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User:Meters/drafts/EYPR

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Not even a draft yet - just a few notes for a future article.

Overview
LocaleAlberta
Dates of operation1902–
SuccessorCanadian Northern Railway
Technical
Track gauge4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge

first bridge across the N Sask river in Edmonton built for EYPR (NO, built 1900 with Federal Government assistance, railroad got permission to cross it). Aug 1899 steel was about to be laid for the bridge when flood (42 ft above low water level) submerged piers by 4 ft. Piers raised 8 ft. but even this just barely kept the deck above the water of the devastating 1915 flood. EYPR train parked on bridge to stabilize it during flooding. Much of river valley flats industries never recovered form 1915 flood. deck Raised again because of 1915 flood (but not until 1947) Low level bridge still in use. was twinned (on south) in 1949 by an identically shaped but welded from rolled shapes (rather than riveted) bridge. first train Oct 20 1902. end of line then was just west of Low level bridge, below McDougall Hill. 1905 CNoR reached Edmonton from east. 1905-08 EYPR line extended from top of N bank. reached CNoR yards at 116 St. Atlas AB railways says "The extension from the flats to the Canadian Northern main line was completed on November 30, 1905. The extension to Stony Plains was opened in June, 1907." Some sources label the CNoR west of Edmonton as EYPR while others say only 19 miles of EYPR.

William Mackenzie and Donald Mann of the Canadian Northern Railway Company acquired charter and renamed line. Well-known for CNoR. passenger use until 1929 then freight, later rails removed past Gainers packing plant. All rails on remaining line given in 1980 to the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association [1] which lifted the rails over the next 2 years. Some were used at their museum Note that the Fort Edmonton railway is named the Edmonton, Yukon and Pacific, but does not have any original rolling stock. Fort Edmonton Park says the railway has been operating since 1977, which suggests that the EYPR rails were not used, at least originally. The Edmonton Radial Railway Society streetccar runs on 1905 and 1920 streets which were built late enough to have used the RYPR rails. The sculpture Ghost Rails (2012) by Kathryn ? believed to have used rails from Fort Edmonton, but need source to show that the Fort Edmonton rails were those lifted in 1980 .Question - does the streetcar line at Fort Edmonton also use these rails? I can probably answer these questions by contacting the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association, and the Radial Railway Society but I may not be able to find a reliable source that will allow me to use the information in this article.

google bike maps? http://www.edmonton.ca/city_government/news/getting-edmonton-on-the-map-go.aspx

notability

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  • Mill Creek Trestle a Municipal Historic Resource.
  • first bridge across the N Sask in Edmonton (built 1900, ry crossed 1902 according to wiki)
  • first railway in Edmonton. get dates for CNoR, GT, CP and merger dates.
  • Calgary and Edmonton Ry Co. reached Strathcona 1891, operated by CP. did not reach Edmonton proper (N side) until High Level Bridge completed in 1913 (by which time Edmontonand Strathcona had amalgamated)
  • Edmonton District Ry Co. inc 1896, name changed to Edmonton, Yukon & Pacific Ry Co. 1899, amalgamated with Canadian Northern Ry Co 1905 (second transcontinental railway )
  • Canadian No 1905, by 1907 as far as Stoney Plain (as 54(C)54E) C=Canadian Northern Alberta Ry Co, inc 1910, solely owned by CNoR E=EYPR Main line West actually built through Peace River Junction (N of Stoney Plain) in 1911 using the EY&P charter as far as the BC border.
  • Grand Trunk Pacific 1909?

4 trestles, 2 major on Mill Creek (11, 12 bents), one major (10 bents) on Little Mill Creek (i.e. the west branch), 1 small one on a gully into Little Mill Creek. Trestle added along (not across) Groat Ravine after a landslide. Presumably there would have been a trestle across Groat Ravine also. Look for historical records/images. There was a low trestle below Fort Edmonton that is visible in early pictures. This was either filled or track moved.

