Railway Bunkhouse

This long skinny shed looking building was once a railway bunkhouse. Simply, it was a crash-pad for train crews overnighting away from home base. There would be a couple beds inside, a simple kitchen, a biffy and that’s about it. No five star resort, it was about as basic as accommodations could get. There used to be a fair number of these buildings scattered across the various railways networks.

The track that used to pass by here dates from the 1910s – the grassed over roadbed can be seen back left behind the building. The line was put in by the firm Canadian Northern Railways, and ran from Stettler south to Munson, a spot just north of Drumheller, connecting with other lines at each end. In the 1920s it became a Canadian National Railways property, then in the mid-1980s was sold to a short line operator, who used it into the 1990s. Interestingly, passenger trains travelled past here into the early 1980s (self propelled rail cars). The track and trains are long gone.

From when the building dates (early years or sometime later) is not known. When it was last used is not known (we did find a 1970s era phone inside). Why it survives, long after the steel that it used to sit beside was pulled up, is not known. Don’t know much here.

More long term living quarters for railways crews…
Section House.

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Date of adventure: March, 2017.
Location: Starland County, AB.

A former Canadian National Railways crew bunkhouse.