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“Our Railway Ties” Chronology 1882 - 1912

The construction of the Canadian Pacific Main Line and the beginning of settlement on the prairies was important for southern Alberta. What follows is a short time-line of the history of railway transportation in southern Alberta.

1882- Sir Alexander Galt and his son Elliot Galt incorporated the Northwest Coal and Navigation Company Limited to mine coal at the Coal Banks, near where Nicholas Sheran had discovered coal in the 1870s.

1885- A narrow gauge railway was built from Dunmore, east of Medicine Hat to Lethbridge. The line named the “Turkey Trail”, was operated by the Northwest Railway and Coal Company, which was later renamed the Alberta Railway and Coal Company.

1889- The Great Falls and Canada Railroad Company built a railway from Great Falls to Sweetgrass, Montana on the Alberta border. The Alberta Railway and Coal Company then built a 108 kilometre line from Lethbridge to meet it at the border. This was completed in 1890.

1900- The Galts developed irrigation south of Lethbridge and started building the St. Mary River Railway from Stirling to Cardston. The Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company (AR & I ) incorporated the holdings of the Galts’ coal mining, irrigating and land subsidiaries.

1907- Work was started on the construction of the High Level Bridge, as well as a smaller bridge 4.8 kilometres west of Monarch.

1909- October 23rd, the High Level Bridge was finished. The new line shortened the distance to Fort Macleod by 9.2 kilometres. Twenty wooden bridges totaling 4.5 kilometres were replaced by two steel bridges totaling 2.25 kilometres in length. The railway system in southern Alberta was complete.

1912 - The Canadian Pacific Railway took over the Alberta Railway and Irrigation Company. The land, irrigation and mining activities were placed under the control of Canadian Pacific’s Department of Natural Resources. The Galt companies had built over 592 kilometres of rail line and received Canadian land grants of 500 000 hectares. The Galt empire had ended after 30 years.