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Current railway
heritage artifacts and collections, large and small, in Central Alberta
 Central Alberta has a rich railway heritage and much of it is being
lost. However, much is also being preserved. There are a handful of
railway stations, grain elevators, bridges or bridge piers, locomotives
and rolling stock, and even a working heritage steam train operation.
Forth Junction Heritage Society's first artifact --
Original
C & E Railway track from 1890
 Thanks
to the Enderby BC Museum and Canadian Pacific Railway, Forth
Junction has obtained a 3-foot section of rail that was originally
laid on the Calgary and Edmonton Railway between Calgary and Red
Deer in 1890.
It was found on the abandoned CPR line as a guard rail between
Sicamous and Vernon BC as the line was being torn up. The stamp on
the side of the rail states " B V & Co. 1890 C & E R ".
Bolckow, Vaughan & Co., associated with Barrow Ironworks/Steel, was
an iron rolling mill in Middlesbrough, Great Britain. This mill,
along with several others, supplied rail to new railways throughout
the British Commonwealth at the time. At one point B.V. was the
largest producer of pig iron in the world. At one time, the company
employed 20,000 people. It also owned up to 26 mines and collieries.
The mill closed in 1929 due to its inability to adapt to changing
needs.
Alberta
Prairie Steam Tours - Stettler to Big Valley
 Five to six hour trip on the former
Canadian Northern Railway line
between Stettler and Big Valley using authentic restored steam
locomotives. Variety of trip options and packages mostly during the
summer months and also during other seasons. Options include dinner
trains, dinner theatres, family specials, train robberies, murder
mysteries and meals at Big Valley, the home of a restored Canadian
Northern railway station,
grain elevator, and a 14-stall roundhouse 'ruins' interpretive centre.
Steam locomotives include No. 41, a 1920 Baldwin Consolidation 2-8-0,
and No.
6060, a 1944 Canadian National Mountain 4-8-2 'Bullet-nosed Betty' owned
by the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. Vintage passenger
equipment includes a 1919 Canadian Northern combine and Canadian Pacific
1923 day coaches.
Railway Museums:
 Big
Valley Railway Station & Museum - restored 1912 second class
Canadian Northern
Railway station, restored grain elevator, an interpretive
centre at the site of the original 14-stall roundhouse 'ruins', the new home
of
the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame and home to the Canadian Heartland
Training Railway. Station restored 1990 on original site by Canadian
Northern Society to 1940s appearance.
Alberta Central Railway Museum - located in Wetaskiwin County
southeast
of the city, the site includes several pieces of Canadian
Pacific railway
rolling stock, equipment, structures, a scaled down replica of the
Wetaskiwin
1907 Calgary-Edmonton railway station, a mile of operational
track,
CPR 8015 RS23 diesel locomotive, CPR RDC Budd Dayliner, speeders,
1926 1st class observation-buffet-sleeper Mount Avalanche, and a 1906 Alberta Grain Elevator
from
Hobbema (renamed Maskwacis).
 Anthony
Henday Museum Delburne - located in a relocated Grand
Trunk Pacific
Type E
railway station, the site includes an enclosed
water tank and caboose.
Camrose Railway Park, Morgan Railway Garden and Tea Room -
the
restored and relocated 1911 Canadian Northern Railway station
includes the Canadian
Northern Society archives and library and
garden railway.
Three Hills Kneehill Historical Museum includes the relocated and
restored Three Hills Grand Trunk Pacific Type F station,
caboose, tank
car and box car.
Museums that include Railway Heritage:
Town & Country Museum Stettler includes the restored Stettler
second class Canadian Northern railway
station
Innisfail Historical Village includes the relocated Bowden C & E Railway
(CPR) Standard #2 station, N scale
historical model displays
Mirror & District Museum includes a CN caboose and boxcar as
well as history of the town as the divisional
point on the former Grand Trunk Pacific Railway
and later the Canadian National Railway
Beiseker Station Museum housed in a restored 1910 Canadian Pacific Standard 2A Western
station which was
sold in 1970 to the town, turned around to become town
office and museum, includes caboose and reefer.
