April 20, 2010 - The Museum acquires a station

Back on September 21, 2009 the Museum received a Grant from the Community Adjustment Fund (from the Federal Government) through the Canadian Badlands to acquire and restore a railway structure of historical nature.

On April 20th, 2010, the Museum purchased the Canadian Pacific Railway Station in Bassano Alberta. 

Plans are now under way to move the station building onto the Museum site at Beiseker, approximately 155 kilometers from Bassano by the end of July. Once on site the station will be restored to the 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. 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.

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 had continued on to Irricanna at one time. 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 Bassano 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. [Contact us]

[Right] - The Bassano station circa 1912.  As you can see the original station was no bigger than other typical CPR stations.  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 4 directions.  The passenger end was modified too to have both a men's and ladies waiting room.  Only the Men’s waiting room had access to the ticket agent.

[Below] - Layout of the Bassano Station as of March 5, 1952 with all the extensions already done.

Additional pictures of the Station are below.