Manyberries AB Train Station (Blt 1917)

Flashback to 2014! The old train station in Manyberries Alberta has been around for well over a century now. Somehow it’s survived when so many others like it have been relegated to history and when visited by us being cared for by a couple that called it home. It sits exactly where built long ago and witness to the comings and goings of countless people. Early settlers moving in, folks going off to war, those leaving for a new life in the city. It all happened here.

So much went on and so many trains have passed…and now it’s all done. The building still stands but the tracks are gone. Once a cornerstone of the community, it’s seen the town prosper and in more recent times, its slow decline. There’s not much going on in town.

This is an article from 2014 that got badly corrupted due to a system crash and had to be rebuilt from old backups and archived notes, then posted as new. We tidied up the text, updated a few things and at the same time, reedited the photos. However, it’s otherwise the original piece and presented here for the record as a time capsule of sorts.

It’s easy to imagine the Manyberries Station full of life and a busy place, so many years ago. Trains and people and luggage. It’s a reminder of just how important these buildings and railways in general were to small towns across the prairies, a point perhaps lost in today’s modern world.

An old CPR “van” on the property.

A vintage caboose and an old section house (for the local track worker) are located on the property and help complete the scene. It’s as though you’ve entered a portal and stepped back in time.

The Canadian Pacific Railway came through Manyberries in late 1916 and the station built later the following year. This section of track functioned as the Stirling Subdivision and ran south from Lethbridge to its namesake town (a section still in use today) and then east on to Manyberries with a connecting line travelling further into Saskatchewan. Primarily a grain gathering branch, nothing much moved unless the markets were good.

Over the years traffic declined and in response the rails along this section were pulled up in the 1990s. Other sections we’re similarly abandoned or in varying stages of use.

The station is known as a CPR type #13 among train enthusiasts, but in company parlance a model A2 Western. This became one of the most common depot designs used by the CPR and they’re iconic in form. A glance is all that’s needed to identify it as a railway depot.

Almost two hundred of this design were built, mostly across the prairies and in the years 1908-1918. It’s a combination passenger depot, freight house and upstairs there’s living quarters for the station agent and their family. This person kept busy selling tickets, but also acted as the local freight car broker, express agent and telegrapher.

Some of these other tasks account for the station’s longevity. Even after passenger service ended in the 1950s, the agent still needed a place to work and live. Manyberries is remote and company-provided accommodations the only way to work it. The building remained in use in such capacity for some time and not closed until the early 1980s. In the meantime, the upstairs got rented out as a residence for a good number of years.

Unused since the early 1990s, the old station got discovered by a couple who made it into a bed and breakfast. The structure was in dreadful shape and took a much time and money to bring up to habitable standards.

It continued to function as a B&B for a time but when the owners retired due to health concerns, it changed hands. The current occupants, Cheryl, TJ and son, took possession earlier the year of our visit. They had tried to acquire it back in 2012 but that deal fell through.

In addition to the station, the property includes the section house, a section of track with a caboose and speeder, much of the disused rail line and the former railway yard property to the east. Their home is well decorated with numerous pieces of train memorabilia.

A lot of work got done by the B&B folks so making it a house and moving in proved to be an easy transition. None the less, there’s always something to do and things to fix. Speaking with Cheryl, they have no immediate plans for the station other then general upkeep…

“Our current plans are just to maintain the building and enjoy it as best we can. Keeping in mind the historic significance of it. We have no plans as of yet with all the land, but there is lots of time for us to plan and dream.”

A building like this is of course a natural curiosity and Cheryl has mentioned that many people drop by thinking it’s a museum or some kind of attraction. It’s only a home…a rather unique eye-catching one at that, so perhaps it’s an easy mistake to make. That’s not to say that visitors are not welcome. If it’s a reasonable time of day and if asked nicely and showing respect, they’ll be happy to show you around. Here’s what Cheryl has to say about this…

“We were well aware that the station and caboose are a major part of the community here and are excited when people come by to show interest in them. As long as visitors ring the bell and let us know they are here, they are welcome to have a look around. Not so much the inside the station, since it is our home, but around the property and in the caboose.”

She goes on to add…

“We have had quite a few people pop in, some just travelling by that thought we were a museum, some avid photographers, others who worked there years ago, a lot have known the owners who restored it into a B&B who have had their stories to tell as well. There have been a few that have the bold misconception that it is abandoned and they can go through personal property. Most of the encounters have been very pleasant…”

If they invite you for a tour, be sure to thank them for the opportunity. Remember, it’s their home and is private property. Update 2024: recall this is an old post so things may be different today.

