Aerial view of Ogden Shops - 1977 Photographer unknown - Canadian Pacific.

In December 1911, Canadian Pacific and the City of Calgary agreed that the railroading giant could develop a new facility, outside of what was then city limits. The agreement called for the construction of locomotive and car shops, and it had a price tag of $2 million.
 
Featuring a self-contained powerhouse, water treatment plant, irrigation canal and warehouses, this location became a self-contained town. The new location was named after then CP Vice-President Mr. I.G. Ogden.
 
For 100 years, Ogden has been one of the workhorses in CP's network of facilities. Building and repairing CP's locomotives and rolling stock was the order of business for decades. Today, Ogden is home to several automotive compounds, along with CP's Maintenance of Way and Track Evaluation Car (TEC) group. Train & Engine (T&E) Personnel have been receiving instruction in train handling and rules instruction in Calgary's training centre for many years. One of CP's locomotive simulators is located at Ogden. This piece of equipment introduces employees who are training as locomotive engineers to the experience of running an engine. The lab at Ogden has examples of track and signalling equipment, rolling stock and other pieces of field equipment for CP employees to examine and work on while training.

The new head office at Ogden - Date/Photographer unknown - Canadian Pacific.

Now home to CP's new head office, this move to Ogden reaffirms the location's importance to our company. We review the past 100 years with a sense of accomplishment as we position ourselves at Ogden for the next 100 years.

Making Moves

The decision to move CP's headquarters out of Gulf Canada Square was made late in 2012. The unnecessary cost of renting office space downtown (more than $15 million per year) and the fact that CP is an extensive property owner were the reasons for this move. The decision was made to find a location, construct a new facility, and move the head office onto property of our own.
 
Work at the Ogden site began in November 2012. The former steel car shop was chosen as the location for the new building and the trenching and demolition process began. In addition to the main building, development and construction has occurred in several other existing buildings on the Ogden property, notably the administration building and the training centre.

A communal area in the new building - Date/Photographer unknown - Canadian Pacific.

This scale of construction for a CP headquarters has only happened once before, when Windsor Station was built in the late 1880s. While the styles of these two buildings couldn't be more different, their purpose is the same. Both were built to house and support the needs of Canadian Pacific, and to provide us with room to expand. Both buildings make statements about CP's presence in the communities in which they stand.
 
Along with the environmental considerations, CEO Hunter Harrison pointed out that "This move to Ogden is a re-statement of our identity." The location of our new headquarters is an important element of CP's image. It makes an identity statement for our customers and investors, and for the Ogden community. Canadian Pacific's move to Ogden is a good-news story, and it reflects the bold change that is happening across the network.

If you've ever built or renovated a home, you're aware of the decisions that must be made during the construction process. Location, materials, type of structure, finishes and landscaping are only a few of the external components to be considered. When you consider the structure's interior, making decisions about layout, paint, flooring, wiring and lighting can be even more complex than making decisions about the exterior.
 
When you expand the scope of a construction project, these factors are magnified to meet the size of the structure. In the case of our new headquarters building at Ogden, CP has constructed an office for more than 1,100 people, and is doing this in a compressed time frame.
 
In spite of all these challenges, CP has gone green with the new space whenever possible. In the end, it all adds up to a lot of tiny details and one big thing to be proud of.

Great Wall of Ogden - The maintenance away shop is marked by a 300 foot x 16 foot mural featuring real people and real elements of our railway.

This year, more than 2,000 employees are moving from an old, expensive glass tower in downtown Calgary to a new, improved, and less costly headquarters. CP stripped down an old building to its bones and rebuilt it from the ground up in the 100-year-old Ogden Yard at the east edge of the city. This move is a part of CP's plan to get back to its roots, and Hunter's message that every CP employee is a railroader, first and foremost, and working for CP is something we should all be proud of.

This Canadian Pacific Magazine article is copyright 2013 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with their permission. All logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.

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