The Galt Historic Railway Park includes the 1890 International Train Station that sat between Coutts, Alberta and Sweetgrass, Montana from 1890 to 1916. The train station was originally built by the Alberta Railway & Coal Company and was later jointly used by the Great Northern Railway & Canadian Pacific Railway.
It features displays of southern Alberta railway & coal mining heritage. Also at the Park is a CPR wooden caboose, CPR wooden stock car, and four CPR railcars undergoing restoration. As well, a turntable from Medicine Hat, railway speeders, a bunkhouse, and a portable station are also on display.
Speeder rides on restored track occur on special event days only. A gift shop is in the train station. Cash only!
Amenities
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Family-Friendly -
Guided Tour -
Parking -
Washrooms -
Wheelchair Access
Fun Facts
- Sir Alexander Galt (a father of Confederation and Canada’s High Commissioner to Great Britain) and his son Elliot started the North Western Coal & Navigation Company with investment money from Great Britain. The main purpose of the company was to mine coal from present-day Lethbridge and transport it to market – for new settlers arriving in western Canada and the CPR
- Initially, steam river boats and barges moved coal from Lethbridge to Medicine Hat, but due to the short season of high water and numerous sand bars, the experiment failed. A narrow gauge railway line was then built and opened for traffic just a few weeks before the CPR completed the transcontinental at Craigellachie, British Columbia
- New markets were arranged in Montana with the steel & copper smelters and the CPR competition, the Great Northern Railway. An International Train Station (half in Alberta, half in Montana) was built. The Galt’s built the narrow gauge line from Lethbridge to Great Falls and operated passenger & coal trains running back and forth
- The American railway line from the border to Great Falls was later sold to Great Northern Railway in 1901
- The Galt’s worked to bring Mormon settlers from Utah to southern Alberta to help build the irrigation canals and settle the prairie land
- The remaining narrow gauge track was upgraded to standard gauge in 1909
- The Canadian railway operations were sold to the CPR in 1912
Location
65032 Front St, Warner County No. 5, AB T0K 2E0, Canada
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