Canadian Northern Society
P.O.
Box 142, Big Valley, Alberta T0J 0G0
Dominion of Canada
Telephone: +1 403 876 2242
|
Canadian Northern Society
P.O.
Box 142, Big Valley, Alberta T0J 0G0
Dominion of Canada
Telephone: +1 403 876 2242
|
Thank you to Harry Stuber for his kind cash donation of $500 that was used toward painting the bunkhouse and storage sheds at Big Valley this fall.
Thank you to James Brock for the cash donation received with his 2003 membership renewal.
Thanks to Laureen Bergstrom of Meeting Creek for the donation of flower boxes and supplies.
Thank you to Shawn and Karen Smith for their cash donation along with 2003 membership renewal.
Thanks to Les Kozma for the arrangement of the donation of an architectural conceptual drawing of the proposed Canadian Railway Hall of Fame pavilion at Big Valley.
Thank you to Lorrie and Dean Tiegs for the continual work on the society’s Web site along with the monthly cash donation to finance the site.
Thank you very much to Mrs. M. C. Didrichsen for the generous cash donation received with her annual membership.
Thank you to Shawn Smith and Bruce Smith for the much-needed repair work conducted on the interior stairway at the Meeting Creek station.
Thanks to Tim Mugford for the Alberta Wheat Pool grain elevator artifacts (outdoor thermometer, Alberta Wheat Pool logo sample pails) received for the Meeting Creek elevator display.
On December 16, the Alberta Historical Resources Foundation advised the Society of our success in obtaining an additional $2800 to be applied towards the restoration of the driveway roof with cedar shingles that was completed this past fall. Thank you to the Foundation, Alberta Lotteries, and to Halvar Johnson, our member of the legislative assembly, for the support of the elevator project.
We continue to search for suitable six-pane wooden window sashes to replace the present windows at the elevator that are in desperate need of repair. Thank you to Tim Mugford and Agricore United for their assistance in this manner.
On Saturday, February 22, 2003 in conjunction with the Big Valley Historical Society, the Canadian Northern Society will hold its annual potluck banquet at the Big Valley Seniors Citizens Drop-In Centre.
This year we are honoured to have our own Mr. Walter Kittler of Mirror be our guest speaker. Walter is the long-time senior conductor for Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions and will relate to us some of his many interesting experiences from his 50-year railway career in central Alberta.
In addition to Walter’s remarks and our traditional annual themed slide presentation, the banquet also provides an opportunity for the society to recognize outstanding volunteer effort and contributions over the past year.
This year, courtesy of Mrs. M. C. Didrichsen, we will be raffling off a mountain bike at the banquet.
The annual banquet begins at 5:00 p.m. with a potluck dinner at 6:00 p.m. The program will follow dinner.
Please bring a potluck dish of your choice. You can RSVP to Fran Stuber at +1 403 876 2349 or Glenys Smith at +1 780 672 3099.
We look forward to seeing as many members and guests as possible. All are welcome.
On cable TV they have a weather channel — twenty-four hours a day of weather. We had something like that where I grew up. We called it a window. — Dan Spencer
Please support the Canadian Northern Society by renewing or purchasing a new gift membership for 2003. Associate memberships remain at $10 per member, full memberships are available for $20. Your membership dues help maintain and operate our heritage sites, and support the community at large. We especially need your support in light of rising electricity and gas prices again this winter. Your membership also includes your continued subscription to the Canora Chronicle.
Please remit your 2003 dues to:
Treasurer
Canadian Northern Society
Big Valley, Alberta T0J 0G0
In 2003, the Society will be sending this first issue of the Chronicle to as many of our former members as possible who may just have overlooked renewing their membership in the past. We look forward and thank everyone for their continued support of the Society’s charitable efforts.
On behalf of your executive, I would like to wish everyone a Happy New Year! We reached a significant point in our achievements over the past year.
The most obvious success has been the launching of the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame in conjunction with the Railway Association of Canada, with announcements and/or presentations to most of its initial inductees. I was particularly touched by the induction ceremony for Harry Home, held at Big Valley last fall. This is one aspect of the Hall of Fame that is really important; recognizing living inductees.
The Web site — an integral part of the Hall of Fame — is up and operating, thanks in large part to Lorrie and Dean Tiegs. Lorrie was also responsible for the excellent design of the certificates presented to all inductees.
Shawn Smith played a huge role in mobilizing all the parties involved, and co-ordinating, cajoling and sometimes threatening (when required) so that things got done. Thank you, Shawn!
