In the early 1910s, the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) established a divisional point near the McLeod River. The location allowed for the development of the village of Tollerton in 1913, with the railway serving as the lifeline of the community.
In Alberta, the reverberations of WWI were influencing life, not only by the loss of men leaving to fight, but also the need for steel on the frontlines of France. Both the CNoR and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway laid rail in a bid to reach the west coast first; often these adversarial line ran parallel and crossed one another.
At the expense of Tollerton, the Federal government made the decision to take steel from the CNoR line, effectively starting the decline of the town.
The remains of the trestle are a symbolic reminder of the importance of transportation infrastructure to community creation and highlights the important role the railways played in the survival of early communities of the area.
The exact location to the CNoR trestle remains can be found here: yhcounty.ca/explore/heritage-program-splash/heritage-inventory-map-videos/.
