Material Type

Artifact

Other Name

CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY RAIL SECTION

Date Range From

1908

Date Range To

1983

Materials

STEEL

No. Pieces

2

Height

10.8

Length

168

Width

10.1

Description

RAIL TRACK SECTION EMBOSSED WITH "ST CUMBERLAND STEEL" 1883. MINIMAL RUSTING.

Subjects

RAIL TRANSPORTATION-ACCESSORY

Historical Association

TRANSPORTATION

History

ON JUNE 21, 2019, COLLECTIONS TECHNICIAN, KEVIN MACLEAN, INTERVIEWED JIM HUTTON REGARDING HIS DONATION OF A SECTION OF A RAILWAY TRACK. THE TRACK WAS EXCAVATED FROM THE PARK PLACE MALL LANDSITE, WHICH HAD BEEN PART OF THE OLD LETHBRIDGE RAIL YARD. THE RAIL YARD WAS BUILT IN 1908 AND IN 1983 THE RAILYARD WAS MOVED TO THE KIPP YARD TO CREATE SPACE FOR WHAT IS NOW PARK PLACE MALL. CADILLAC FAIRVIEW COMPANY WAS RESPONSIBLE FOR EXCAVATING THIS LAND. JIM HUTTON, ENGINEERING TEHCNOLOGIST, WAS THE ONSITE REPRESENTATIVE FOR CADILLAC FAIRVIEW TO OVERSEE THE EXCAVATION. ONCE THE CPR HAD CLEARED OFF THE SITE, JIM EXPLAINED: “IT WAS A VAST WASTELAND RIGHT FROM WHERE THE HEALTH UNIT IS ALL THE WAY DOWN TO WHERE TOYS ‘R US IS. THERE [WERE] TREES, THERE WAS RUBBLE, THERE WAS GRASS, THERE [WERE] HILLS, THERE [WERE] HOLES ... IN THE ROUNDHOUSE AREA… BETWEEN TOYS ‘R US AND THE WEST END OF SEARS MALL…THE FIRST THING YOU [HAD] TO DO [WAS] CLEAR ALL THE RUBBLE OFF AND FIND OUT WHAT’S UNDER THE RUBBLE AND OF COURSE WE TOOK 200,000 CUBIC METERS OF MATERIAL AWAY… IT RANGED…FROM SAND TO GRAVEL TO DIESEL FUEL AND CONCRETE…” HE CONTINUED: “[RAIL SECTIONS] WERE COMING OUT OF THE GROUND BECAUSE THEY WERE ENCASED IN CONCRETE AND THE BACKHOES WERE DIGGING THE CONCRETE OUT IN THE AREA OF THE ROUNDHOUSE AND THESE THINGS WERE FLYING AROUND LIKE TOOTHPICKS…WHATEVER YOU DUG UP YOU HAD TO GET RID OF BECAUSE CADILLAC FAIRVIEW…DIDN’T WANT ANYTHING LEFT UNDER THE MALL WHICH COULD CAUSE A CONTAMINATION ISSUE AND THERE WERE NO RULES IN 1988 ABOUT PARTS PER MILLION OR ANYTHING LIKE THAT SO YOU BASICALLY WENT BY YOUR NOSE. IF IT DIDN’T SMELL GOOD YOU GOT RID OF IT BECAUSE THEY DID NOT WANT FUMES COMING UP THROUGH THE CONCRETE IN THE FLOOR… DIESEL IS WHAT WE FOUND BUT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN OTHER THINGS THERE AS WELL. WE NEVER ACTUALLY FOUND ANY BUT THERE COULD HAVE BEEN THINGS LIKE CARBON TETRACHLORIDE WHICH WAS WHAT THEY CLEANED THE GREASE OFF THE WHEELS WITH. THAT’S A DEADLY SUBSTANCE AND IT EVAPORATES QUITE QUICKLY BUT WE DIDN’T KNOW IF WE’D FIND A SUMP FULL OF IT SOMEPLACE. NOBODY KNEW, SO WE [WERE] VERY CAREFUL ABOUT THAT.” JIM EXPANDS ON WHAT WAS FOUND UNDER THE RUBBLE, STATING: “THIS WOULD BE THE ONLY PLACE THERE WAS ANY TRACK AT ALL BECAUSE IF YOU COME OUT OF THE WEST END OF WHAT IS NOW THE HEALTH UNIT THAT WAS THE TRAIN STATION AND THE FIRST THING YOU RAN INTO … [WAS] SIX OR SEVEN COAL BUNKERS WHICH ARE GONE, BUT THERE IS STILL THREE OR FOUR FEET OF [ANTHRACITE] COAL LYING AROUND THE GROUND SO YOU HAD TO … DISPOSE OF IT IN THE APPROPRIATE PLACE, WHICH IN THAT CASE WOULD BE THE LANDFILL… [THERE WAS] SAND AND THERE WAS RED SHALE AND THERE WAS GRAVEL AND… WE HAD TO GET DOWN TO A GOOD SUB BASE BEFORE WE COULD START BUILDING THINGS BACK UP. THIS WOULD BE IN THE ROUNDHOUSE AREA WHERE THESE RAILS CAME FROM…” IN TERMS OF THE TRACKS, JIM EXPLAINED: “IF YOU LOOK ON THE END OF THESE YOU’LL SEE THAT THE ONE END HAS BEEN CUT OFF WITH A TORCH SO THAT MEANT THAT ANYTHING THAT IS STICKING OUT OF THE CONCRETE THEY CUT IF OFF WITH A GAS WELDER…A LOT OF THESE [TRACKS], ON THE TOP PART HERE, IT GETS ALL ROLLED DOWN SO THERE IS ALMOST NO TRACK LEFT. SO, THESE HAVE VIRTUALLY NEVER BEEN DRIVEN ON. THEY ARE A PRISTINE PIECE OF TRACK FROM 1880…THIS IS A HUNDRED YEARS OLD, SO WHEN THEY STARTED OUT THEY WOULD HAVE HAD COAL POWERED UNITS AND AT SOME POINT IN TIME SOMEBODY DECIDED TO MAKE A CONCRETE PAD. THERE WERE TRACKS IN THE WAY SO THEY JUST WENT RIGHT OVER TOP OF IT… [THESE WERE ENCASED] IN CONCRETE.” FOR MORE INFORMATION INCLUDING THE FULL INTERVIEW TRANSCRIPTION AND LETHBRIDGE HERALD ARTICLES, PLEASE SEE THE PERMANENT FILES P20190013000-GA.

Catalogue Number

P20190013000

Acquisition Date

2019-06

Collection

Museum

Less detail