Marker March 2006
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Editor’s note: CN has bought back most of the former today join a larger organization with a strong interest in “As the major participating partner in this project, N.A.R. lines it sold to the short line operators some years growing traffic on these rail lines. CN will honour the exist- THE Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions (APRE), is ago. The Athasbasca Northern Railway from Boyle to just ing collective agreements of the acquired railways. pleased to be able to offer equipment and expertise to south of Ft. McMurray was not purchased. Since these Integration of the properties into CN is expected to take less lines were the ones travelled by the Centennial Train, than six months. MARKER make this important Alberta Centennial project hap- time will tell if there willl be any further excursion trips. The Official Newsletter of the pen,” said Bob Willis, General Manager APRE. For a map of the new CN lines: Alberta Pioneer Railway Association http://www.cn.ca/PDF/NewAlbertaCNlines.pdf Volume 25, Number 1 “We are very pleased to be able to offer a unique and CN purchases RailAmerica’s Alberta short lines for entertaining experience for the public by operating C$26 million Canadian National Railway Company spans Canada and mid-America, from the Atlantic and Pacific oceans to the THE CENTENNIAL TRAIN ISSUE -- special passenger train rides at selected locations this EDMONTON, Jan. 19, 2006 - CN announced today the pur- Gulf of Mexico, serving the ports of Vancouver, Prince THE NORTHERN ALBERTA RAILWAY September,” said Don Gillespie, President of Alberta chase of the Alberta short-line railways owned by Rupert, B.C., Montreal, Halifax, New Orleans, and Mobile, Prairie Railway Excursions, a major sponsor of the COMES ALIVE ONE MORE TIME! RailAmerica, Inc., of Boca Raton, Fla., for C$26 million in Ala., and the key cities of Toronto, Buffalo, Chicago, Detroit, event. cash. In addition, RailAmerica may receive up to C$4 mil- Duluth, Minn./Superior, Wis., Green Bay, Wis., (The following is from a Travel Alberta press release) lion in future payments, depending on the development of Minneapolis/St. Paul, Memphis, St. Louis, and Jackson, new business on the acquired railways. Miss., with connections to all points in North America. Much of Northern Alberta was opened up to settlement Centennial Train Ride offers ‘Journey of a Lifetime’ and resources development as a direct result of the CN is buying the Mackenzie Northern Railway (MKNR) and Editor’s note: arrival of the rail and the Northern Alberta Railway the Lakeland & Waterways Railway (LWR), both located Northern Alberta Railway comes to life after 30 years (NRA). For people in the north the NRA represented north of Edmonton, following RailAmerica’s decision to Please help fill this space! the only practical means of transporting goods and divest its Alberta short lines. Also included in the transaction Nine Centennial excursions, five locations the first two is the Central Western Railway (CWR), a 21-mile railway in people. Today the Passenger Extra Train is only a faint east-central Alberta used largely for training purposes that Hi everyone! I have taken over the editorial and weekends in September - the Train will again be King! memory and a thing of the past. also carries a small amount of agricultural traffic. production duties of the Marker from Dave Stokes. Many thanks go to Dave for his hard This September, the past will come to life! Residents “Through the support of the Alberta Lottery Fund, the Except for a small part of the CWR, all of the lines connect work on the Marker. throughout Northern Alberta and visitors from around Alberta Pioneer Railway Association, Mackenzie with CN’s network. CN plans to upgrade MKNR and LWR the world will be able to experience the nostalgia of trackage to improve customer service and rail efficiencies, Northern Railway, and Lakeland & Waterways and to maximize the lines’ potential for hauling larger vol- As with the museum in general, the Marker passenger train travel as the Northern Alberta Railway, passenger trains will again roll on portions of umes of oil and gas infrastructure building materials, oil needs the efforts of many. Please send any arti- Centennial Train relives railway history. the former Northern Alberta Railways lines for the first sands by-products, minerals, and forest and grain products cles, submissions or ideas to me via email: time in more than 30 years.” in northern Alberta. [email protected], drop off for me at the Nine excursions will be offered in five locations the first two weekends in September. Slave Lake, These feeder lines are a good fit for CN’s merchandise and museum, or at one of the meetings. Typewritten The Northern Alberta Centennial Train project com- bulk commodity businesses at a time of major energy proj- or computer composed text are