Ghost Railways: Fort Macleod Alberta

(2013) We spot a berm cutting across a farmer’s field south of Fort Macleod (Alberta) and this piques our curiosity. It looks railway related, and as it happens that’s indeed true. At the time we didn’t know of any lines in the area (we’re often blissfully unaware), but with a little research soon learning the story behind this ghost railway. Some grading was done, and it’s this we see, but work stopped before completion.

It may seem of little significance*, but when constructed over a hundred years ago, the firm behind it had grand plans. Initially at least and for reasons not fully explained, they abandoned the project. Perhaps funding ran out, or they simply revaluated the potential and found it was not as great as originally thought.

It was a leap of faith and at the time there were not even towns along many sections of the proposed route. They’d come a bit later, but the line had to be first before it could happen. Speculation led to the construction of many railway lines, but they got cold feet in this instance.

This article is from 2013 and is one of a group of older posts lost to a system crash a few months ago. Rather than restore from backup, we present it as new and with a rewrite, but using the original image. This disaster may have been a blessing in disguise and this allowed us to thin the herd a bit. There’s a lot of out of date stuff and some of those older posts are pure cringe.

In some instances we may shoot new photos (if and when possible), or reuse older images if still suitable. This one’s a nothing photo but if reshoot it’d still be that – the story are the meaty parts. All articles that still have some type relevance will be reposted eventually with new or updated info. Anything left goes in the trash bin and we’ll never think of them again.

The Alberta Midland Railway built this line, and it was a Canadian Northern Railway subsidiary. As planned, it was to travel south from Calgary to Fort MacLeod, then south for a bit more before bending west to a point on the map called Fishburn. Today, that spot is known as Twin Butte, but it’s not much more than a crossroads.

It’s hinted the Alberta Midland has aspirations to head even further west, but it appears the route was not yet a serious consideration. A branch to Pincher Creek does make mention as one possibility. Further, an old map shows two proposed line heading to the British Columbia border (south of the Crowsnest Pass) but going no further. They were thinking of BC, but where they hoped to go once there is not said. There is lots of coal and timber resources out that way to exploit.

Construction of this line began in 1912 and work proceeded concurrently along two sections for what appears to be at least a year. Maybe a bit more. The first stretch south from Calgary to a point near High River was mostly graded. A few small disconnected sections still exist in the city, but out in rural parts, there’s more left.

Grading for both segments at this point was likely rough, and not in the final form. Detail work would happen later. In a short time they still managed to complete a significant amount of work before the railway pulled the plug. They never started on the middle section, outside presumably survey work and the like.

This entire line would have been well over 200km long and was significant in that it penetrated deep into Canadian Pacific Railway territory. The CPR (now Canadian Pacific Kansas City) enjoyed an uncontested monopoly in the area and this new line would challenge their dominance. As a large and ambitious undertaking, it’d be a real game changer if this Canadian Northern backed Alberta Midland succeeded. That never happened of course and no other railway tried, so it’s still exclusively CP’s turf.

Using Google Earth one can identify and follow the old grade from Fort Macleod, to a point approximately half way to the intended destination. It initially heads south and then turns west on approaching the Waterton River. The line roughly parallels the watercourse, but above on the prairie and after some 20-25km unceremoniously ends in a cultivated field.

The grade is quite obvious for about the half the route, and easily followed. On cultivated land there’s not much left, so it gets harder to spot. Sometimes there’s a ghost shadow, but other times nothing at all.

At that early point in construction, work on bridges and other infrastructure had not yet begun.

This line dates back the the great railway construction boom of the early twentieth century (the busiest period was 1910-1930). They built railways on the prairies at a feverish pace, to wherever there was a town and no matter its size. The railways often constructed lines where there were no towns, hoping that settlements would follow. Construction might be back by government subsidies and the like.

Later the railways would regret building many of these branchlines (money losers) and the majority are now abandoned.

The Alberta Midland was a paper railway and controlled by the Canadian Northern. Using a local subsidiary like this offered certain advantages through incentives and tax breaks, than if the larger company itself built the line. Once finished, or shortly thereafter, it would be standard practice to fold the subsidiary into the parent company.

One can’t help speculate what would have happened had the line succeeded. A totally different place than today, busier and with more people, or the same quiet backwater? Your guess is as good as ours.

The Canadian Northern Railway amalgamated with a number of other lines in the early 1920s to become Canadian National Railways.

On the prairies abandoned railway lines are pretty common – the tracks once went everywhere – but unfinished examples are few and far between. We only know of a handful and have visited a few, but some are in distant places.

*As our regular readers know, obscure and overlooked history is a obsession.

It’s a fascinating subject (new tab): Unfinished Railways.

They’re saying…

“Can we all take a moment to appreciate how great this website is?” Monica and Leslie.

Searching out ghost railways…
CPR Bow River Bridge (Abandoned)
An Evening in Meeting Creek
Railway Grave (Revisited)
Troup Junction.

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Date of adventure: June 2013.
Location: Near Fort Macleod Alberta.
Article references and thanks: Geoffrey Lester (Author and Cartographer), miscellaneous records from the University of Calgary Archives and the Book “Fort Macleod Our Colourful Past II”.

The berm is the roadbed of an unfinished railway line near Fort Macleod AB.