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Red Deer once had four
Railway Stations
Revised April 2022
Photo descriptions
and credits at bottom of page.
Over
the past 120 years, Red Deer has had four distinct railway stations,
three of which were unique to the community -- the 1910 CPR station,
the 1912 ACR station (which was never actually used as a station)
and the 1923 CNR station. Red Deer's first station was actually a
boxcar put in place as soon as the Calgary & Edmonton Railway
reached Red Deer in the fall of 1890.
Wood Combination Station and Freight House
(C&ER/CPR 1891)
 The
boxcar was replaced the following year by a combination station and
freight house that was characteristic of stations on rail lines
built by McKenzie and Mann (two of the owners and builders of the
Calgary & Edmonton Railway as well a few regional railways in
Saskatchewan and Manitoba and later the founders of the Canadian
Northern Railway). The station immediately became the distribution,
cultural and communication centre of the fledgling community.
The
Calgary & Edmonton Railway arrived in Red Deer in the fall of 1890
and built a cookie-cutter combination station and freight house the
following year. These stations were built approximately every twenty
miles between Calgary and Edmonton and were constructed in about
three weeks each.
They
started out virtually identical but over the next several years,
modifications were made to each station to make them more functional
according to the needs of the community and station master resulting
in some distinction but the primary characteristics remained.
After
Red Deer officially became a division point in 1908, a new station
was contemplated. When the new station opened in 1911, the
combination station was relocated from north of the new station to
south of it and turned 180 degrees.
It
was added to and used exclusively as a freight house until the early
1960s. It was demolished in 1965.
Similar stations were built north of Red Deer at Lacombe, Ponoka,
Wetaskiwin, Leduc and Strathcona. Except for Ponoka, all were
replaced by larger stations by 1914. South of Red Deer, this design
was built at Innisfail, Olds, Carstairs and Airdrie and most
remained as the principal station until the 1950s. South of
Calgary, similar stations were built at High River, Claresholm,
Okotoks, Nanton, and De Winton.
The Calgary & Edmonton Railway (owned partially by railway builders
McKenzie and Mann as well as James Ross, a contractor with the CPR)
leased the line to the CPR until the CPR purchased it outright.
These and similar stations were built in Saskatchewan and Manitoba
on railway lines built by railway developers McKenzie and Mann who
eventually formed the Canadian Northern Railway which competed with
the CPR.
A replica of this type is located in South Edmonton (Strathcona)
based on the Innisfail station although the freight shed portion was
not replicated.
These stations were
primarily built on railway lines that were influenced by McKenzie
and Mann prior to their founding of the Canadian Northern Railway.
See
C&ER combination station and
freight house page for more detailed information
including renderings of all 4 views of the station and interior
layout.
Note: All renderings are the
intellectual property of Paul Pettypiece and may only be used for
personal or historical use.
 Red
Deer
Special L Station
(1910 - Plan X-20B)
Federal, provincial and municipal historic designations
When the Canadian Pacific Railway determined that Red Deer would
be the division point between Calgary and Edmonton, it was fitting
that the company decided to build a new brick station in a style
that was unique but similar to other major stations built in Western
Canada (Lethbridge, Medicine Hat, Strathcona and Saskatoon) to
replace the existing combination station and freight house built in
1891. These five stations all had a chateau style design with a
central octagonal turret but each maintained a unique look. Photo
shows both the new station and the old station on the north side
prior to it being relocated to the south side and rotated to face
the opposite direction.
The new Red Deer station was completed in 1910 at the head of Ross
Street dominating the downtown streetscape. Its characteristics
included a hipped roof, dormer windows and, in Red Deer, the use of
local bricks and sandstone. Dimensions were 112'x32' for the
foundation, 126'x36' roofline, 14' waiting room ceiling, baggage
room, express office, ticket office, washrooms on the main floor and
train crew apartments on the upper floor.
Within 18 months, a 20' expansion was added to the south end.
(Roof colour is by conjecture as there are no
colour photos of the period although there is a hand-painted b&w
photo showing a green roof)
 At
some point before 1941, a number of cosmetic changes occurred as
part of its ongoing maintenance that included painting the shingled
upper storey white, a change in roof colour, an additional door on
the streetside, a new chimney on the south end and some changes in
door and trim colour.
 In
1969, a major renovation occurred which brought about several
internal and external changes that included a new heating system,
main doors relocated to the bay section both front and back, freight
doors downsized, new windows on the upper floor, cream trim, new
roof and, on the trackside, the addition of an outside door to the
upper floor and repositioning of doors on the lower floor.
By the time passenger rail service ended in 1985, the station was
starting to show its age. Furthermore, plans were underway to close
the station and relocate the railyards to the west side of the city.
