Landmark Building

CANADIAN NORTHERN RAILWAY BRIDGE

1st Street & 19th Avenue SW, Calgary
Built in 1914

Originally designed to bear the weight of heavy locomotives and rolling stock, this bridge is now used by pedestrians and cyclists. The steel bridge was built in 1914 to link the Canadian Northern Railway yards to the company's proposed station north of the river.

The Canadian Northern was one of two new transcontinental railways whose branch lines reached Calgary by 1914. The rival Grand Trunk Pacific Railway established its terminal on the site of Fort Calgary. Canadian Northern purchased the 23-acre Lindsay Estate in 1911 for freight yard development. Neville J. Lindsay, a member of Calgary's original town council in 1884, was a pioneer physicianturned-real estate entrepreneur.

A temporary station handled passenger and freight service until 1916, when St. Mary's Parish Hall was converted to a railway depot. The station's platforms extended across the Elbow River on either side of the bridge. The tracks ended at 18th Avenue, so the arrival and departure of trains involved a complex procedure.

After a passenger train arrived, a yard switcher hauled the coaches back across the bridge to the nearby McKee yards, where they were cleaned, serviced, and turned 180 degrees at the "Y" formation in the tracks. The locomotive followed under its own steam. It backed up to the McKee roundhouse, where it was watered, serviced and turned on the turntable. To prepare a train for departure, the yard switcher pushed the coaches back across the bridge to the station. The locomotive followed, backing up to the coaches and coupling on. The train now faced south and was ready to leave.

When the nearly bankrupt Canadian Northern was nationalized in 1918, the station, bridge and yards became part of Canadian National Railways. CN sold the property to the City of Calgary in 1970. The yards were developed as Lindsay Park, and the Lindsay Park Sports Centre opened in 1983. When the bridge was rehabilitated in 1999, the flanking platforms were removed, but their concrete piers can still be seen in the riverbed.

The Landmark Buildings and Places Database draws on the series of walking and/or driving tour booklets produced by Alberta Culture (now Alberta Culture and Community Spirit). The Heritage Community Foundation gratefully acknowledges the support of the Ministry through permission to reprint these materials online. Extracted from Calgary Historical Walking Tour: Mission and Cliff Bungalow. Alberta Community Development and the City of Calgary, 2001., with permission from Alberta Culture and Community Spirit. Visit the Alberta Culture and Community Spirit for more information.