It’s worth mentioning there are a few more of this same design station still in existence in Alberta. Examples: there’s one in Beiseker (used as town offices), one at Calgary’s Heritage Park and another at a museum in Castor.

There’s short section of track out front of the station and it’s home to the aforementioned speeder and caboose. The latter, Canadian Pacific Railway #436503, is a little older than the station and prior to coming here in the early 2000s, was on display at Eston Saskatchewan. Exactly when retired by the CPR is not known but pictures showing it in service in the early 1980s were found. The obsessively frugal CPR held onto to things for as long as possible and sure got good service from this one.

A caboose (or van) functioned as both a work place and home on wheels for the tail end crew. No palace, but something functional. We’ve heard from many old timers and they often comment that a caboose was always either too hot or too cold. But never right.

The section house functioned as home for the “section man” and his family. This person’s job was to inspect and maintain a specific stretch (or section) of track. He’d ride up and down the line inspecting as we he went and did any minor repairs needed. They’d tighten rail bolts, fill in soft spot under ties and a had myriad of other tasks.

The use of section men was phased out some time ago but a number of these houses still exist in the province. There were built in huge numbers and placed at regular intervals up and down the railway.

It’s not said the date of this building’s construction but it’s likely as old as the station itself. When it was last used by the railway in that original capacity is not known either, but once the section man’s job ended (most of these positions were phased out in the 1950s/60s), it found use as a bunkhouse. So a place for railway crews to overnight between runs.

Once no longer needed by the CPR, the section house didn’t get demolished as expected, but rather rented out as accommodations. This accounts for it still being around and in decent shape. The current owners continue this tradition and as we recall hunters occupied it on our visit.

The old railway yard, locomotive servicing and turning facilities and grain elevators were all located on a chunk of land just east of the station. You can get a good idea of the location of everything on Google Earth, although not much tangible remains today. There’s bits of foundations, odd lengths of wood, chunks of metal and the like, but little else.

Manyberries sprang to life with the coming of the railway and this sort of concurrent arrangement nothing unique out here on the prairies. Many communities sprang to life this way. The town’s in the proverbial middle of nowhere, at a remote crossroads in one of the drier regions of Alberta, and today it’s home to a handful of people. At the peak there might have been two handful’s worth! This area has never had a big population then, or today.

On this visit we stopped by the only open business in town, the Southern Ranchman’s Inn, for a bite and a beer. It’s similarly something from another time and an incredible place! Not many of these old hotels remain in business. Update 2024: it permanently closed a year or two after our visit.

The Manyberries Alberta Train Station, built in 1917.

Thanks goes out to Cheryl Stromsmoe who allowed us free run of the station and its surroundings. Update 2024: she no longer lives there and the building and grounds present day have a run-down appearance. Someone still lives there, just not Cheryl.

A big shout out to Jason and Rebecca Sailer too, the couple that orchestrated this get-together for us. In addition to getting access at the Manyberries Station, they took us and some friends on amazing tour of abandoned places in this part of southeastern Alberta. Good times, good company and amazing things seen! For that we are forever grateful and we had a blast!

Know more about the town (new tab): Manyberries Alberta.

They’re saying…

“Chris and Connie delve into the nooks and crannies of the Canadian Prairies. They detail interesting histories accompanied with revealing photos. A lot of information (goes into it) and work and the results are fantastic.” Naomi Kikoak.

Train Station awesomeness…
Coutts Sweetgrass Train Depot.
Big Valley’s Train Station.
Rowley Alberta then and now – CNR Station.

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Date of adventure: August, 2014 (Yikes, we’ve been at this a while).
Location: Manyberries, Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Cheryl Stromsmoe, Jason Sailer, Canadian Trackside Guides, and the book Manyberries Chinook – A History of the Communities of Glassford, Manyberries, Minda, New Home, Orion, and Ranchview.

A coal stove to keep warm and an open door to keep cool.

Caboose accommodations were very basic.

From up-top and up-high in the cupola.

The section house comes into view.

First a train station, then a B&B and later a residence.

Home for the section man and family.

A Canadian Pacific A2 Western station.

Bits from the old telegraph line.

Once on display in Eston Saskatchewan.

Great skies this day and a wonderful subject.

The railway has left town, but they kept the memory alive.

The view back from the (now gone) grain elevators.

At the Southern Ranchman’s earlier.