Manchester Industrial
If you’re into things like gritty industrial parks and little used railway tracks (and who isn’t?), then this post is for you! Tag along with us to wander a strange domain, that of warehouses and factories where infrequent trains, often nocturnal, roam rusty backtracks. Here’s it’s an evening in Calgary’s Manchester Industrial and everyone’s gone home except us.
This track comes off the CPR’s Calgary to Lethbridge secondary line and dates from the 1950s and ’60s, concurrent with the establishment of the neighbourhood. There used to be an fair number of spurs serving a mix of customers here but all that’s left now is a less than two kilometre stub with a couple active shippers.
Manchester Industrial – exploring rusty old tracks. Out and about with Chris Doering and Connie Biggart (BIGDoer/Synd)
Do the same…
Trains serve the line as needed with freights no more than a few cars in length and given the sketchy track (as you’ll see), they must tip-toe along at a granny pace. High speed rail this is not!
1) The industrial lead splits in two here with one track leading to Manchester Industrial (right) and another in back, recently decommissioned, once serving customers further east. We toyed with the idea of following it too, but with little public access it seemed pointless. Even into the 1990s, these two feeder lines contributed their fair share of traffic, but what’s left now is a trickle.
2-3) The track heads down Builder’s Road past the John Howard Society’s Community Services Building and Bedford House, a place for those with a troubled past to get back on their feet. Prominent on one side, it’s a mural put in by a couple indigenous artists, Kalum Teke Dan and an inspirational friend Ryan Jason Allen Willert. The shiny new building contrasts with the edgy vibe present in this industrial setting.
4) At this bend there used to be a run-around siding and a lengthy spur heading off between those two buildings. It’s been gone for a few years and one by one, they’re but a memory. And that’s not just here with industrial track all over similarly vanishing due to changes in the industry. The trains are as busy as ever, but they don’t always serve customers directly.
5) The street and rails run side-by-side passing various building supply businesses (hence the name Builder’s Road). The sky’s something amazing and there’s the BIGDoer-mobile in its natural environment. It’s at home in the woods, or places like this (like those who drive it).
6) Tracks snake down side-streets and at grade crossings are more polished by passing vehicles than trains. It’s eerily quiet, but then again after hours, there’s shouldn’t be many people about anyway. We hoped for a train to show, and waited patiently to hear an approaching toot-toot off in the distance, but it was for naught. We’d kill to photograph one along on this line.
7) A drywall/ceiling specialist receives incoming loads on this spur one or two cars at a time. It and one other company seem to be the only customers left in Manchester Industrial.
8) Given all the road crossings motorists need to exercise caution in the area. With trains infrequent, so rarely on the minds of those driving, I bet there’s been some (slow motion) close calls.
9) This out of service spur once extended south for three or four blocks and served many warehouses and distributors. Here the rail-joints have been removed so we suspect the track will soon be pulled up. The railways are seemingly in retreat (in regards to infrastructure) a trend that’s been going on for some decades.
10) Rails are often left embedded in road crossings, even when they’re not used.
11) There’s rails under all that growth! The building on the right, incidentally, happens to be a contract facility where Calgary’s newspapers are printed but it’s been a while since their siding was used. I see a pattern here.
12) Little used spurs are often a dumping ground as evidenced here. That’s a big old pile of clothes and perhaps it’s stuff swiped from a donation box and picked through?
13) This is the other customer mentioned earlier, at the end of the active line, and in terms of volume of cars received the bigger of the two. Any time we’ve passed there’s usually some six or eight covered hoppers spotted here, but not this night. The firm, Lafarge, takes bulk concrete and bags it for retail distribution.
This shows another trend. Most industrial customers served direct by the railway these days receive bulk (generally low value per-unit) products that are generally non-time sensitive. It’s the way of the railway.
14) With the light fading, it’s one last shot and with that we’re gone. Not a single person was seen this adventure and outside some delivery trucks, the road was similarly all ours. There were no trains this night either as we had mentioned, but we understand they usually visit in the wee hours so as not disrupt daytime business and traffic. Here in Manchester Industrial, even then it’s only once in a while and rails often remain unpolished from lack of use.
So ends another fun outing and yes we’re into strange things. Even as we type this we have other industrial tracks staked out so stay tuned as they say.
Till we explore again…
They’re saying…
”Love history and local history best. You bring to life that which has been forgotten, just curious and always interesting.” Richard O’Connor.
More like this…
M Lead – Just like this post!
Hanna Roundhouse Revisited – Saved from demolition.
Under Wraps – At the time waiting for a home.
Something to say and no one to say it to? Go here: contact us!
Date of Adventure: October, 2020.
