Biggar | ||||||||||||||||
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| General information | ||||||||||||||||
| Location | Main St and First Ave, Biggar, Saskatchewan Canada | |||||||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°3′13″N107°59′11″W / 52.05361°N 107.98639°W | |||||||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | |||||||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | |||||||||||||||
| Construction | ||||||||||||||||
| Structure type | Sign post | |||||||||||||||
| Parking | yes | |||||||||||||||
| History | ||||||||||||||||
| Opened | 1910 | |||||||||||||||
| Previous names | Grand Trunk Pacific Railway | |||||||||||||||
| Services | ||||||||||||||||
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| Former services | ||||||||||||||||
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| Designated | 1976 | |||||||||||||||
The Biggar station is a heritage railway station operated by Via Rail located in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada.
Biggar received its first railway service in 1907 when the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) built a branch line through the area. The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) transcontinental railway project was built through Biggar the following year in 1908 and the GTP designated the town as a division point on the main line between the railway's eastern terminus at Winnipeg, Manitoba and the railway's western terminus at Prince Rupert, British Columbia.
The town was named in honour of William Hodgins Biggar, who was the railway company's General Counsel. [1]
The station building was constructed by the GTP in 1909 and opened in 1910. It was one of the largest GTP stations in western Canada and featured a 24-hour-per-day restaurant for passengers and railway employees. [2] [3]
In 1920, the bankrupt GTP system was nationalized by the Government of Canada and it was merged into the Canadian National Railways (CNR), a federal Crown corporation. Under CNR, later shortened to CN or CN Rail, the Biggar Railway Station saw continued use as a station stop for that company's premier transcontinental passenger train, the Super Continental .
In 1978, CN transferred its passenger railway service to Via Rail, a new federal Crown corporation dedicated exclusively to operating Canada's passenger trains. In 1981, Via Rail budget cuts saw the Super Continental discontinued, thus Biggar lost its passenger service, however this returned in 1985 when the Via Rail budget cuts to the Super Continental were reversed.
In 1990, further budget cuts to Via Rail saw the Super Continental cut once again, however the Canadian which had run on the Canadian Pacific Railway in southern Saskatchewan from Winnipeg via Regina to Calgary, Alberta and on to Vancouver, British Columbia, was shifted to the more northerly CN line running through Biggar.
In 1976, the station was designated a National Historic Site of Canada as a recognition of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway's role in the development of Western Canada and the distinctive contribution its stations made to Canada's architectural heritage. [4] On 19 February 1996, Sheila Copps, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Canadian Heritage further designated the Biggar Railway Station as a Heritage Railway Station, which resulted in legislative protection to prevent demolition or alteration. [5] [6]
The citation reads as follows:
Planned at the beginning of the 20th century as a transcontinental line to rival the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk Pacific was beset by managerial and financial troubles which prevented its profitable operation and it became part of the Canadian National Railways in 1920. The railway played a significant role in the development of the western provinces and many settlements such as Biggar, grew up from stations along the line. Its station buildings, like the Biggar example, remain a distinctive contribution to Canada's architectural heritage.
The building was built of wood in a bungalow style, typical of small town railway stations built by the Grand Trunk Pacific during that period. [9]
 | This section needs to be updated.(May 2016) |
The Biggar Railway Station is a station stop used by Via Rail's Canadian transcontinental passenger train service.
Biggar is the first stop for the westbound Canadian after departing Saskatoon 1 hour earlier to the east. Edmonton is approximately 5 hours by train to the west.
Biggar was a division point for Canadian National Railway (CN) in its freight service, which closed in April, 2014. [10] [11]
Although the actual station is too run-down to enter, 2 smaller heated waiting sheds are also there for passenger use. However, it has now been slated for demolition (originally on July 25, 2014, then July 31, and now by the end of October). In 2018 the federal government granted approval for demolition. [12]
The station was demolished in July, 2018.
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
Biggar is a town in central Saskatchewan, Canada. It is located on Highway 14, 93 kilometres (58 mi) west of Saskatoon, the province's most populous city.
Union Station is a major railway station and intermodal transportation hub in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is located on Front Street West, on the south side of the block bounded by Bay Street and York Street in downtown Toronto. The municipal government of Toronto owns the station building while the provincial transit agency Metrolinx owns the train shed and trackage. Union Station has been a National Historic Site of Canada since 1975, and a Heritage Railway Station since 1989. It is operated by the Toronto Terminals Railway, a joint venture of the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway that directs and controls train movement along the Union Station Rail Corridor, the largest and busiest rail corridor in Canada.
The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Transcontinental Railway (NTR), running across northern Ontario and Quebec, crossing the St. Lawrence River at Quebec City and ending at Moncton, New Brunswick. The Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) managed and operated the entire line.
Melville is a small city in the east-central portion of Saskatchewan, Canada. The city is 145 kilometres (90 mi) northeast of the provincial capital of Regina and 45 kilometres (28 mi) southwest of Yorkton. Melville is bordered by the rural municipalities of Cana No. 214 and Stanley No. 215. Its population at the 2016 census was 4,562, making it Saskatchewan's smallest city. It is also home of hockey's Melville Millionaires, who compete in the Saskatchewan Junior Hockey League, and baseball's Melville Millionaires, who competed in the Western Canadian Baseball League until 2019.
