Irricana then and now – CNR tracks

The first photograph in this “then and now” report shows a circa 1992 railway scene captured in the small town of Irricana Alberta. We see a row of grain hoppers sitting on a side track not far from an elevator, perhaps waiting to be loaded there, or maybe having already been filled, they could be pending pick up by the next train. There are two competing railways here, paralleling each other, a CNR line to the left and opposite and seen curving away is a connector track to the now abandoned CPR branch a few dozen metres to the east.

In the second picture let’s us see how that same location appears today.

Interestingly, the old photo was taken by yours truly and this is the first time we have used our own picture for the “then” component of a report. In all the rest, these have been shot by others.

The first image (from a scanned 35mm slide) has us looking roughly north. The CNR’s Calgary to Edmonton line is to the left. The side track we were standing on once served the elevators seen peeking out just to the left of the grain hoppers in the old picture. Today it is are used to store cars and a number were seen way off in the distance sitting on this track roughly where those buildings were once located.

↓ ↓ ↓ ↓ Scroll down for photos and to comment ↓ ↓ ↓ ↓

This grain elevator, as far as we know, was constructed in the 1920s for a private firm. In the 1940s it came under control of the Alberta Wheat Pool. The exact date it was torn down is not certain, but I have been told the late 1990s. I visited Irricana in 1997 or 98 and it was still extant, so it must have been shortly after that.

The rail line seen, the CNR’s Three Hills Subdivision, was built by a predecessor company, the Grand Truck Pacific, in the 1910s. The GTP amalgamated with several other railways, in the early 1920s, forming the Canadian National Railways we know and love today This line sees perhaps a few trains per day. Sadly, none showed for us.

The line curving to the right connects the CNR and CPR to each other. It’s not known exactly when it was put in place and what specific purpose it served. Did it allow either railway to reach both elevator complexes? Perhaps…

Or, as it’s been suggested by some, did it the CPR use it to access it’s own line via the CNR tracks after it abandoned the section south of here, which was devoid of any customers. This seems to make good sense since the two lines originated near each other and for the most part ran parallel, sometimes a few kilometres apart and other times within shouting distance of each other. By sharing track to here, this allowed the CPR to save on maintenance and the like. The two railways, by the way, continue to run close to each other all the way to Beiseker, the next town down the line (north). Shortly after they go their separate ways. The CPR line turns north, where as the CN one takes a more northeasterly heading.

This CPR branch was fully abandoned by the mid to late 1990s – some reports say 1995, others 1998 or so.

The two elevators to the right were actually twins sitting side by side and considered operationally as one. It dates from 1911 (one twin), 1929 (the second twin) and 1960s (the annex). This building was at the time of my 1992 visit under control of the Alberta Wheat Pool. The previous owner was Federal Grain, which AWP purchased in the 1970s.

At one time there was a third elevator complex nearby, but little is known about it and I am not even sure if it was along the CN or CP tracks. Information in regards to Irricana’s “prairie sentinels” is hard to come by and rather spotty at best. As always research is ongoing and corrections and additions are possible. We also love to hear from our readers if they can add anything.

Let’s see what’s changed between the then and now shots…

The CP line is abandoned and pulled up, the grain elevators are long gone and some new houses have sprung up in back. None the less the layout of the current railway line and the ghost of the abandoned one makes the location instantly recognizable even if much of the area is, for the most part, featureless.

While the grain elevators seen in the old photo are gone, wandering about the area we found three others of sorts. There is a shed and birdhouse, each in the shape of one, located in a yard that backs on to the old CPR branch. They are even painted in Alberta Wheat Pool colours just like the big “vators” seen in the old photo.

Then there is this large playground made with an elevator theme. Just looking at it, we know it’d be endless fun. Kids have it so good today. When I was one (a cliched saying like “back in my day”), we were happy to have swing, a slide and teeter-totter. That’s all. One this elaborate and exciting, to my child self, would have seemed like Disneyland. I would have never left!

Update: May 2014. Larry Buchan, a long time CPR employee (now retired) has sent us some information regarding the connector track. It allowed the CPR to abandon the Calgary to Irricana section of its Langdon Subdivision branch, an unproductive slow order riddled section of track with no customers, and instead use the CNR line in from Calgary to access the remainder of it. This happened in 1989. Thanks Larry, we can always count on you.

Check out this museum which is located not from where our pictures were taken…
Old farm tractors Pioneer Acres Museum Irricana.
Old road and construction machinery Pioneer Acres Museum Irricana.
Unrestored trucks Pioneer Acres Museum Irricana.

If you’d like to know more about what you’ve seen here, by all means contact us!

Date: April, 2014.
Location: Irricana, AB.

  • _________________________

    BIGDoer.com: Doing it Different!



    Something to say in private? Click here to: Reach Us!
    NEWS!First TimersFAQMeet the Team
    BIGDoer.com on Facebook

    If you liked this post, please tip your server…



    Or

    © 2012-2024 Chris Doering, Johanna (Connie) Biggart & the BIGDoer.com Society. 🍁🎀

Irricana AB grain elevators

Irricana Alberta, alongside the CNR tracks, circa 1992.

