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January 12, 2012 - With the delays incurred yesterday getting the building out of the mud, Fortis will now not be able to escort the move until Feb 14th.  So today the moving company put blocking under the building to hold it up until the move takes place.

 

[Below right] - A view of the foundation where the station has sat for the last 101 years.  To ensure the integrity of the subgrade of the tracks, the one wall was left up as a retaining wall.

 

 

January 11, 2012 - With the extreme warm weather in Alberta, the grand has gone soft with the melting of the snow.  Today was supposed to be moving day to the Museum, but one corner of the buildings wheels sunk into the dirt.  It took all day, and a CAT had to be brought in, to get it unstuck and moved out of the way so that the CPR sectionmen can access their new building.

January 9, 2012 - The station was rolled of the foundation today and the wheels were installed for the move.

January 8, 2012 - The Museum's station was jacked up today away from the foundation.  By the end of the day the girders were installed to roll the building sideways.  With the short days this time of the season the rolling of the building sideways would have to be done tomorrow morning.  (All photos courtesy of Cor Van Stennis)

   

  

[Below left and right] A cameraman for Discovery Channel films the moving crew jacking the building up. He is filming a segment for Daily Planet.

 

[Below Left] A steel cross beam is being installed to roll the building on away from the tracks.

[Below right] CPR IMS Train No. 110 (Vancouver to Toronto), with 'new-ish' ES44AC # 8933 on the point, roars past the Station eastbound for Medicine Hat.

 

 

BEISEKER RAILWAY MUSEUM

PRESS RELEASE

 

Beiseker Railway Museum, operated by the Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum Society, has acquired the original Canadian Pacific Railway 1911 Bassano Station and will be moving the station from Bassano onto the Museum site in Beiseker, Alberta on Wednesday, January 11, 2012.   

Bassano was once a very busy hub and the size of the station was directly proportional to the amount of traffic the area saw.  The Bassano station was built as a standard size CPR station in 1911 [see picture 1 below].  At some point, it was expanded to 162 feet long (20 feet wide) and is one of the largest wooden stations the CPR had in Western Canada [see picture 2 below].

The station will be moving in one piece (except for a small portion of the second floor roof, for wire clearance) from Bassano to Beiseker, a distance of 155 kilometers. This move has caught the eye of Discovery Channel TV, which will be filming the move for a segment on Daily Planet. 

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 building codes.  Renovations will also include a gift shop, waiting room, displays and interpretive areas and railway archives.  In addition, there will be a platform and mainline track added to the front of the station.

Funding for the Beiseker Railway Museum enhancement project was provided through the Government of Canada’s Community Adjustment Fund (CAF).

For more information regarding the Society and the Museum, visit http://www.alberta2005rail.com/.

 

[Picture 1]  Bassano station circa 1911

[Picture 2] Bassano station, March 2nd, 2010.