{"id":3074,"date":"2023-02-06T11:30:10","date_gmt":"2023-02-06T17:30:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/?p=3074"},"modified":"2025-01-03T03:00:46","modified_gmt":"2025-01-03T09:00:46","slug":"interesting-facts-about-the-development-of-edmontons-railways","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/eternal\/interesting-facts-about-the-development-of-edmontons-railways-3074","title":{"rendered":"Interesting Facts About the Development of Edmonton’s Railways"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Edmonton’s railways played a pivotal role in shaping the city. For several generations, they were a lifeline for the community. Learn more about the history and fascinating facts about Edmonton’s railway development on edmonton1.one<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Beginning of Edmonton\u2019s Northern Railway<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was established in 1905, with tracks extending into the city centre and north of 104 Avenue.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The first passenger train arrived at the station in November 1905, enabling Edmontonians to travel to Winnipeg in just 27 hours. This event marked the beginning of a golden age for Edmonton\u2019s railways.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The railway quickly became popular among residents, facilitating the transport of goods. Warehouses emerged on either side of the tracks to accommodate the influx of freight. To manage the volume, a large railway station was constructed north of 104 Street.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1910, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) joined the CNoR. In July of that year, GTPR’s first train arrived at the central station at 8:15 PM, drawing a crowd of about 2,000 ticket holders\u2014an impressive turnout for a city with a population of just 20,000 at the time. The Edmonton Express No. 1 train took 30 hours to reach Winnipeg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Growth and Decline of the Railways<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In 1913, the construction of the High Level Bridge was completed, allowing trains from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to reach Edmonton\u2019s city centre. CPR built a new station on Jasper Avenue\u2019s north side, west of 109 Street. The railway officially opened in September 1913, with the first train departing for Saskatoon and Winnipeg.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The station included a passenger terminal built of reinforced concrete. The two-storey structure featured a waiting room adorned with marble, smoking rooms, and resting areas. These facilities were located on the first floor, designed with elegance and practicality.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, the Great Depression and World War I in 1914 significantly hindered railway expansion and passenger services. Labour shortages halted railway construction, and several companies went bankrupt. By 1922, the nationalisation of CNoR and GTPR led to the creation of Canadian National Railways (CNR).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In 1927, CNR undertook the construction of a larger, more modern railway station. Designed by prominent architect John Schofield, the new facility featured a grand entrance with stone columns in the Greek Doric style. The first floor housed dining and smoking rooms, a restaurant, and a main waiting hall, all adorned with elegant terrazzo-marble flooring laid in two-metre squares.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The exterior of the station featured brickwork supplied by Acme Brick and reinforced with a steel frame. Manitoba limestone was used for the building\u2019s trim. The interior woodwork included oak on the first floor and spruce on the second, adding warmth and refinement to the station’s design. Construction was supervised by Permanent Construction, and the station opened in March 1928.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Edmonton\u2019s Expanding Rail Network<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

By 1928, the demand for grain transport skyrocketed, increasing sixfold compared to previous years. To handle the load, railway tracks were expanded. The city also constructed a new subway on 109 Street, creating a 168-metre-long, 3.3-metre-high, two-lane tunnel known as the “Rathole.” The subway opened in October 1928, streamlining rail and pedestrian traffic.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Edmonton’s railways played a pivotal role in shaping the city. For several generations, they were a lifeline for the community. Learn more about the history and fascinating facts about Edmonton’s railway development on edmonton1.one. The Beginning of Edmonton\u2019s Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was established in 1905, with tracks extending into the city […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":463,"featured_media":3078,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1168],"tags":[2712,2714,2713,2719,2720,2716,2718,2708,2721,2710,2343,2717,2715,2709,2711],"moimportance":[78,81],"motype":[1158],"moformat":[83],"class_list":{"0":"post-3074","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-jobs","8":"tag-canadian-northern-railway","9":"tag-cnr-edmonton","10":"tag-early-edmonton-economy","11":"tag-edmonton-passenger-trains","12":"tag-edmonton-rail-expansion","13":"tag-edmonton-railway-history","14":"tag-edmonton-railway-station","15":"tag-edmonton-train-travel","16":"tag-edmonton-transportation-history","17":"tag-grain-transport-edmonton","18":"tag-grand-trunk-pacific-railway","19":"tag-high-level-bridge-edmonton","20":"tag-historic-edmonton-infrastructure","21":"tag-railways-in-alberta","22":"tag-rathole-tunnel","23":"moimportance-golovna-novina","24":"moimportance-retranslyacziya-v-agregatori","25":"motype-eternal","26":"moformat-vlasna"},"modified_by":"Viktorij Voitova","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/463"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=3074"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":3081,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/3074\/revisions\/3081"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/3078"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=3074"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"moimportance","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moimportance?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"motype","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/motype?post=3074"},{"taxonomy":"moformat","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/edmonton1.one\/en\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/moformat?post=3074"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}