor Drive traffic passes the new Alberta Central Railway
sign on the concrete obelisk originally built as a railway
bridge abutment. Photo by
Randy Fiedler, Red Deer Advocate
April 23, 2008, Red Deer Express (Michael
Dawe)
The origins of
Alberta Central
Rail Pillar
 One of the most unique
historic landmarks in Red Deer is the solitary bridge pillar which
stands along Taylor Dr., halfway between the intersections with 32
and 43 Sts.
It is a reminder of a very ambitious venture from the years before
the First World War. That was the Alberta Central Railway, a largely
local attempt to build a "transcontinental" rail line across Western
Canada.
The origins of the Alberta Central go back to May 1901 when a
charter was granted by the federal government to a group of Red Deer
and Ontario businessmen.
Originally, a rail line was authorized to run from Coal Banks, near
modern day Delburne, to Rocky Mountain House.
However, as the great settlement boom built momentum across Central
Alberta, the plans were expanded to run the line from the Fraser
Valley, through the Yellowhead Pass to Moose Jaw, with extensions to
Saskatoon and the Hudson Bay.
One of the key backers of the Alberta Central was John T. Moore.
Originally a chartered accountant, he had been the managing director
of the Saskatchewan Land and Homestead Company.
That company, on Moore's recommendation, had purchased more than
115,000 acres of land in the Red Deer area.
The company's lands were laid out in a rectangle, with Red Deer in
the middle.
The plans for the Alberta Central offered a way of opening up the
districts to the east and west of Red Deer, thereby making the S.L.H.
Co.'s holdings much more valuable.
Moreover, John T. Moore was very ambitious politically. Constructing
railroads was good politics.
He ran successfully in the 1905 Alberta provincial election and
became Red Deer's first M.L.A.
He ran unsuccessfully for the nomination in the 1908 federal
election and for re-election in the 1909 provincial election.
In each of the campaigns, the promise of construction of the Alberta
Central was used by Moore to garner votes. In fact, in the 1908
contest, a mysterious surveyor showed up to plant survey stakes in
politically important areas.
Eventually, people began to tire of the surplus of promises and lack
of concrete action. Demands were made that the Alberta Central
either start immediate construction or else sell its charter to a
more bona-fide railroad company.
Action finally came in April 1909 when the federal government
offered a subsidy of $6400 per mile for a rail line constructed
between Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House.
Soon crews of surveyors were out laying out a rail line. Some
grading work began in the spring of 1910.
A real coup for Moore came in August 1910 when he was able to get
the Prime Minister of Canada, Sir Wilfred Laurier, and the federal
Minister of Railways, George Graham, to drive the first spike for
the Alberta Central on a site very close to the present location of
the Capri Hotel.
Photo: Sir Wilfred Laurier driving the first spike for the Alberta
Central Railway, August 10, 1910.
Appearing in the photo are
John T. Moore, President of the A.C.R.,
George P. Graham, Federal Minister of Railways,
Sir Wilfred Laurier, Prime Minister of Canada, and Duncan
Marshall, Provincial Minister of Agriculture.
Photo
courtesy of the Red Deer and District Archives
March 28, 2007, Red Deer Advocate '100 Years Vol. 1'
(Michael Dawe)
1910
Alberta Central Railway
helped open region
On Aug. 10, 1910, the prime
minister of Canada, Sir Wilfrid Laurier, came to Red Deer and drove
the first spike for the Alberta Central Railway.
The event was significant not only because it was part of the first
major visit to Red Deer by a Canadian prime minister. It also
represented the start of a major development for Central Alberta.
The origins of the Alberta Central went back to May 1901, when a
charter was granted by the federal government to a group of Red Deer
and Ontario businessmen.
Originally, the rail line was authorized to run from Coal Banks,
near modern-day Delburne, to Rocky Mountain House.
However, over the years, the ACR's charter was amended to allow it
to run its line from the Fraser Valley through the Yellowhead Pass
to Moose Jaw, with extensions to Saskatoon and the Hudson Bay.
In short, it was planned that the ACR would eventually become a
"transcontinental" railroad extending all across Western Canada.
For a long time, little happened with the ACR other than periodic
time extensions to its charter by the federal government.
That is not to say that the ACR was forgotten.
Construction of railroads was politically very popular. John T.
Moore, the major force behind the railway, had political ambitions.
He ran successfully in the 1905 provincial election. He ran
unsuccessfully for a nomination in the 1908 federal election and for
re-election in the 1909 provincial election.
In each campaign, the promise of construction of the ACR was used to
garner votes.
In fact, in the 1908 contest, a mysterious surveyor showed up to
plant survey stakes in politically important areas.
Eventually, people began to tire of the lack of concrete action.
Demands were made that the ACR either start immediate construction
or sell its charter to a more bona-fide railroad company.
Action finally came in April 1909 when the federal government
offered a subsidy of $6,400 per mile to a railway constructed
between Red Deer and Rocky Mountain House.
Soon crews of surveyors were laying out a rail route. Some brushing
and grading commenced in the spring of 1910.
The driving of the first spike by Laurier was a wonderful public
relations event.
It seemed proof that construction of the ACR was finally fact and
not political fiction.
However, a severe thunderstorm cut short the ceremony. It seemed
symbolic of the problems that were to follow.
In late 1910, the Canadian Northern Western Railway started
construction of a line from just north of Red Deer westwards to
Rocky Mountain House and then on to the Brazeau coalfields at
Nordegg.
This new competitor was anxious to build as fast as possible.
Therefore, it closely followed the route that had already been
mapped out by the ACR.
Having not one but two railroads being built, literally side by
side, drove up construction costs dramatically.
However, with wages for labourers rising by 50 per cent and with
prices for things such as oats soaring to three times the Alberta
average, there was soon a wonderful economic boom in Red Deer and
across West Central Alberta.
Unfortunately, the ACR found it increasingly difficult to manage
financially. The company did not have enough capital to fulfill its
grand plans. With prices and wages leaping, there was no way that
the railway could cover its day-to-day bills.
Finally, in late 1911, an agreement was made with the Canadian
Pacific Railway (CPR) to have that company take over the ACR's
charter and construction of the line.
While some insisted that the CPR would eventually follow though with
the grand plans to extend the ACR from Moose Jaw to B.C. coast, it
gradually became evident that the CPR had no such intent.
By late 1913 and early 1914, the construction of the two rail lines
began to wind down.
As the ACR was completed to Rocky Mountain House and the Canadian
Northern Western Railway finished construction to Nordegg, the
economy of Red Deer and area began to slow. The great boom was
finally coming to an end.
That is not to say that the ACR did not leave a lasting legacy. It
helped to open up and develop West Central Alberta.
It ensured Red Deer's position as the major transportation and
distribution centre for the region. As such, it laid the foundation
for future growth and prosperity.
Photos: 1.
Prime Minister Wilfrid Laurier visited
Red Deer in 1910 to drive the first spike for the Alberta
Central
Railway. Photo
courtesy of
the Red Deer and District Archives
2.
The Alberta Central Railway Bridge was built across the Red
Deer River in 1911.
News
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News articles related to current rail projects in Central Alberta
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