Meeting Creek station and elevators

This post has been updated: An Evening in Meeting Creek

The old photos and a few snippets have been kept and are seen below…

…Inside are a number of displays and bits related to the day to day operations of an elevator, including a very old drive engine, in the attached office, and a wagon that just emptied its load of grain. And then there’s the signs – No Smoking! – Children Not Permitted! – and others – all those rules! Inside the smell of wood and grain permeates the air. The rail car seals shown in one photo, work this way – once a car was filled, the door was closed and a seal applied, which if broken or missing on arrival at the destination would indicate that the load may have been tampered with.

Naturally, fire was a big worry for elevator operators and all that wood and grain was quite flammable. Many steps were taken to prevent such an event, but even so over the years, many burned down. Lighting or vandalism and not so much smoking, were two common causes.

To see other train stations we’ve explored, follow these links…
Manyberries Alberta railway station.
CPR Bassano station.
Rowley Alberta ghost town.

If you wish more information on what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date of adventure: July, 2014.
Location: Meeting Creek, AB.

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Grain elevator Meeting Creek

A view from the station…

Meeting Creek elevator

Notice the flag?

Railway crossbuck

An old crossbuck.

Railway car seals

Rail car seals – read the article to find out what they are.

Meeting Creek AB elevator

The colours this day were near perfect.

Bird on a building

A tiny house sparrow pauses for a moment.

Meeting Creek Alberta elevator

This elevator once belonged to the Alberta Wheat Pool.

Train station coal stove

A coal stove to heat the station.

Carbon Alberta grain elevators

A photo (of a photo) showing Carbon Alberta’s many grain elevators.

Meeting Creek train station

The baggage and express room.

Railway insulators

A nice collection of line insulators.

Meeting Creek AB train station

Every station would have baggage wagon (right).

Meeting Creek grain elevators

A timeless scene…

Meeting Creek railway depot

Looking down the weedy tracks.

Meeting Creek train tracks

The rail line here was built in the 1910s and abandoned in the 1990s.

Meeting Creek AB grain elevators

Vertical Payne?

Meeting Creek AWP elevator

This building dates from the 1910s or 1930s depending on what source is used.

Grain elevators Meeting Creek

The building on the right, as can be seen, once belonged to the firm Alberta Pacific Grain.

Alberta Pacific Grain sign

An old sign found in the elevator office.

Children not permitted

Children Not Permitted!

Grain wagon

A typical grain wagon.

Grain elevator no smoking sign

Naturally, no smoking was allowed anywhere near the elevator.

Fairbanks weight scale

An old Fairbanks weigh scale.

Meeting Creek AB AWP elevator

This building is in private hands and is not part of the exhibit (but it still fits in).

Meeting Creek station and elevators

It was a great day for photography.

Vertical Payne Meeting Creek

At one time there was a third elevator here, but it’s been gone for decades.

CNoR station Meeting Creek

All we need is a train to complete the scene.

Meeting Creek Alberta

50th ave and 50th st?

Meeting Creek's two grain elevators

The left elevator closed in the 1980s, the other one, a decade later.

Meeting Creek CNR station

Amazing, but at one time you could travel just about anywhere by train.

Railway sempaphore

This semaphore told a train to stop if passengers were waiting.

35 responses

  1. Braeden Watson says:

    Could ‘Vertical Payne’ have something to do with the founder of the Central Western Railway, Tom Payne, which was the shortline railway that used this line after CN sold it?

    • It never crossed our minds earlier, but you know there may be a connection there. Still, no one has come forward with an answer.

      • I have an update on what Vertical Payne means. I posted pictures of these elevators on my Instagram and included in the caption that it is unknown as to what “Vertical Payne” means. Well, the mystery was solved when a very reliable source, Tom Payne’s daughter, Amelia, replied telling me that when Tom owned the elevator, he wanted to turn it into a climbing wall and it was to be called “Vertical Payne”. Unfortunately, painting the name on the elevator was as far as they ever got.

