BIG VALLEY, Alberta — The Dauphin Rail Museum and Canadian Northern Society will hold events Dec. 14-15 to commemorate the opening of a railroad that became the Canadian Northern Railway, Canada’s second transcontinental railroad.
Dec. 15 will mark the 125th anniversary of the opening of the Lake Manitoba Railway & Canal Co.; the company’s first train departed Gladstone, Manitoba, for Dauphin, Man., on Dec. 15, 1896. The company grew over the next two decades to serve more than 550 communities and eventually included a 9,500-mile railroad, steamships, and hotels.
To commemorate the event, the Dauphin museum will on Dec. 14 organize a photo opportunity at the corner of Mackenzie and Mann — streets named for Canadian Northern’s founders — followed by a ride on VIA Rail Canada’s Winnipeg-Churchill train from Ochre River to Dauphin, following the route used 125 years ago.
The next day, at Lamont, Alberta, the Canadian Northern Society and Alberta Midland Railway Terminal will hold an event at 11:30 a.m. to celebrate the first Lake Manitoba train. “This is a fitting location for our ceremony” Rich Graydon of the Canadian Northern Society said in a press release. “The Terminal is located alongside CN’s Prairie North Line. which is the original Canadian Northern Railway main line between Dauphin and Edmonton. We are looking forward to celebrating the achievements of our pioneer Canadian Northern Railroaders, and the Ukrainian community that helped build this important rail link across the prairies.”
The society and museum will hold additional events during 2022 to commemorate the 125th anniversary, including a “Canadian Northern 125” celebration at Big Valley on July 9, 2022.
More information on the Dauphin Rail Museum, housed in the city’s former Canadian Northern depot, is available on its Facebook page. For more on the Canadian Northern Society, visit its website.