Not to be confused with the now defunct Alberta 2005
Centennial Railway Museum that was to be located
close by and had relocated the Bassano CPR Standard #10
station that suspiciously burned down in 2015.
Railway Stations Restored on Original Site:
 Red
Deer: grand Calgary and Edmonton Railway (Canadian Pacific)
station
was built in 1910 at the head of Ross Street and has been
designated as
a historic site. It was restored in 1996 and is now used
as an office building.
The rail yards were removed in 1991.
Big Valley: 1912 second class Canadian Northern station is a
museum
and terminus for the Alberta Prairie Steam Tours train
excursions.
Meeting Creek: restored 1913 third class (plan 29) Canadian Northern
Railway
station deactivated in 1981 along the now abandoned
Canadian
National/Central Western Stettler subdivision, restored in
1987 by
Canadian Northern Society.
Rowley: restored 1922 third class (plan 72) Canadian Northern
Railway
station along abandoned Canadian National/Central Western
line in
"ghost town" with old West buildings seen in 1989 film "Bye
Bye Blues".
Other movies shot in the area include "Legends of
the Fall" and "In Cold Blood".
Didsbury: restored 1904 Calgary and Edmonton Railway (Canadian
Pacific) station in 1991, turned around to
become the Chamber of
Commerce and visitor information building.
Beiseker: restored 1910 Canadian Pacific Standard 2A Western
station which was sold 1970 to town, turned
around to become town
office and museum
Canadian Pacific Railway Stations of Central Alberta
Canadian National Railway Stations of Central Alberta
Railway Stations Relocated and Restored:
 Innisfail:
Historical Village is the home of the relocated 1904 Bowden
Calgary and Edmonton Railway station that was deactivated in 1968
and
moved to Innisfail in 1973.
Delburne: Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station moved to Anthony
Henday Museum.
Three Hills: Kneehill Historical Museum Grand Trunk Pacific
Railway
station.
Benalto: 1928 CPR #14 station (Alberta Central sub) sold in
1970 and
relocated twice for private residence, relocated back to Benalto in
2013 for community centre.
Stettler: 1911 second class Canadian Northern Railway station
relocated to Town
& Country Museum.
Donalda: 1909 fourth class Canadian Northern Railway station
relocated
from Vardura, Saskatchewan on abandoned Canadian
National/Central Western Stettler subdivision.
Rimbey: Canadian Pacific station relocated from Tees, probably
built around 1905
Camrose: restored 1911 third class Canadian Northern Railway station,
deactivated in 1988, relocated 500
metres and restored in 1993, has a
garden railway park, tea room, museum and archives of the Canadian
Northern Society
Castor: restored and relocated 1918 Standard A2 Western
Canadian Pacific station that had been relocated
from Loyalist
in 1937 after fire destroyed the original CPR Standard #5 station
built in 1910; currently used
as museum
Railway Stations Replicated:
 Penhold:
replica of CPR
Standard #2 station (similar to original 1904 CPR
early #2 station that was demolished in 1969)
built for use as
a
commercial/office centre a few blocks from the original site.
Lacombe: built in 2006-07 for use as a commercial centre, Siding 12
is
a replica of the Lacombe 1911 CPR (Calgary and Edmonton Railway)
station
on the opposite side of the tracks as the original station that
was torn
down in 1978.
Stettler: built in 1990 by Alberta Prairie Steam Tours, the depot is
similar to an early Canadian Northern railway station (the original
station was relocated in Stettler).
Wetaskiwin County: Alberta Central Railway Museum scaled down
replica
of Wetaskiwin 1907 CPR (Calgary and Edmonton Railway)
station.
Strathcona (Edmonton): replica of Innisfail Calgary &
Edmonton Railway 1891 combination station and freight
house once
common between Calgary and Edmonton including at Strathcona, Leduc,
Wetaskiwin, Ponoka, Red
Deer, Lacombe, Innisfail, Olds, Carstairs,
Airdrie, High River, Okotoks, Nanton, and others, many of which were
replaced by larger stations and none of which have survived. It had
housed the C&ER station museum but the
museum was closed and artifacts were gifted to the Forth Junction
Heritage Society and are displayed at the
Innisfail Heritage Village.
