General Information: Built: 1913 Partially Removed: ~1964, ~1973, ~1978, ~1986, ~1993 Beginning Point: Mileage 131.9, Drumheller Subdivision End Point: End of track Speed Limit: 25 MPH General Direction: Northwest
Customers (c.1981) Dominion Bridge Bates T.T.
Current Customers Currently the Calgary Industrial Line serves no customers, but is used for getting trains trains to the East Industrial Branch and Highfield Industrial Branch, which do serve customers. In olden days, it served Imperial Oil in the Ogden/Lynnwood area, as well as Dominion Bridge/Riverside Iron Works, and a few other industries in the Erlton/Mission area.
Map See my full map of every rail line to exist in Calgary here! Trackage coloured pink/magenta indicates the Calgary Industrial Line
More on the Calgary Industrial Line The Calgary Industrial Line has a similar history to the G.T.P. Industrial Branch in the sense that it started its life as a main line for freight and passenger. It was constructed by the Canadian Northern Railway under the name of the Alberta Midland in 1913 and opened for service in 1914, coming into the city from Drumheller, where it once could connect to lines going to Stettler or Hanna. In 1919 the operation of the line was took over by CN, the result of the amalgamation of the Canadian Northern and Grand Trunk Pacific, among other smaller railroads. Some people know of the Alberta Ballet building in Calgary's Beltline (just east of St. Mary's Cathedral), and... well... most people who know of it know it was Calgary's old CN station as well, but have you ever taken the time to think about the route trains took to get there? Despite the fact that the station fell out of use in 1971, about 60% of the track that got passenger trains from the Sarcee Yards at the edge of the city to the station is still there. But today its use is limited to small local trains that don't often come by.
So it's just another story of a rail line in Calgary that had a history of mainline freight and passenger service which was demoted to an industrial spur, but it's definitely one of Calgary's most historic lines which is home to some beautiful (and not-so-beautiful) bridges.
And - of course - the station was used in 1976 for the filming of Silver Streak with Gene Wilder 5 years after the station ceased service and probably not long before the rails at the station were lifted. Many locations in Calgary were used for the filming of Silver Streak. You can learn a bit more here.