Northern Alberta Railway Co. fonds. — 1921-1939. — 8 cm of textual records.
Agency History
In 1907, the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway was incorporated to build a railway from Edmonton to a point near Dunvegan to the northwest, and then to a point near Fort George (now Prince George), British Columbia. The builder was to be the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway, but in 1911 an agreement was struck with the J.D. McArthur Company of Winnipeg to take over. Construction began in 1912, and by late in 1914 the rail arrived at McLennan, where the main terminal and rail yard were built. The railway was then constructed west to Spirit River, which was reached in February 1916. This was the closest to Dunvegan (15 miles northeast) that the railway came. Although the railway bed was laid past Spirit River west towards Prince George, the decision was made to route the line south from Rycroft to Grande Prairie instead. This was the end of steel until 1924, and soon the end of the ED & BC Railway as well. In 1921, the Alberta Government assumed ownership of the failing company, contracting with the Canadian Pacific Railway to run the line. Under provincial ownership, the line was extended to Wembley in 1924, and to Hythe in 1928. In 1929, it became part of the newly-formed Northern Alberta Railways Co., which completed construction to Dawson Creek in 1931. The 1931 Time Table shows the train leaving Edmonton at 16:00 each Monday and Thursday, and arriving in Dawson Creek at 17:45 the following day. The eastbound train left Dawson Creek at 19:15 each Tuesday and Friday, reaching Edmonton at 20:55 the next day. This time table continued, with few changes until World War II.
Custodial History
The registers were preserved by John Wearmouth, a locomotive fireman and engineer who began his career with the Northern Alberta Railways Co. in 1942. They were donated to South Peace Regional Archives by his son Pat in 2012.
Scope and Content
The fonds consists of two Motive Power Department Registers for the Rycroft Train Station from 1921-1939, and two Enginemen’s Register and Rest Books for the Rycroft Train Station from 1921-1939.
Notes
Title based on the contents of the fonds.
Historical Note: Information for the Agency History taken from The Northern Alberta Railways (Volume Three) by Cecil J. Swanson.
Conservation Note: The bindings on the registers are severely damaged, and the pages torn and dirty. Entries are in pencil and difficult to read.
Table of Contents
| Series 609.01 | Motive Power Department Register, Rycroft |
| Series 609.02 | Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book at Rycroft |
| Series 609.03 | Motive Power Department Register, Rycroft |
| Series 609.04 | Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book at Rycroft |
| Series 609.01 | Motive Power Department Register, Rycroft. — 1921-1932. — 2 cm of textual records.The Motive Power Department Register is defined as the “appearance book for the signature of engineers and firemen previous to taking out their trains”. It contains the number of the engine; the number, class and destination of the train; the advertised departure of the train; the engineer’s actual time of coming on duty; the fireman’s actual time of coming on duty; the signature of the engineer, and the signature of the fireman. |
| Series 609.02 | Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book at Rycroft. — 1921-1932. — 2 cm of textual records.The Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book lists the No. of the Engine, the No. of the Train, the name of the Engineer, the name of the Fireman, where the train is coming from (Grande Prairie—and later Wembley and Hythe as they became the end of steel—or any of the stations in between), the departure time, and the arrival time. There is also a column for hours on road, and for both the engineer and the fireman columns to record their amount of rest in the previous 24 hours and the hours of rest wanted. This book includes entries for engineers named Bain, Baker, Barker, Bates, Brame, Christian, Count, Crowell, Donaldson, Faust, Ferguson, Fleming, Frigon, Gage, Glenton, Hadley, Hunter, Jantz, Johnstone, Kelly, Kennedy, Lapine, Lindgren, Malloy, Maxfield, Mayes, Monty, Morgan, Nelson, Nichols, Pentzer, Praught, Preston, and Weaver. Most of these men also served as firemen on other runs, but the following served only as firemen: Atkey, Bacon, Bennett, Bird, Buck, Campbell, Comrie, Craig, Daws, Deschambeau, Erickson, Euler, Froz, Hyndman, Johnstone, Jones, Kreuger, Lee, Lomas, Lundeen, Lycan, McCleod, McVey, Montgomery, Moreau, Morin, Peltier, Savard, Schenk, Scott, Sebastian, Sylvester, Smith, Stang, Stewart, Turninga, Walton, Wigmore, Wishart, Wolfe, and Wonicott. |
| Series 609.03 | Motive Power Department Register, Rycroft. — 1933-1939. — 2 cm of textual records.The Motive Power Department Register is defined as the “appearance book for the signature of engineers and firemen previous to taking out their trains”. It contains the number of the engine; the number, class and destination of the train; the advertised departure of the train; the engineer’s actual time of coming on duty; the fireman’s actual time of coming on duty; the signature of the engineer, and the signature of the fireman. |
| Series 609.04 | Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book at Rycroft. — 1933-1939. — 2 cm of textual records.The Enginemen’s Register and Rest Book lists the No. of the Engine, the No. of the Train, the name of the Engineer, the name of the Fireman, where the train is coming from (Dawson Creek or McLennan), the departure time, and the arrival time. There is also a column for hours on road, and for both the engineer and the fireman columns to record their amount of rest in the previous 24 hours, and the hours of rest wanted, but they are seldom filled in. This book includes entries for engineers named Barker, Brame, Christian, Count, Crowell, Donaldson, Faust, Fie, Flewing, Frigon, Gage, Glenton, Hadley, Hunter, Johnstone, Jones, Kelly, Kennedy, Lapine, Lindgren, Malloy, Montgomery, Monty, Pentzer, Preston, and Weaver. Most of these men also served as firemen on other runs, but the following served only as firemen: Atkey, Bates, Bennett, Bird, Bowness, Christoffel, Clark, Corvet, Dyer, Froz, Hartog, Lee, Lycan, McLeod, Morin, Sebastian, Schenk, Scott, Smith, Sylvester, Vellin, Wintermute, and Wishart. |