BIG VALLEY, Alberta — The Canadian Northern Railway Society, which is commemorating the 125th anniversary of the Canadian National predecessor with a series of events, will hold its marquee commemoration with a celebration on July 9, 2022, in the community of Big Valley. The event from 11 a.m. to 5 p.m. will include tours of the community’s station and rail yards as well as a variety of entertainers.
Entrepreneurs William Mackenzie and Donald Mann, who met during construction of the Canadian Pacific in British Columbia, founded the railway, which operated its first train in December 1896 between Gladstone and Dauphin, Manitoba. The railroad, originally known as the Lake Manitoba Railway & Canal Co., reached Winnipegoisis the following year, an effort that was the foundation for a 9,500-mile transcontinental system.
Reflecting a financial crisis during World War I, overexpansion, and a lack of traffic, the government would control most of the railway’s stock by the end of the war, becoming an integral part of Canadian National Railways.
More information on the society is available on its website or Facebook page.