  • National Historic site: Canadian Society for Civil Engineering [2] (dead link try again from https://csce.ca/committees/history/ ) Strangely, the High Level Bridge is a regional historic site [3] since "It was the first major transportation link in the city across the North Saskatchewan River." Odd that the first bridge across the North Saskatchewan, the low level bridge which carried pedestrians, vehicles, trains, and streetcars is not considered a "major transportation link" I have contacted the CSCE to correct this error. This is not the first time I have noticed this type of amnesia re the Low Level Bridge. The Edmonton Journal recently described the opening of the streetcar service in their Remembering Edmonton series. They had the streetcar crossing the High Level Bridge rather than the Low Level Bridge even though the High Level Bridge did not open until 1913 and the streetcar service across the Low Level Bridge started in 1908.

History

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see https://www.ritchie-league.com/a-little-bit-ritchie CP refused to extend Calgary and Edmonton Ry past Strathcona. Charter granted 1896 to Edmonton businessmen as Edmonton District Railway Company. Charter changed hands (eastern group headed by William Pugsley) and amended to allow extension to Yukon (gold rush). August 1898 charter purchased by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann. Bridge built 1900. Rails put across bridge 1901 but Rail line not built down Mill Creek Ravine (cuts, embankmaents and trestles to maintain constant grade) to new bridge until 1902. First train to station at foot of McDougal hill October 20, 1902 (first train into Edmonton). Station 40'X24', platform 101' long. Rail approx 60 Lb/yard (relatively light even for the day?) Line extended to top of north bank and to downtown CNo station (later the CNo/GTP Union station) Nov 30 1905. June 1907 line completed to Stony Plain. Main line to west ended up going through St Albert an Lac St Anne since by the time the work was restarted the GTP had built further west and contiuing the CNo from Stony Plain would have required 3 difficult and expensive grade separations. Passenger service Strathcona to Edmonton ended 1929. Line from CNo main line ot Gainers meat packers abandonded May 28 1954. 1969 Atlas of ALberta still shows remaining section of line as Commercial use... look for more precise date. Source says in use until Gainers closedm and I have ref fo rhtat date.

  • [4] "transferred operations from the antiquated Gainers plant beside the Mill Creek Ravine in 1981."
  • [5] Maple Leaf Meats fonds , Archives of Alberta "Peter Pocklington, a local Edmonton entrepreneur, purchased Gainers Meats, located on the south side of Edmonton, in 1979. Pocklington then purchased Swifts, an American subsidiary company, on the north side of Edmonton as well as a plant in Ontario. Pocklington then closed down Swifts Ontario, closed down Gainers on the south side of Edmonton, and changed the name of the north side plant to Gainers. "
  • [6] [7] (2013-02-18) "A new slaughterhouse he opened in 1902 just south of the Canadian Pacific Railway station quickly proved inadequate and so Gainer purchased land beside Mill Creek at 79th Avenue and 96th Street He built pens corrals a slaughterhouse packing plant and barns and the new facility opened in 1903 "

Rossdale spars ran down Hardisty Ave (now 98 Ave) to river near mill and brewery, and down 104 St to river next to power plant (part of this right of way is now under the more recent powerhouse/ water treatment development. most pof line from Low Level is now Bellemy Hill road, Possible signs of embankment on 104 St just south of 97 Ave and on 105 st just S of 96 Ave.

Top of N bank railway route is now Clifton Place and Wadhurst Street. Houses on ravine side of Wadhurst faced ravine until after railway removed. http://www.kerrilynholland.com/page_content-11.html

Steel for 105 st bridgr transported by EyP (probably to powerhouse spur)

memorials

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  • plaque on 76 ave trestle,
  • cairn and plaque at approx site of original station in flats
  • memorial walk photos
  • memorial park 104 Ave About 115 St
  • plaque on Connor's hill bike path bridge overlooking flats and low level bridge
  • Ghost Rails sculpture
  • "train house" picnic shelter 93 St
  • rail in concrete at low level bridge... need ot check if still there, if this was streetcar of railway... prob railway as was likely doen when bridge work doen after train abandoned bridge.

