Railway articles west of the Lakehead (Index 01)
Berton and Helston, Manitoba
Portage la Prairie, Manitoba
A look at old maps before the railways, and early settlement and railway promotion.
D Blythe Hanna, Manitoba & North Western Railway, CPR lines near Portage, Official Guide 1887
The Red River Valley Railway fights the CPR Monopoly, and Portage la Prairie gets a new railway.
DB Hanna remembers the early Canadian Northern, old friends, and an engine unable to steam one cold winter night.
The Canadian Northern finally get its own rails through Portage; flatboats, James J Hill.
Galicians or Ukrainians?
James J Hill, serious or kidding? Story of a doomed branch line.
' ... marking a new epoch in railroad construction which, doubtless, has excelled anything of the kind in the history of railways.'
Waghorn's Guide shows the passenger trains travelling through Portage and beyond.
An employee timetable and some steam photos taken at Portage foretell the CPR motive power future.
Near the end of steam, this employee timetable shows many operating details and line features.
1979 CPR Car 39 at the Fort la Reine Museum, Portage la Prairie
Van Horne's former western car - used during CPR construction - is found and preserved.
Interior views.
Portage 1985 - First Section
'Vacation weather' at Portage; Symington; Overview maps and timetables.
Portage 1985 - Second Section
Winnipeg; the Lord Selkirk II; CP yard; Greater Winnipeg Water District; 19Y hoop at Portage.
Portage 1985 - Third Section
Prairie Dog Central and its former route; Portage yard activity and map; loading covered hoppers with grain.
Portage 1985 - Fourth Section
Mennonite Heritage in Steinbach; Wheat harvesting circa 1910; Old maps of southern Manitoba; Wartime propaganda; Coal trains.
Portage 1985 - Fifth Section
Portage westbounds; Austin MB 1905 grain elevator; Wooden boxcar from 1914; Prairie branch line map 1891-1931; Burnside elevator; Intermodal at dusk.
Portage 1985 - Last Section
Spruce Woods Provincial Park; Lake Agassiz; Local Equated Tonnage Ratings and the lay of the land; Wheat crop 1913 infographic; Barry switches at Headingley; Marathon and Sault Ste Marie scenes.
Portage 1987 - First Section
Eastern Alcos; Algoma Central; White River; Heron Bay; Winnipeg yards; trains at Portage.
Hudson Bay Railway - Some History
A Different kind of Canadian railway; The Prairies are angry; The Times; The Money?; 1913 chaos at Port Nelson and in the Commons; Floating north; World War Two; Unforeseen benefits.
Portage 1987, Second Section - to Churchill
Off to Hudson Bay! .. Saskatchewan; At The Pas; In to Thompson and out with piggyback; The Longest Day; Churchill gets it - an overview; We're not Canadians.. vs I'm telling you how it is!
Portage 1987, Third Section - Grain Boxcars for Churchill
A quick look at the elevator and some railway features of Churchill, Manitoba.
Portage 1987, Fourth Section - A Last Look at Churchill
More photographs, some local history, information from a 1969 Manitoba Royal Commission.
Portage 1987, Fifth Section - Farewell to the Hudson Bay Railway
The last day southbound and evidence from the 1969 Royal Commission on Northern Transportation.
Portage 1989, CPR Minnedosa; Neepawa and Riding Mountain
Stations, 1920s map, Waghorn's Guide, 1920.
Portage 1989, GMD-1
At day's end, some GMD-1s visit Portage.
1989, CPR, Austin to the Qu'Appelle Valley and Regina
Trains, elevators, scenery and Correction Lines.
1989 Portage la Prairie - On the CNR Side
A few freights & MoW, a grain elevator map from 1909, Google views above the tracks of Portage.
1989 Portage la Prairie - On the CNR Side, Part 2
More freights, East/West Towers, employee timetable, solving a mystery in an old postcard.
CPR Moose Jaw, An Old Regina Map & the Prairies - 1859 to 1989
Palliser Expedition, annotated timetables, old Moose Jaw boosterism & station/yard in 1989.
Saskatchewan and the Dominion Land Survey (1919)
A look at old maps of the area, early surveying and settlers. Bonus: Arthur Meighen!
South of Moose Jaw to Congress, Assiniboia and Rockglen, 1989
Trip through southern Saskatchewan. 1950s employee timetables, 1939 public timetable.
Fife Lake, Coronach, Big Beaver to Lake Alma, Saskatchewan in 1989
Trip continues through southern Saskatchewan. Maps, timetables and surprises!
Caution: May contain badlands.
Oungre, Outram, Estevan, 1989 ... & Portal Sub: Old Maps and Timetables
Continuing our circle tour day trip, we also look at the history of the Portal Subdivision.
Frobisher, Carnduff, Souris, Brandon - Along the Estevan Sub in 1989
Finishing our circle tour day trip. Estevan Sub employee timetable from 1950.
Portage 1993 - First Section
Sault Ste Marie, ACR and Algoma Steel; Portage CN and CP trains and track details; Deep roots!; VIA's little Portage railway; Postcard: Winnipeg Union Station circa the Great War.
Portage 1993 - Last Section
CP west yard tracks; Can-Oat; Burnside; Trackwork in the east yards; There was none such as the Nonsuch .. Prince Rupert + 2 French guys = 1.5 million square miles; Finishing up at Kearns.
Life as a GEAK (Grain Elevator Agent's Kid), by Christopher Fisher, 1993
The Great Northern Railway (US)
The Great Northern Railway (StPM&M) in 1887 and 1889
Maps, the Official Guide entry for 1887 and interior/exterior of a colonist car from 1889.
Switchbacks and Tunnels in the Cascade Range
A 1904 engineering textbook discusses switchback and tunnel construction. Diagrams show the GN switchbacks and first Cascade Tunnel. The Northern Pacific Stampede Tunnel construction is shown.
Great Northern Railway, 1950 Public Timetable
A system map, Winnipeg trains, named trains and their equipment.
Great Northern Railway, 1950 Public Timetable, Part 2
Plus ... some GNR history with JJ Hill, prairie construction, Cascade switchbacks, maps, CNR CPR GNR profiles.
Great Northern Railway, 1950 Public Timetable, Part 3 & Cascade Tunnel Electrics
Sleeping car accommodation on Great Northern trains is illustrated in the timetable. Some of the electric motive power used in the Cascade Tunnels is shown.
Interwar Branch Line Construction in Saskatchewan and Alberta
Information from a research paper prepared by Charles Bohi and Leslie Kozma.
Sent to me by Charles Bohi.
Interwar Rail Construction in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Part 2
Conclusion.
Includes a link to the original paper (PDF), maps and 1930s world wheat data.
Interwar Rail Construction in Saskatchewan and Alberta, Part 2
Conclusion.
Includes a link to the original paper (PDF), maps and 1930s world wheat data.
Winnipeg
Dates of streetcar line construction; Winnipeg Selkirk & Lake Winnipeg Railway history.
Also Spiral Tunnels Diagram
Maps
And a few postcards from that era.