Location: Calgary, AB.
Article references and thanks: The City of Calgary and random CPR Timetables.
1) Following old rail lines in Calgary’s Manchester Industrial.
2) Passing Bedford House (John Howard Society).
3) A friend, Ryan Willert, had a hand in this mural.
4) Along Builder’s Road.
5) The BIGDoer-mobile in its natural environment.
6) The trains are infrequent and usually nocturnal.
7) A building supply firm is one of the few customers.
8) The tracks snake behind buildings.
9) An out of service spur.
10) It’s been a while.
11) There’s rails under there.
12) Tracks are often a dumping ground.
13) Another customer, but no rail cars this night.
14) With this photo, we bid Manchester Industrial goodnight.
Hi, Just caught up with this… it is a fascinating area and used be criss-crossed with lines, most of which have been abandoned since the late 1990s. Both CN and CP seem to be actively discouraging wagon load freight in favour of bulk and intermodel, but there is life in those backwaters.
The Lafarge cement bagging terminal still receives hoppers from the huge Exshaw Plant east of Canmore. It responds to demand and the construction season in Alberta is summer and short s the trains only really run late May to September, you probably just missed the last cars leaving. Being really speccy, the hoppers are usually the ACF or Trinity 2 bay types with a few old PS2 or 3 types. They get hauled in by the Alyth yard shunters, currently a pair of GP38-2 or an SD20ECO paired with another Gp. They have flashing lights fitted.
The centre beam cars with timber are more regular but still irregular!
The junction (left) line was lifted in 2013/4 at the road crossing and isolated the mass of tracks to the SE of there and the line at the bottom of the dip on Blackfoot Trail.
CN still services a number of bulk customer west of the Bow and Alyth including at least two scrap metal yards (gondola traffic), a grain specialist and a polymer moulding company. The scrap on Highfield Road side must be worth the work as the recent Inglewood to Bonnybrook sewage line upgrade meant a lot of work was done to maintain the lines. They also (last 18 months? possible as part of the sewer line works) renewed the headshunt to the north of there approaching Blackfoot Trail where the line used to cross and link to CP through what is now Crossroads Farmers’ Market. They even fitted a new track bumper stop to replace the wrecked gondola and pile of ballastt hat served well for 20+ years!
The railways seem hell bent on eliminating car-load traffic and if you’re not shipping a hundred cars at a time, they’re not interested. Thanks for adding to the story here. There’s a homeless encampment along that line that crosses Blackfoot and you can see it ever so briefly if you look west at the tracks. I recall in the 1990s, the line was busy (used to drive truck and frequented the area). Yes, that old gondola – we remember it! Appreciate it and drop by often!
I saw Ryan’s mural in the post!
It’s a beautiful splash of colour in an otherwise drab industrial neighbourhood. It seems out of place but that’s said in a good, positive way.
I’ve spent lots of time on Google maps following where all the old rail lines goes before venturing out to find them. Calgary has so many old rail lines and abandoned rail beds throughout the city and so much railway history!
And here I thought we were the only ones that followed old rail line in Google Maps!
Looks like between Bonnybrook Treatment Plant and the east-west portion of Ogden Road. (15th Street SE)
All those industrial neighbourhoods have a similar look but this one’s Machester, east of MacLeod Trail.
San Francisco had several railroads. Three major railroads; one shortline and public and private transit companies. I would need a geological survey map showing all the improvements and rail lines that are still here and were. Other than that I would need old maps to find where they were.
We’ve seen old rail photos of San Fran and it appeared that down by the waterfront there was track going every which way.
That must be in the South East.
It is.
I wouldn’t be surprised to see CN’s Calgary Industrial Line (Highfield and McLeod branches) disappear in the future, there are only about 6 active customers left west of the Bow River.
I’ve always had a soft spot for this gritty side of railroading, I started out working a job with a couple customers that needed their cars spotted precisely, within a foot or two of some stationary appliance. Boxcars at doors or a loading dock, tank cars at racks, or hoppers with the gate over a unloading chute (this customer rolled their cars downhill bit by bit as they unloaded each hopper bay). A shame it’s slowly being lost as freight shifts to intermodal and trucking.
Cramped industrial spurs also mean you have to really plan ahead and get creative with switching.
All these industrial lines are on borrowed time it seems. As you say, intermodal is the go-to now, if you’re sticking with rail. We’ll be covering other industrial tracks in the future as we too kind of like that gritty vibe. Sounds like you’d have some interesting stories to share – we should chat sometime.
I agree, send me a message on Facebook the next time you plan to visit the Alberta Railway Museum, it’s probably the most likely place our paths will cross.
Made a note of it.