The National Transcontinental Railway (NTR) was a historic railway between Winnipeg and Moncton in Canada. Much of the line is now operated by the Canadian National Railway.
The history of rail transport in Canada began in the early 19th century. The Canadian railway system saw several expansion "booms" throughout history, as well as a major change from broad to standard gauge which occurred in the 1870s. An initially disconnected system was gradually integrated with the American railway network, as Canadian and American railway companies built lines and bought smaller companies in each other's country. The Intercolonial Railway, a product of Canadian Confederation, was Canada's first major experiment in railway nationalization, and following Confederation, several transcontinental railways were built.
The Canadian is a transcontinental passenger train operated by Via Rail with service between Union Station in Toronto, Ontario, and Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada.
The Super Continental was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated by the Canadian National Railway from 1955 until 1977, when Via Rail took over the train and ran it until it was cancelled in 1981. Service was restored in 1985 but was again eliminated in 1990. The original CN train had a Montreal–Ottawa–Toronto-Winnipeg–Saskatoon–Edmonton–Jasper–Vancouver routing with daily service.
The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is a railway museum located west of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the intersection of the Pike Lake Highway and the Canadian National Railway tracks. It is operated by the Saskatchewan Railroad Historical Association (SRHA) and was opened in 1990.
The Grand Trunk Bridge is a Canadian steel trestle railway bridge that spans the South Saskatchewan River in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan. It was built in 1908 as part of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway project. The GTP was merged into the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1920; as such, the structure is also referred to informally as the CN Railway Bridge.
The history of Saskatoon began with the first permanent non-indigenous settlement of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada, in 1883 when Toronto Methodists, wanting to escape the liquor trade in that city, decided to set up a "dry" community in the rapidly growing prairie region. As of 1882 this area was a part of the provisional district named Saskatchewan, North-West Territories (NWT). Their organization, the Temperance Colonization Society, first examined this area in 1882 and found that it would make an excellent location to found their community based on the ideals of the temperance movement; Saskatoon traditionally considers 1882 its founding year and thus marked its centennial in 1982. The settlers, led by John Neilson Lake, arrived on the site of what is now Saskatoon by traveling by railway from Ontario to Moose Jaw, Assiniboia, NWT, and then completing the final leg via horse-drawn cart. The plan for the Temperance Colony soon failed as the group was unable to obtain a large block of land within the community. Nonetheless, John Lake is commonly identified as the founder of Saskatoon; a public school, a park and two streets are named after him.
Saskatoon station is a historic railway station building in Saskatoon, Saskatchewan, Canada. It was built in 1908. It was designated a National Historic Site of Canada in 1976, and has also been protected as a Heritage Railway Station of Canada since 1990.
Transport in Saskatchewan includes an infrastructure system of roads, highways, freeways, airports, ferries, pipelines, trails, waterways, and railway systems serving a population of approximately 1,098,352 inhabitants year-round.
The CN Industrial Area is the industrial subdivision located in southern Saskatoon. It is also known as South Saskatoon, after the CN rail siding located in the area. It is a part of the Nutana Suburban Development Area. This industrial park was established with the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway crossing the South Saskatchewan River.
Oban is an unincorporated area administered by the rural municipality of Biggar No. 347, in the Canadian province of Saskatchewan. Oban is located on Saskatchewan Highway 14 in western Saskatchewan. The closest town is Biggar to the southeast. Biggar railway station is a divisional point for the Canadian National Railway (CNR). Oban had the last provincial interlocking tower at the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway level crossing, which was constructed in 1910 and closed in 1990.
The Canadian National Railway (C.N.) Yards Management Area located on Chappell Drive, Saskatoon, Saskatchewan consists of the VIA Saskatoon railway station and the train switching yards. These yards are a part of the Confederation Suburban Development Area (SDA). It lies (generally) north of the outskirts of the City and the Rural Municipality of Corman Park No. 344, west of Montgomery Place, south of 11th Street and east of Highway 7. Highway 7 has built an overpass over C.N. tracks where they intersect. This neighbourhood is not to be confused with the C.N. Industrial in the Nutana SDA on the east side of Saskatoon. These two sides of Saskatoon are connected with the Grand Trunk Bridge or CN railway bridge over the South Saskatchewan River.
The Canadian National Railway (CN) Bala Subdivision is a major railway line in Ontario, Canada. It runs between the provincial capital of Toronto in Southern Ontario and Capreol in Northern Ontario, where the line continues as the Ruel Subdivision. It forms part of CN's transcontinental mainline between Southern Ontario and Western Canada.
The Canadian National Railway Alderdale Subdivision was a railway line in Northeastern Ontario, Canada. It originally opened in 1915 as a part of the Canadian Northern Railway's transcontinental mainline. It connected Brent in the east with Capreol in the west. At Capreol it formed the eastern component of an east-west-south wye junction. The line's divisional point was at Alderdale.
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Media related to Biggar railway station at Wikimedia Commons
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