That relocation occurred in 1990. Also, by this time, the bricks had
been painted a number of times, the most recent a dark red.
With relocation of the railyards, plans were also under way to
connect Ross Street with Taylor Drive, initially involving the
demolition of the station. Due to some fast and intensive work by a
few individuals, the station was federally designated a protected
historic site in 1991, mere days before its scheduled demolition
resulting in new plans to route Ross Street around the station. A
few months later it was designated a municipal historic site and in
1993, a provincial historic resource.
 It
sat empty for a few years waiting for someone to propose a use for
it. In 1996, it was purchased by architect John Murray and restored
to much of its former glory on the outside and renovated to office
space on the inside. This restoration included taking the paint off
the bricks to reveal its original salmon colour. The railyards
themselves were redeveloped into commercial and residential use and
Taylor Drive was constructed along the CPR right of way south.
See
Red Deer 1910 CPR Station for more
detailed information including renderings of all 4 views of the
station and interior layout (coming soon).
Note: All renderings are the
intellectual property of Paul Pettypiece and may only be used for
personal or historical use.
Red
Deer
Alberta Central Railway Station
(1911)
(ACR launched 1910)
station built 1911 in new yard east of Piper
Creek, never used as station; relocated twice as
private residence; now west of Red Deer; effectively one-of-a-kind.
Canadian National Red Deer station Plan 148 (1923)
 In
1911, the Canadian Northern Western Railway (a subsidiary of the
Canadian Northern Railway) arrived in North Red Deer from a junction
further north with the intention of building a bridge across the Red
Deer River as part of a new north-south railway line connecting
Edmonton and Calgary. Unfortunately, a recession, financial troubles
and the first world war delayed and ultimately nixed that plan.
However, when Canadian National Railways absorbed the CNWR, a bridge
was constructed over the river and the line extended south from the
mouth of Waskasoo Creek to Ross Street (where the Co-op Shopping
Centre now stands) where a small yard and temporary station was
built.
A new
station was built in 1923 (at the current site of Alberts
Restaurant) replacing the temporary station. It was a one-of-a-kind
hybrid of a Canadian Northern third class station and a
yet-to-be-standardized Canadian National Railways third class station.
 The
station was 62'x24' with a platform
300'x12'. The main
floor had a ticket office, waiting rooms, toilets, baggage and
express. On the 2nd floor was a residence. After several washouts,
the bridge across the river was abandoned in 1941. A new
link had been made to the CPR yards further west where CNR trains
shared trackage with CP to the north junction.
 The
last passenger train left the station in 1955 at which time the
ticket office and waiting rooms were replaced with more freight and
express space. It was closed and demolished in 1960 when the yards
were relocated
back to
the north side of river and the site redeveloped for the shopping
centre. Photos at the time indicate a change of paint scheme in
1955 from white/grey with green trim to oxide red with cream trim.
Powerpoint Slide Show:
Railways as Parents of a City - 3 Railways as
Catalysts for the Birth of Red Deer
(presented at Central Alberta Historical Society May 2013)
Riding the Rails in Red Deer: Existing and
Former Railway Sites
(Jane's Walk 2013)
Photo descriptions and credits:
Header: Red Deer CPR 1910 station, park and C&ER 1891 combination
station as freight house 1911
(Red Deer Archives P3202);
Red Deer C&ER combination station 1905 (Red Deer Archives
P3201);
Rendering of Red Deer combination station in 1891 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of Red Deer combination station in 1908 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of Red Deer combination station converted to freight house
in 1911 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of Red Deer CPR freight house 1955 (Paul Pettypiece);
New Red Deer CPR station & 1891 C&ER station 1910 (Red Deer
Archives);
Rendering of 1910 Red Deer CPR station (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1910 Red Deer CPR station after extension 1911 (Paul
Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1910 Red Deer CPR station 1941 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1910 Red Deer CPR station 1969 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1910 Red Deer CPR station 1985 (Paul Pettypiece);
Red Deer CPR 1910 station streetside (Paul Pettypiece 2007);
Red Deer CPR 1910 station streetside (Paul Pettypiece 2007);
former relocated Red Deer ACR station now residence (Paul Pettypiece 2009);
Red Deer CNR 1923 station 1955 (Red Deer Archives P7009);
Rendering of 1923 Red Deer CNR station (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1923 Red Deer CNR station 1954 (Paul Pettypiece);
Rendering of 1923 Red Deer CNR station 1956 (Paul Pettypiece)
Note: All renderings are the intellectual property of Paul
Pettypiece and may only be used for personal or historical use.
Photos courtesy of Red Deer Archives and
Paul Pettypiece.
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