Fund-raising for the Hall of Fame pavilion in Big Valley is the next large step, led by Peter Didrichsen and Joe Gillanders. As usual, we received the co-operation of many organizations and individuals in Camrose, Meeting Creek, Donalda, Stettler, Big Valley, Edmonton and Calgary and all points in between. There are too many names to mention individually (and I dread that I may forget someone).
As with any volunteer organization we rely almost exclusively on you: people that decide that they will expend their time and energy on our society. Thank you one and all. Your efforts are truly appreciated — in the present by your executive and the other members — and as part of a legacy for future generations.
Continue to be proud of and please continue to support your Society. It will result in yet another banner year for all involved.
There will be a general meeting of the Canadian Northern Society held at 17:30 on Thursday, February 13, 2003, in Edmonton at the offices of the Lakeland & Waterways Railway, Suite 1165 Weber Centre, 5555 Calgary Trail.
All members are welcome. Agenda items will include:
Canadian National’s Western Stations by Canadian Northern Society Leslie S. Kozma and co-author Charles W. Bohi has now been released by Railfare Enterprises. This is a companion volume to Charles Bohi’s 1979 work Canadian National’s Western Depots and is a must purchase for station enthusiasts, modellers, and historians seeking more detailed information about the history of western Canada’s railway stations.
Included in the 160-page book are historical photographs, including one of Big Valley station, colour photographs, and black-and-white photos from the end of the depot era on the prairies. Portable stations are included in this work, along with extensive rosters. A special section on exterior colour schemes is especially interesting.
Canadian National’s Western Stations is available from Railfare Enterprises, Box 91, Pickering, Ontario L1V 2R2 for $60 plus goods and services tax.
Congratulations to Les and Chuck on a wonderful companion volume that really completes the history of the CNR depot in western Canada.
1888-02-24 (115 years ago): The 795 km long Northern and Northwestern Railway is acquired by the GTR.
November was spent proposal-writing to three agencies for funding. We have no word yet. Our goal is to complete the project of conserving our artifact collections in the next year if funding can be secured. We have had several bookings in the Tearoom and this helps with expenses over the winter. Our next project is Saint Patrick’s Day supper and sing-a-long. We have already received a phone call for 10 people. It will take place on March 16 at 18:30 here at the station. We may consider two nights this year, March 15 and 16, if we can secure enough volunteers and musicians for the two nights.
We would like to thank Peter Didrichsen for donating the book Snow War, an illustrated history of Rogers Pass in Glacier National Park, British Columbia. We also would like to thank him for securing the display cases from a Stettler jeweller. We have brought two cases to Camrose for use in the tool shed and the station.
I would like to make two corrections from the last Chronicle, sorry for these errors. The needlepoint picture won in the silent auction was won by Leo Girard. Thanks to Eric Thomas for assisting with stabilization of the tool shed on the Camrose site.
We are hosting the CARMN meeting here at the station. We will be serving lunch and are partnering with the Camrose Centennial Museum to make the day interesting. Glenys Smith will be facilitating a workshop in the afternoon on Interpretation through Story-Telling.
We were very happy and thankful to the Town and County of Camrose for becoming Boomtown Trail Ambassadors. There are many benefits as we will be advertised free in the brochure along with Meeting Creek. We will be a distribution centre for some of the brochures. Camrose is going to be hiring a tourism coordinator in the near future.
We are thankful for all our volunteers who continue to support the projects here at the station. Special mention to Murray and Carol Roy, Dorothy Lysons, Robbie O’Riordan, Doreen Faye and Fred Murray. We welcome Melanie Schultz, a high-school student who will be repainting buildings from the Garden Railway.
Our school program will be commencing in March and April. If you would like information on how the grade-four children in your communities can access the program, call or e-mail us here at the station.
The Canadian Northern Society’s association with the community of Viking and the Viking Station Gallery and Arts Centre Guild goes back to 1990 when the society was instrumental in securing and initial preserving the 1909 Grand Trunk Pacific Railway depot in Viking on behalf of the community. Since this time, the community has conducted extensive upgrading and repairs on this Grand Trunk Pacific heritage structure, located on the CN main line one hour east of Edmonton. Complete with a membership renewal for 2003, Canadian Northern Society recently received the following update from the Station Gallery and Arts Centre Guild:
Restoration work continues at the Viking railway station by volunteers with support from corporations, the community, and generous corporate donors. Since June, fund-raising efforts have resulted in continued renovations to the station freight shed which is being developed as a tea room and art gallery. Atco Gas has contributed funds to build a large street-side deck and a sidewalk and wheelchair access ramp.
Canadian National contributed funding to upgrade the Via Rail passenger access from the front of the station. The station remains a stop for the transcontinental Canadian three days per week between Vancouver and Toronto. Burlington Resources has made contributions that have allowed the purchase of a piano and the development of a musical program.