both acceptable. McLennan, Peace River, the Alberta Railway mittee members include Don Gillespie, president ect development in northern Alberta. Operating the LWR will Photos can be digital or regular film photos, and Museum, Namao and Boyle will all be pick-up points. APRE, Bob Willis, general manager APRE, Herb strengthen CN’s connection to the Alberta Oil Sands, while I can also handle negatives. Dixon, president Alberta Pioneer Railway Association, the MKNR component will allow CN to participate directly in Passengers will experience places no longer traveled Shawn Smith, vice-president Rail America, and Tim the proposed natural gas pipeline projects and give the by train. All will include on-board entertainment, company access to modern on-line grain elevators and pulp I hope to publish every other month, depending Husel, general manager Mackenzie Northern Railway. plants. on available articles and time. Alberta Prairie Railway’s special brand of hospitality with most excursions experiencing a reenacted train For further information and tickets contact: The 600-mile MKNR runs north from Smith, Alta., located Next issue will be May 2006. Focus of the May robbery. Some excursions are round trip with special Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions about 130 miles north of Edmonton, to Hay River, N.W.T. edition will be international train journeys. Have whistle stops, several being one-way trips with return 1-800-282-3994 The LWR, which connects with CN in the Edmonton area, bussing. Boxed lunches will be available. has 118 miles of track and extends to Boyle, Alta., where it you ridden the Ghan in Australia? What about in turn connects with the Athabasca Northern Railway. The the Swiss railways? Were you a speeding bullet Central Western Railway, in east central Alberta, links with on the Shinkansen in Japan? Send me your sto- Adult fares range from $25 - $125. Children’s fares are ELSEWHERE IN THIS ISSUE CN near Drumheller, Alta. ries, experiences, and photos. $25-$110. All tickets will be picked-up at departure site. Passenger pick-up locations will be announced CN began operating the rail lines today, following the close CENTENNIAL TRAIN WEST . .2 Sincerely, when ordering tickets. Tickets can be ordered by call- of the transaction with RailAmerica. CENTENNIAL TRAIN EAST . .5 Stephen Yakimets ing Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions at 1-800-282- CN PRESS RELEASE . .8 Together, the railways carried about 50,000 carloads of [email protected] 3994. freight last year and employed roughly 130 people who (780) 441 5917 8 THE MARKER - MARCH 2006 THE MARKER - MARCH 2006 A TRAIN OF THE CENTURY. Alberta Pioneer Railway Association, for the train reached Kerensky Junction and diverted onto the Sunday afternoon waned on. They seemed undis- By: George H France Historical aspect, and the Alberta Prairie Steam Tours former St.Paul/Cold Lake line - certainly a "rare turbed by the many locals chasing the train with their who had the coaches and staff to actually run the train. mileage" excursion for the railfan. As the train reached cars, like a slow game of cat and mouse. While our Alberta as a Province of Canada was incorporated in Alberta Gaming provided additional funding in sup- the new end of track at Waskatenau, the sun had begun train’s ten-to-thirty mile per hour pace was no chal- September 1905, but at that time, a railway to the port of the venture. to come out. So had the Bolton Gang, back for another lenge for them, it was certainly representative of Peace Country was but a dream. unsuccessful try. Perhaps Gabriel had wounded more leisurely branchline travel in days gone past. With the On Saturday September 4th 205 a passenger train than their pride on the previous day, as they weren't exception of the diesel locomotive on the rear of the The first train reached Peace River in 1916. Over the loaded at Slave Lake on the old N.A.R. and ran to smart enough to avoid being shot up another time. train, 1392 and her ‘green & gold’ consist looked like years passenger trains hauled countless people and Canyon Creek and back, then re-boarded passengers a scene right out the mid-1950's. It was like an echo of their possessions to and from the Peace Country, until for a long run to High Prairie, arriving in late evening the last train on the Central Canada left Hines Creek to be greeted by a very large crowd. for Winagami Junction and the South in May 1960. On Sunday morning, 4th September "Train # 5" was The last scheduled public passenger train on Northern scheduled to depart McLennan at 09:00hrs to arrive Alberta Railways ran on June 01 1974. Peace River on the Central Canada Line at 11:30hrs. Since that time, there was a charter special from Roma Only a dozen or so people were waiting at Peace River, Junction to High Level to celebrate a High Level including the Transport Canada "Operation Lifesaver" Homecoming display bus.