Alberta Railfan Information

Alberta is home to the head offices of both Canadian class I railways. Canadian National (CN) is based out of Edmonton, while Canadian Pacific Kansas City (CPKC) is based in Calgary. The province is also home to 2 shortline railways which are the the Battle River Railway (BRR) and Forty Mile Rail (FMR). 2 Tourist railways round out operations in Alberta in the form of Aspen Crossing Railway (ACR) and Alberta Prairie Railway (APR).

CN’s network in Alberta is mainly in Central and Northern sections of the province. The furthest south CN operates is into the Calgary area. While in the north, they stretch all the way up into the Northwest Territories. In Central Alberta, CN’s mainline crosses the province from Wainwright, into Edmonton, and continuing on to Jasper. Many sections of this mainline are double-tracked. The Prairie North Line (PNL) also plays an important role for CN in Alberta. The PNL provides CN an alternate east/west routing from Edmonton into Saskatchewan at Lloydminster. CN puts the PNL to work during work blockages or derailments on the mainline.

CPKC’s operations are mainly based in Central and Southern Alberta. CPKC’s northern most track is in the Scotford area northeast of Edmonton, while the southern most is to the U.S. border at Coutts. CPKC’s mainline enters the province east of Medicine Hat and extends to Lake Louise by way of Calgary. CPKC also has alternate east/west routes which get used for reroutes as needed. The main alternate route is to the south by way of the Crowsnest Pass. This southern route branches off of the mainline near Medicine Hat, passes through Lethbridge, before leaving the province at Crowsnest. The Crowsnest Pass route has some great scenery. Unlike CN, CPKC has a second alternate route into Alberta as they also operate a Prairie North Line (PNL). CPKC’s PNL enters the province near Provost and extends westward to Wetaskiwin where it joins CPKC’s Edmonton/Calgary mainline.

The Battle River Railway is based out of Forestburg, and operates 52 miles of track. The BRR operates track between Alliance and the Camrose Area where they interchange with CN. At Camrose, the BRR can also access the CPKC network. An interesting tidbit about the railway is that they operate the longest section of straight track in the province. The BRR offers freight transportation, railcar storage, and train excursions. To access the BRR website, and learn more about this railway, please click here.

Forty Mile Rail is based out of Foremost, and as the name suggests, is about 40 miles in length. FMR transports mainly agricultural products, but also provides railcar storage, and owns a large storage yard at Foremost. The FMR also partnered with Vestas in the transportation/storage of wind turbine parts for large windfarm projects in the area. The line operated by FMR is between Foremost, and the Stirling area where they interchange with CPKC. For the FMR website, and more information on this railway, please click here.

The Alberta Prairie Railway is a tourist railway based out of Stettler which offers excursions from Stettler to Big Valley and back. In addition to operating excursions, the APR partners with the Canadian Heartland Training Railway to offer railcar storage. Through this partnership, the APR provides up to 400 spots for railcar storage. For more information on this partnership, please click here. And for the APR website, please click here.

At Aspen Crossing, they offer excursions over portions of the former CPKC Lomond Subdivision. Trains are based out of Mossleigh, and operate in either direction out of town. Aspen Crossing also offers camping opportunities for their guests, a nursery and tree farm, and has an old dining car onsite which operates as a dining room. For more information on Aspen Crossing, please click here.

In addition to the above, there are numerous railway museums operating across the province. Those are listed below.