Railway Stations Relocated for non-public use:
There is evidence of a few original stations used for farm, storage or
residential use including those from Red Deer (ACR Red Deer
County), Ardley (GTP/CNR Red Deer County), Hobbema
(C&E/CPR Ponoka County),
Crossfield (C&E/CPR), Wimborne (CPR), Sunnyslope
(CPR), Hardisty (CPR)
Railway Infrastructure Preserved:
 Red
Deer: Calgary and Edmonton Railway (Canadian Pacific) truss
bridge
built across Red Deer River on north side of downtown in 1908,
designated a historical resource and transformed into a
pedestrian/bicycle trail and part of the TransCanada Trail system.
Red Deer: park fountain now located in
a downtown park close to its
original location at the former CPR station park
that was replaced by a
parking lot in 1950.
 Red Deer: one of two Alberta Central Railway
piers
originally used to support a rail bridge
built in 1910 and removed in
1913 over the
Calgary and Edmonton Railway (Canadian
Pacific) and Waskasoo
Creek, still standing along Taylor Drive south of downtown. In
August 1910, Prime
Minister Wilfred Laurier drove the first spike for the Alberta Central
at a point east of the pier.
Delburne: Grand Trunk Pacific (Canadian National) enclosed
water tank at the
Anthony Henday Museum.
Big Valley: Canadian Northern (Canadian National) 14-stall Roundhouse
'ruins'
Interpretive Centre.
 Red
Deer County: abandoned Alberta Central
Railway Mintlaw steel
trestle bridge across
the Red Deer River. The bridge, 2,112 ft. long
and 110 ft. high, was completed in the fall of
1912 and abandoned in
1983. At the time it was built, it was the
second longest CPR steel trestle
in Alberta.
Nordegg (Clearwater County): Nordegg Heritage Centre and Brazeau
Colleries Minesite Museum (National
Historic Site) tours of coal mine
operations that ran from 1911 to 1955 on the Canadian Northern Western
Railway (CNR) Brazeau subdivision.
Grain Elevators Preserved:
Most of the grain elevators that marked the prairie landscape have
been destroyed. A few are still being used and a few have been abandoned
or moved to farms. A small number have been restored and/or preserved.
Big Valley Alberta Pacific Grain Elevator, Meeting Creek,
Castor 1910 elevator,
Wetaskiwin County 1906 Hobbema Alberta Grain Elevator Alberta Central
Railway Museum.
Restored
Historic Locomotives:
 Stettler: Alberta Prairie Steam Tours
CN 6060 4-8-2 MLW 1944 Mountain steam locomotive, retired 1959, owned by Rocky Mountain Rail Society;
No. 41 2-8-0 1920 Baldwin Consolidation steam locomotive;
CN 1259 GM 1958 SW1200 diesel locomotive.
Wetaskiwin County: Alberta Central Railway Museum
CP 8015 MLW 1959 RS23
CP 9108 Budd 1956 Rail Diesel Car (Dayliner)
Beiseker: Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum
CN 8704 MLW 1959 S13
Display Cabooses
 Penhold
Canadian Pacific 1947 wood,
Delburne Canadian National 1967 steel,
Mirror Canadian National 1952 wood, ex-1918 box,
Three Hills Canadian National 1972 steel,
Stettler Canadian National 1951 wood, ex-1918 box,
Rimbey Canadian Pacific 1947 wood
Big Valley Canadian National 1942 wood, ex-GT-1910 box
Other Freight Rolling Stock:
Big Valley, Three Hills, Wetaskiwin County, Beiseker, Mirror, Nordegg
Passenger Equipment:
Stettler
(Alberta Prairie Steam Tours)
1919 Canadian Northern combine, 1923 CP day coaches
Wetaskiwin County (Alberta Central Railway Museum) 1926 coach-observation-buffet
Mount Avalanche,
1921 sleeper Glen Norman renamed Val David,
express-baggage car used for displays, HO scale yard
Significant Railway Museums and Historic Sites
Outside Central
Alberta:
Battle River Historical Museum Wainwright
Wainwright Railway Preservation Museum
Alberta Railway Museum north of Edmonton
Calgary and Edmonton Railway Station Museum Edmonton
Fort Edmonton Park Edmonton
Heritage Park Historical Village Calgary
Museum of the Highwood High River
Objectives of FJHS re preservation:
-
nurturing a passion
for the continuous evolution of trails, trains and transit;
- collaborating
with various organizations and museums to preserve the existing built ground transportation
heritage assets of Central Alberta;
- promoting tourism
by integrating existing rail-themed heritage attractions of Central Alberta, as a marketing
package, with organized or self-guided tours;
- expanding the railway theme
to create a representation of the settlement
and economic development of
Western Canada;
-
creating a
unique world-class focal point in the Red Deer area that celebrates the impact of the railway
and transit on the economic and social fabric of
Western Canada;
- creating a unique interpretive
railway and transit heritage, family activity and nature park
close to Red Deer near the CPR rail corridor or
significant heritage railway site with replicated railway stations
as well as a rail, trail and transit-themed family entertainment park.