Irricana AB train tracks

Here’s how it looks today.

 

Grain elevator Irrciana AB

This elevator shed and birdhouse are located nearby, next to the abandoned CPR line.

Grain elevator playground

Not far way, we find this grain elevator themed playground.

18 responses

  1. Henry (Big H ) Niznik says:

    Nice photos. The elevator shed was located behind my duplex where I lived from July 2010 to April 2015. Built it in summer 2010 but almost a year before putting on the shingles and painting it. It had an observation level at the top. Nice to see it still standing. There was a AWP elevator maybe 200 feet to the North well into the 70s.
    Many good memories growing up there in the 60s.

    • Thank you! Your place at the time? Fantastic, good job. And thanks for adding to the story. We’ve seen your old train photos on FB and thoroughly enjoy them.

  2. Bob Niznik says:

    In regards to the elevator and annex (along the CN line) that was destroyed by fire in 1961 (as mentioned by my older brother Henry), the concrete slabs and the two earthen approaches to the driveway shed were still present until @ early May, 1997 when lengths of large-diameter steel pipe were being unloaded from flatcars and stored nearby for @ 4 months. In order to better accommodate the unloading/storage, the land was made “more” level, and the “debris” was moved eastward into the trees that were situated along the west side of the CPR ROW.The broken-up concrete slab pieces remained in that spot for several years (I don’t know if they are still there.).

    • Interesting. I’ve wandered about the land there but didn’t see them. But then again, I wasn’t looking for them. Thanks for adding to the story!

  3. Richard S says:

    Since the abandonment of the CPR line, CNR line has has some extensive upgrades including new ballast, new ties and a welded and heavier 115 lbs rail. There are more trains about 4 – 6 per day and they are much quieter.

    • I know the trains run on that line with reasonable frequency, but darn it seems I can never catch one! Thanks for adding to the story.

  4. Henry (Big H ) Niznik says:

    Irricana had 4 elevators until 1961 when the Alberta Pacific Grain elevator and its annex burnt down in 1961. That left the Alberta Wheat Pool one along with its annex on the CN.(Irronically , annex completed just days before the APG elevator fire ). On the CP there was the APG elevator which soon after became an Alberta Wheat Pool as well as the single AWP down the tracks. In 1989 , a connection from the CN to CP was built after CP abandoned its line from Shepard to Irricana. CP then ran its weekly train from Calgary over the CN to Irricana, then North onto the CP from Irricana. The rest of the CP was abandoned on July 31st, 1996.

    • Wow, very cool! Thank for helping fill in the blanks. We always love how our readers help grow these articles. It’s was certainly an odd arrangement of elevators. Do keep dropping by.

  5. Richard S. says:

    I remember the CPR line from Irricana to Carbon. The tracks were in good condition and the shallow valley between Irricana and Beiseker were very scenic having both railines crisscrossing each other. CP shared the line from Irricana to Calgary at that time.

  6. Larry Buchan says:

    One interesting footnote was after the new connector track was put in place. I was working with a crew on the caboose that were not the sharpness knives in the drawer, I will call the conductor Alan, and the tail end brakeman Robert to protect their real names. This was a usual trip we arrived at Irricana and the head end brakeman lined the mainline switch, and the switch to the lead off of the CNR elevator track, I had high-speed units in the 3000 series from General Motors and they were equipped with a speedometer in mph, and a distance counter feature, and our train length was 3200 feet when I started ahead . It was 1200 feet from the mainline switch to the switch on the Langdon subdivision, so I knew when to slow down so the tail end brakeman could line back the mainline switch, and the connector switch on the elevator track, Robert called me on his portable radio saying that switches were lined back and to pull up to the Langdon subdivision switch which I did, he lined it back and we proceeded on to Beiseker as we had no work at Irricana, we returned the next day, a Friday, and we had our weekend off at home. On Saturday morning I got a phone call from the Assistant Superintendent, he asked me what had happened at Irricana on Thursday, I had no idea what he was talking about, I soon found out evidently Robert had left the CNR mainline switch open, and had only lined back the connecting switch from the elevator track, fortunately a crew of section men out patrolling from the open switch before any trains were run, if a train going 45 miles an hour went through that opened switch toward the elevator tracks it would have been a real catastrophe, but fortunately that didn’t happen. Robert and the conductor who should have been watching him were both disciplined and received demerits. Nothing happened to me or the head end brakeman as we couldn’t see what was going on from our distance away in the locomotive.

  7. Jim P says:

    Great pics. Btw… I assume the right vators were on the CP Line

  8. Jim P says:

    Very cool slide!!

  9. Cody Kapcsos says:

    Very good, Chris!

You cannot copy content of this page

Please log-in to continue...
This allows unrestricted access to every post @BIGDoer.com, popups are eliminated,
commenting is on and the "contact us" page is enabled.

Esc to close this box.

Lost Password?

Or...

Your social site may send you a routine notice of login.

Or signup, here: Subscriber Register
___
BIGDoer.com: Serving up POP HISTORY & other McFun!…(Mmmm, yummy bite-sized pieces.)
One million plus words & tens of thousands of photos!