2 June 2010
The Museum Acquires a Station
Canadian Pacific Railway Bassano station - 2 Mar 2010 Photographer
unknown.
Beiseker Alberta - On 21 Sep 2009 the Beiseker Railway Museum received a grant from the Community
Adjustment Fund (from the Federal Government) through Canadian Badlands to acquire and restore a railway structure of historical nature.
On 20 Apr 2010, the Museum purchased the Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Bassano, Alberta.
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Bassano station - 1912
Glenbow Museum.
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Plans are now underway to move the station building onto the Museum site at Beiseker, approximately 155
kilometers from Bassano, by the end of June.
Once on site, the station will be restored to its original 1911 appearance and receive a complete makeover that will provide handicap
accessibility, washroom facilities, and other improvements needed to conform to modern day building
codes.
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Bassano Station plan on
5 Mar 1952 with all extensions in place.
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The renovations will also include a gift shop, waiting room, display, and interpretative areas.
In addition there will be a platform and mainline track added to the front of the station.
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As you can see the
second station was no bigger than other typical CPR stations but as business and traffic grew, the CPR added to the building. Both the
freight and express shed were extended to accommodate the traffic coming from four directions. The passenger end was also modified to have
both a men's and ladies' waiting room. Only the men's waiting room had access to the ticket agent - Date/photographer
unknown.
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Bassano was once a subdivision point and a major railway junction on the CPR mainline between Calgary
and Medicine Hat.
In addition to the mainline two other lines branched off. From here the Bassano Subdivision went east to Empress, Alberta, and on to Swift
Current, Saskatchewan. To the west the Standard subdivision is now truncated at Standard, but at one time had continued on to Irricana.
There is a small yard at Bassano that is still used today by the railway to store grain and auto carriers.
Bassano was once a very busy hub and the size of the station was directly proportional to the amount of traffic an area saw. The station is 162
feet long and 20 feet wide, and is one of the largest wooden structures the CPR had in Western Canada.
The Bassano Station will be the new home of the Beiseker Railway Museum in Beiseker, and will be a welcome new addition to the community.
If you would like to donate any time towards this project, or if you have any additional information, stories, or pictures about this building,
the Society would love to hear from you.
The Bassano station seen from the east end of the building. The switch in front
of the building leads off to what used to be the elevator track, but with them all gone now, it is just used for storage. This picture was taken
when the Society did an inspection of the station in preparation of making a bid to purchase it from Canadian Pacific - 2 Mar 2010 photographer
unknown.
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