The tea house work is now nearing completion, with new equipment such as a dishwasher being installed. Volunteers are constructing tables and chairs.
This past summer, awards were given to young artists who participated in the Guild’s New Beginnings program. This is a charitable program aimed at helping the community at large. The annual fall art show and sale was conducted at the station giving local artists an outlet for their talent. Upcoming events at the Viking station include the official opening of the Arts Centre scheduled for May 2003.
The Canadian Northern Society is proud to continue to support the Viking Station Gallery and Arts Centre Guild and we wish them continued success with their endeavours.
In response to operation needs, short line carrier Lakeland and Waterways Railway, whose network extends from St. Paul Junction. (just north of Edmonton), to Boyle, and from Boyle to the Alberta Pacific Forest Products pulp mill facility near Athabasca, Alberta, has placed two new operating points into service effective January 4, 2003. LAKELAND is located at Mile 0.8 on the LWR Alberta Pacific Subdivision and is named for the many lakes in the Boyle area and has obvious origin in the first word in the railway’s name. ABERCYNON is located at Mile 9.0 of the Alberta Pacific Subdivision where a small spur is now located. It takes its name from a small historical mining village in southeastern Wales.
There will be a Canadian Northern Fund Raiser held on Friday, February 28 in St. Andrew’s Anglican Church Hall in Camrose. It is an all-you-can-eat spaghetti supper and silent suction. It will run from 4:30 to 8:30 p.m. All are welcome to attend.
Just a reminder to all interested in donating items to the annual Canadian Northern Yard Sale. The sale will take place the last weekend in June. You can call the Camrose station if you would like your items picked up.
Although the CNR purchased yard diesels in 1946
for operation in the east, Edmonton did not receive any until 1950
—
and that was mainly for evaluation and then operation to the Redwater
oil fields. Alco S-2 Units 7953 and 7954 class Q-6-b at
1000 horsepower (700 kW) were the first to arrive. The colour was
black and Morency orange.
It wasn’t long before the yard engine footboards were removed and special road-switcher pilots, fabricated in Calder, installed for the trips to Redwater. A photo of Number 7953 with snow on its pilot appeared in the Journal in the spring of 1951.
It would be another year before the first A units showed up at
Calder: September 24, 1952, to be exact. They were new that year. It
seems everyone had a chance to leave their place of employment to take
a look. From photos it was shown that a man from the
Air Bench Department did not require overalls to be worn because of
the clean environment and fine work involved. It was quite an exciting
moment, but made us realize the handwriting was on the wall and a big
change was coming.
That evening’s Edmonton Journal mentioned that the two units hauled a train of 135 cars, made up of 99 loads and 35 empties, 1¼ mile (2.0 km) long into the city at 02:15. Each unit used 2½ gallons per hour (11.4 L/h) at full power at 16¢ per gallon (3.5¢/L).
The units cost $500 000 each compared to $175 000 for the last steamers built in 1944: the 6060 series. It also mentioned that the press and radio men riding the head-end were home in bed before the tail-end crew booked off! The write-up, by the way, was written by Art Evans, who many of you will remember as a railroad buff and supporter.
Units 7953 and 7954 were transferred down east in 1954
when the policy of GM units being
assigned to the West and Alco units working in the East was
implemented. They were renumbered 8119 and 8120 respectively and were
assigned to the GTW in
Chicago in 1969.
1818 (185 years ago): A tramway was reputed to have been constructed to haul coal at Pictou, Nova Scotia, using horses as motive power. A regular rail track was laid in 1829 using rails made at the Albion Mines. These rails were the first metal rails used in Canada and possibly in North America. The tramway was operated by horsepower until 1838.
1823 (180 years ago): The Quebec Citadel Incline Plane is opened using two cars on double track. Power was supplied by a stationary steam engine. This was used until the late 1840s.
1853 (150 years ago): The Great Western Railway opens its main line between Windsor and Niagara Falls. The Great Western went on to build, lease or buy other railways throughout Southern Ontario, and it can be claimed to be the first Canadian system. The first sections were opened as follows:
1863 (140 years ago): The first railway is opened in Western Canada. The New Vancouver Coal Mining Company opens a line to move ballast and coal in the Nanaimo area of Vancouver Island. The first locomotive, named Pioneer, was an 0-4-0T imported from the Canada Works of Brassey & Company, England.
1898-03-01 (105 years ago): Through service commences over the Intercolonial Railway between Halifax and Montreal. This is achieved through a series of leases and running rights agreements with the Grand Trunk Railway.