Spurs/Industries

[edit]

Spurs

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  • Vogel's meat packers (Mill Creek) should still be signs of this one
  • Edmonton Lumber Co (river flats east iof Low Level bridge) lostto roawork for Jamnes McDonald
  • flour mill (S of Brewing co, Rossdale) check exact location, may be line of road now.
  • power plant (rossdale,) partially under Telus field now? Any sign of it in power palnt area?
  • siding at Gainers visible in pic

Industries

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see https://strathconacommunity.ca/our-neighborhood/ravine/ for more on this meatpacking capital of Western Canada

  • Burns packing (intersection with Calg and Edmonton R)
  • J. Gainer and Company meat packing (M Creek) 1903-1982, demolished 1990/91 one of Western Canada's largest meatpacking companies
  • Vogel Meat and Packing Company (M Creek) 1903-1913
  • Gallagher-Hull Meat and Packing Company (Gallagher flats) 1891-1911
  • Edmonton Meat Market near the EY&P bridge. https://www.ritchie-league.com/podcast-episode-5-transcript
  • The Twin City Mine coal (M Creek) 1908-1921 51 m shaft (deepest in city, one deeper in St Albert but mine was a short-lived failure)
  • P Anderson & Co brick yards (flats)
  • Western Clays Ltd (M Creek)
  • Edmonton City Dairy (flats)
  • Teh Edmonton Lumber Co (west side flats)
  • Campbell & Ottewell City flour mills (rossdale)
  • Edmonton Brewing & Malting Co (rossdale) one of hte very few industrial buildings remaining in river valley
  • Exhibition grounds
  • power plant (rossdale)
  • Sandison's Brickyard 1902-1905 (1905-1914 Edmonton Brick Co) (now Victoria Golf Course) Note Brickyard Road remnants at S end 121 St at valley edge
  • Brewery abandonded ~turn of century now site of Royal Glenora Club
[edit]

Current/recent use

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  • Mill Creek: 1984-present bike trail (now multi-use trail) hmm likely a bit earlier that that
  • 99 st - 93 st greenspace, multiuse trail paved 2010. city tried to obtain this land from rail company (when putting in Mill Creek trail?) but railway was unwilling to give it up at the time. Would need to confirm date and obtain source before including this.
  • below Legislature to Fortway drive: ca. 1980 to when bike trail (no longer in use but grade still accessable) (check historical bike maps for dates) not on 1993 bike map,
  • High Level Bridge staircase to Victoria Park road: fairly recent multiuse trail (check historical bike maps for date) not on 1993, on 2001, By 2021 the trail had been rerouted to climb to the top of the bank, and no longer terminates at staircase
  • N of 102 Ave: there may be some trail here, or at least a median that was originally the grade. check historical street maps and bike maps.
  • Is any of the Stony Plain region right of way in use as a community trail?
  • former use... rails were relaid on part of the right of way from ~124 st west to reach the military staging area for construction material for the building of the Alaska Highway. this is not mentioned in the article but I do have local refs that ref to it. Edmonton was start of Northwest Staging Route (NWSR) series of airfields

plaques etc

[edit]
  • mill creek trestle
  • conners road bicycle overpass (not actually on EYPR)
  • stone west of Low level bridge - approx site of orig Edmonton station
  • rail embedded in concrete at E end bridge. Is it still there? (No longer easily or safely visible since new concrete barriers put up after recent roadwork)
  • Ghost Rails sculpture( (verify name, get Edmonton Journal ref for building of it, list artist- have contact to verify spelling of K R's name)

Refs

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http://railways.library.ualberta.ca/MapHome/track-title/8/2/ http://railways.library.ualberta.ca/Maps-8-2-10/ http://railways.library.ualberta.ca/Maps-8-1-5/

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