— 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
Construction of a new elevator style coal dock began in June of 1941. It was built east of the station, and south of the main line to facilitate faster coaling of main line trains. Locomotives could also be serviced from the service track on the south side of the coal dock. This new facility contained four coal pockets, each with a capacity of 100 tons of coal. By September of 1942 the new coal dock was in service and crews began dismantling the trestle type coal dock, a familiar landmark since 1912.
A new locomotive shop was also constructed in 1942. It was built north and west of the old roundhouse and turntable, and upon completion the old roundhouse was demolished. The foundation for the original roundhouse and the turntable pit remained visible until construction of the Canada Packers Edible Oil plant was built on the site. These ruins are visible in several photos of the yards.
The boilers of the new shop were fired for the first time on Thursday December 10, 1942. Three tracks ran through this shop facility, and two service pits on each track gave it the capacity to service six locomotives. A huge tank for bunker “C” oil was erected just south of this shop, along with a track for unloading tank cars. The previous experiments with oil-fired locomotives had been successful, and C.N.R. had begun converting the locomotive fleet to burn oil throughout Western Canada. A small oil tank and standpipe were located near the coal dock to allow main line servicing.
