Calgary's railway history from Jack Peach - Action News
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Calgary's railway history from Jack Peach

Jack Peach meets us on the platform and we catch a ride along the rails of Calgary's train history. Whistle stops and long gone stations.

Wooden platforms and marmalade omelets

Turner Siding was the first stop out of Calgary and is now an established southwest neighbourhood. (Glenbow Archives)

As part of Calgary at a Crossroads, we've been taking a stroll down Calgary's historical highways and byways with Jack Peach.

Now, we catch a ride on the rails.

Jack Peach, one of our city's legendary historians, was born in 1913. He wrote many books about Calgary's past, and in the late 1970she recorded some of his memories for the Calgary Eyeopener.

Here are three of his stories about Calgary's' passenger railways.

Vanished Stations

The CN Station. One of Calgary's gateways to the world. Now, no more. Takes a listen to Jack's personal experiences on the trains, and how he enjoined the 'marmalade omelet' while riding the rails.

Jack Peach on Calgary's long-shuttered CN train station in MIssion.

St. Mary's hall, built in 1905, was the Canadian Northern Railway Station. (Glenbow Archives)

Calgary whistle stops

Turner Siding. Every heard of it? Neither had we.But it was the first rail station out of Calgary. You now know it by another name.Check out these former rail stations, now deep inside our city.

Jack Peach talks about Calgary's old train stops and the neighbourhoods that now sit in their place.

Queen Elizabeth II and Prince Philip at Turner Siding on July 9, 1959. (Glenbow Archives)

CPStation

Once an architectural glory of our city, the Canadian PacificStation which used to sit next to the Palliser Hotel is long gone. But Jack Peach describes the stations's glory days.

Jack Peach talks about the once-bustling CP train station in downtown Calgary, now long gone.

The demolition of the old Canadian Pacific Railway station in Calgary in 1969. (Glenbow Archives)
Cars in front of the CP Station in 1914. (Glenbow Archives)

Calgary at a Crossroads is CBC Calgary's special focus on life in our city during the downturn. A look at Calgary's culture, identity and what it means to be Calgarian. Read more stories from the series atCalgary at a Crossroads.