Railway Era
Edmonton's transition from a frontier outpost to a railway town was delayed because the Canadian Pacific Railway's decision in the 1880s to shift the route of its planned main Winnipeg–Vancouver line south through Calgary. It was further hampered when in 1891 the planned Calgary and Edmonton Railway choose to build its terminus south of the North Saskatchewan River, in what soon became the rival settlement of Strathcona.
In 1903, the Canadian Northern Railway opened a short spur across the Low Level Bridge, linking Edmonton with Strathcona, but Edmonton's major introduction to the rail age came in 1905 when the CNoR's main transcontinental line reached it from Winnipeg. The CNoR's station was located at what is now 104 Avenue and 101 Street, and its yard to the west. Around this yard, Edmonton's warehouse district developed.
In response, the Canadian Pacific extended its C&E line over the river and expanded its station in Strathcona. In 1910, the CNoR station began accepting trains from the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTPR) which had also reached Edmonton. The CNoR and GTPR had rival plans to link Edmonton to the Pacific Coast, CNoR at Vancouver and GTPR at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. The companies were not able turn a profit during the lean years of the Great War, and by 1919 both had been nationalized by the federal government and made part of Canadian National Railways (CNR).
As a major centre for the CNR, Edmonton became one of the most important rail hubs in Canada. In 1928, a new station was opened at 101 Street and 104 Avenue, and was expanded in 1948. In 1964, it was demolished to make way for Edmonton's first skyscraper, the Canadian National Tower. In 1968, CN announced plans to build a massive 800-foot (240 m) "pylon" on the site, but this was never acted on. The yards functioned until 1988, and the last freight sheds were destroyed in 1996.
Read more about this topic: Old Canadian National Rail Yard
Famous quotes containing the words railway and/or era:
“Her personality had an architectonic quality; I think of her when I see some of the great London railway termini, especially St. Pancras, with its soot and turrets, and she overshadowed her own daughters, whom she did not understand—my mother, who liked things to be nice; my dotty aunt. But my mother had not the strength to put even some physical distance between them, let alone keep the old monster at emotional arm’s length.”
—Angela Carter (1940–1992)
“It is not an era of repose. We have used up all our inherited freedom. If we would save our lives, we must fight for them.”
—Henry David Thoreau (1817–1862)