Preservation and
Marketing Integration
The preservation and marketing integration of existing built ground
transportation heritage capital and rail-themed attractions and
features as a collective attraction includes:
- ACR Mintlaw trestle southwest of Red Deer,
- ACR pier along Taylor
Drive Red Deer,
- CPR Red Deer river bridge historic site,
- CPR Red Deer station historic site,
- the 'Arches' and fountain Red Deer,
- ACR/CPR Benalto station
park,
- station replications at Penhold and Lacombe,
- Delburne GTP station museum, water tank,
- CPR Bowden station and display at Innisfail,
- Alberta Prairie Stettler steam train
tours,
- CNR 6060 Mountain locomotive Stettler,
- CNor stations Stettler and Big Valley,
- Restored grain elevators Stettler, Big Valley,
- Big Valley roundhouse interpretive centre,
- Canadian Railway Hall of Fame Big Valley,
- Meeting Creek CNor station and elevator
- Mirror museum, CN caboose and boxcar
- CPR Didsbury railway station historic site
- Three Hills museum, CN caboose, station
- the Nordegg Colleries National Historic Site,
- Alberta Central Museum near Wetaskiwin,
- CPR Tees station at Paskapoo Park Rimbey
- Camrose railway station musuem and park,
- Centennial railway museum Beiseker
Expansion of Railway
Theme
 -
Replicate the unique CPR F1a
Jubilee 4-4-4
streamlined steam
locomotive
3001 'The Chinook' in 1:8 scale;
- Acquire a
historically-significant
locomotive as a display at the
Forth Junction Community Heritage Rail Park;
-
Relocate, restore or replicate several
historic rail stations for the
Forth Junction Rail and
Transit Heritage, Family Activity and
Nature Park;
(eg. restore ACR Red Deer, GTP Ardley, replicate CNR Red Deer, ACR/CPR Mintlaw,
ACR/CPR Sylvan Lake, original 1891 C&E/CPR Innisfail, Red Deer, Lacombe,
CPR
Penhold, CNR Sylvan Lake)
- Create Canada's largest historical model
railway interpretive centre showing the evolution of the
railways of Red Deer and Central Alberta
representing the settlement and development of Western Canada
- Publication of a comprehensive history of ancient trails, railways
and transit including the infrastructure that
supported them and efforts to preserve ground transportation
heritage
The Forth Junction Heritage Society is proposing that transportation
heritage, specifically trail, rail and transit heritage, be the
theme for a
major tourist attractor that combines commerce, entertainment,
education, hospitality, nature, cultural heritage and community. The
society also aims to integrate, as a marketing package, several of the current regional
railway heritage preservation sites in Central Alberta as well as to preserve
or replicate additional heritage icons of the region as a representation
of the settlement and development of Western Canada.
The
Forth Junction Heritage Society
values and supports existing volunteer and commercial heritage and
cultural groups as well as other initiatives that celebrate and
nurture an appreciation of the continuing evolution of ground transportation
and supporting infrastructure in Central Alberta.
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