Edmonton to Calgary and Back

The information below is taken from this website: http://forthjunction.ca/passenger-rail.htm Regularly scheduled passenger trains served the area between Calgary and Edmonton on the Canadian Pacific line from 1891 to 1985. When the transcontinental Canadian Pacific Railway reached Fort Calgary in 1883, the Calgary-Edmonton Trail gained significance as a major transportation corridor and a crude stagecoach service began carrying mail, goods and passengers north and south along the trail. The trip between the two forts took 4 to 5 days requiring several stopping houses along the way. The one way fare between Calgary and Edmonton was $25 (at the time, a good wage was $2 per day). Almost immediately, there developed a demand for rail service. The Calgary & Edmonton Railway received its first charter in 1885 but nothing happened. A new charter was awarded in 1890. The new railway was built and it was completed by July 1891. The CPR leased the line and took over operations in August 1891 with regular passenger service beginning in 1892. The travel time was 12 hours with a one-way fare of $10 between Calgary and Strathcona (part of south Edmonton today). In 1936, Canadian Pacific introduced "high speed rail" with 'The Chinook', a specially-designed inter-city light passenger train between Calgary and Edmonton, reducing travel time to 5-1/4 hours at speeds up to 100 mi/hr. with up to 22 stops. From 1936 to 1955, four passenger trains a day ran the Calgary-Edmonton route including an overnight train, the 'Eskimo'/'Stampeder', a 'milk run', and the 'Chinook' using a 4-4-4 Jubilee F2a class locomotive no. 3001, one of only five of this class of locomotive ever built. Passenger service and rail infrastructure remained relatively stable for 60 years (1914-1954). But, with increased competition from airlines, new roadways, the new affordability of personal vehicles and cheap fuel, the desire for rail passenger service started to decline. In an attempt to maintain viable passenger service within the Calgary-Edmonton corridor, Canadian Pacific replaced 'the Chinook' Jubilee with a Budd 'Dayliner'

in 1955 cutting the travel time from Calgary to Edmonton to 3-1/2 hours. Budd Dayliners The CP Dayliners reached a peak of three trains a day in each direction in 1969 carrying almost 80,000 passengers that year. The following year, the number of trains was reduced to one in each direction per day resulting in only 31,400 passengers that year and only 23,400 passengers in 1971. At the order of the federal Railway Transport Committee, the frequency was increased to two trains per day in 1972. The CP Edmonton downtown station was closed to passengers in 1971 (and demolished in 1978), with Strathcona becoming the northern terminus of CPR corridor passenger rail service, further eroding the desire for travellers to use the train. Canadian Pacific corridor service was reviewed in 1976 and 1979 by the Railway Transport Committee after public hearings in response to continued CP requests to cancel passenger operations. Meanwhile, the government-owned VIA Rail took over all CP and CN passenger service in 1978. The federal Committee ordered improved service in 1981 citing the corridor had the best potential for rail passenger service outside of the Quebec City-Windsor corridor. Ridership increased to 53,000 in 1982, the highest since 1969. One-way fare was $27. However, grade crossing collisions and railway errors caused the public to question the safety of Dayliner service. And poor integration with other transport modes and connectivity caused much frustration. The Dayliners continued on the CP Calgary-Edmonton corridor until September 6, 1985 when the service was cancelled due to financial losses and at-grade collisions after 94 years of continuous rail passenger service.

The post card was printed by Dexter Color Canada in Cornwall, Ontario. It was published by JBC Visuals out of Toronto, Ontario. The photo credit is given to Peter Jobe.