— Table of Contents —
- GTPR Arrives In Wainwright
- Trains Begin Rolling
- The Early Years
- Canadian National Railways Take Over
- Fire Destroys the GTPR Station
- Wainwright Gets a New Station
- George VI Royal Tour
- Buffalo “King” Goes to New York
- Next Generation Technology
- Last of the Steam Locomotives
- Elizabeth II Royal Tour
- The Changing Face of Rail Service
- End One Era, Begin Another
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, building westward from Winnipeg to Prince Rupert, B.C. arrived in Wainwright July 21, 1908. The right of way and Battle River Trestle had been surveyed the previous year (1907). 170 men worked on the “Pioneer” track laying gang, laying two miles of ties and steel in a ten hour day. This meant laying 35 ties and a 30-foot section of rail every minute. Mr. Daniel J. Dempsey was Superintendent of the construction train and gang of 170 men.
The original Grand Trunk Pacific Railway station was erected in 1908. It opened on February 26, 1909. Mr. R. A. Snyder was appointed as the first Station Agent, and Mr. A. E. Duff served as Night Agent. 1908 also saw the construction of the wooden water tank on the south side of the railyard, across from the station, and the arrival of Dr. Middlemass, the G.T.P. Doctor. Concrete footings for the Battle River trestle were poured in late 1907. With the completion of the track to Wainwright, steel and other supplies for the trestle could now be delivered by rail directly to Wainwright instead rather than moved by wagon from Hardisty.
Art Albourne built a small store near the trestle. Mr. J. J. Ruste was the contractor for the store, and also built a small cafe for George Smith. Many other temporary buildings including a hospital were constructed in the river valley near the trestle site.
On April 16, 1908, three men died at the trestle. The scow used to ferry workers across the river was overcrowded and swamped in mid stream. Two men in the boat and the foreman who jumped in to attempt a rescue were drowned. The dead men were, A. Lemmons of St. Boniface, Manitoba, T. Kirby, a homesteader from Alberta, and Foreman Woodford Readman, of Northampton, England. Their bodies were never recovered. Fellow workers erected a concrete cairn in, memory of their co-workers. It is located on the west side of the river, just north of the trestle. A story detailing the accident appeared in the April 17, 1908 edition of the Edmonton Bulletin.
The Battle River trestle, standing 2775 feet long and 195 feet above the river, was completed on December 10, 1908. As originally built, additional trestlework of wood construction was required at the west end of the steel structure due to a difference in grade elevation. This wooden trestlework was approximately a half-mile long and averaged 25 feet high. This was soon filled in with rip-rap to become the high earth fill that appears today beyond the west abutment of the steel trestle.
The first train to cross the trestle was the construction train, on December 15, 1908. Track laying was immediately begun toward Edmonton. Very little maintenance work has been required on the trestle since its construction. Concrete footings were refaced in the late 40’s as evidenced by the new dates cast into them. In 1981 a new concrete deck was installed on the trestle, allowing the track on the trestle to be ballasted for better stability. Full walkways with railings were added to both sides of the trestle. Prior to this installation, bridge ties were bolted to the steel bridgework, and workers could look through the ties to the ground below.
The roundhouse and turntable at the east end of the yard were completed on December 6th 1908.
The stone roundhouse contained twelve stalls.
The steel turntable was 75 feet long.
The first locomotives documented as using the roundhouse were G.T.P. #20, #63, #67, #96, and #106.