        • Thank you for adding to the story! And solving a puzzling mystery. We called around back when we did that piece and got no where, then forgot about it, and it’s so kind you could update us all.

  2. Paul S Brochner says:

    (via Facebook)
    I worked for Central Western Railway in the 80s and 90s. I remember spotting empties and lifting loaded cars from these elevators. I also remember doubling the hill north out of Meeting Creek up to Edberg if our train exceeded the capabilites of our two GP-7s. (26 loaded grain hoppers was all we could take up that hill at a time.)

    I was also fortunate enough to be part of the engine crew when Central Western operated the steam train back in the very early days, just after we brought the 41 (#9 then) and a few coaches up to Canada from the Huntsville Transportation Museum in Huntsville, Alabama.

    Now it’s just a couple hundred feet of the main, the siding and the two switches left… Ah, memories.

  3. Rob Jenkins says:

    The old station is incredible, too. Would be kind of neat to adapt it’s dimensions to a house if one wanted to build one similar to it.

  4. Arseny Tsaplev says:

    I like the elevator building.
    I have a model of that station in TT scale (1:120). Nice station!

  5. Jan Normandale says:

    (via Facebook)
    Chris and Connie you do a fine job!

  6. Susan Lary says:

    Beautiful photographs iconic and full of atmosphere Chris! Love it!

  7. Paul S. Brochner says:

    I worked for Central Western Railway in the 80s and 90s. I remember spotting empties and lifting loaded cars from these elevators. I also remember doubling the hill north out of Meeting Creek up to Edberg if our train exceeded the capabilites of our two GP-7s. (26 loaded grain hoppers was all we could take up that hill at a time.)

    I was also fortunate enough to be part of the engine crew when Central Western operated the steam train back in the very early days, just after we brought the 41 and a few coaches up to Canada from the Huntsville Transportation Museum in Huntsville, Alabama.

    Now it’s just a couple hundred feet of the main, the siding and the two switches left… Ah, memories.

    • Very cool story. It’s hard to imagine not that long ago freight trains operating on the line. This author rode the second last steam run (as I found out later) on this same Stettler-Meeting Creek section of track. Ah yes, memories. Thanks for commenting!

    • Judy says:

      HI Paul, I lived on highway 21 6 miles north of Bashaw. My gradfathers land was right at the turn off of 21 going to meeting creek . From rhe house , you could see the train cross the gravel road .It ran thru our field .It was the Smithson farm . Im guessing I probably waved at some point when you went thru . I’d run up the hill in the field , and watch the train .I grew up there from 1956-till i moved in 1973. Then my uncle came and farmed there till he sold the land.So here’s a hello, I remember the year when tjey stopped running the steam train .. wow! Thats history . I love these articles. Nice reading your history . Judy (Cox)

      • Here’s hoping this persons sees your comment. It was nice chatting with you in private and we’ll be up at Meeting Creek this evening. Interesting timing, yeah?

  8. Dan Overes says:

    I imagine you saw this since this article was originally written, but this explains why so many small towns have numerically large street numbers, especially the 50/50 combination: https://ama.ab.ca/2015/07/29/a-street-named-50/

  9. Stewart says:

    Bravo another Great story and pictures ,
    I’ll have to check it out next spring.

  10. Great post and beautiful photos!

  11. saskatchewanpancake says:

    I’m jealous of all these kickass places you’ve been. Bravo.

    • We are so fortunate.

    • Judy Bloomfield ( Cox) says:

      This IS where I grew up! Watched the steam locomotive pass by in my field every day as a kid till they stopped useing it , then used coal i think.that was in the 60’s .

      • I’ve seen a photo of a steamer on that very line, around Donalda, maybe about 1957-1958, which was likely close to when they stopped using them in the area. At the latest, steam locomotives were gone by 1960 when the railway retired the last ones.

  12. axel homeless says:

    Thanks mate, I’m using some of these pictures for wallpaper. You two shoot amazingly.

  13. Judy Hills says:

    Gorgeous! My grandfather grew up in the area. We love that old station and have been inside many times. What’s that w on a post mean?

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