Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum – The End

What a sad ending for the Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum, out in Beiseker Alberta. The group behind it all has long since disbanded, the old station, a planned showpiece, burned down years ago and their railcar collection dispersed to wind. It started off with grand plans, and no doubt good intentions, some twenty years ago, but never got off the ground. They hoped it’d open in celebration of Alberta’s 100th, and now here we are all these years later, looking at the remains.

Left behind, it’s a few bits and pieces, some odd lengths of rail, a jib push car, and the old railway crane seen here. Where there was once a couple rows of railway equipment, of all types, now it’s just this. What a difference a few years makes.

This strange looking thing is a 1950s era Burro locomotive crane, used in maintenance of way service. It could propel itself to the job site, and even pull a couple material cars to boot. Once it and the other bits are removed, so goes the last reminders of this failed endeavour. Who knows if the unit will be scrapped, or find a home somewhere else, but only time will tell. As railway museum pieces go, it’s not got a lot of historic value.

The attached photo was taken in 2020, but last we heard the crane was still there.

How the site looked years ago…
Bassano Railway Station and Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum – what’s going on?.

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Date of adventure: June, 2020.
Location: Beiseker, AB.

Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum – the end.