River Transportation, Early Roads, and Railroads
Historic photos of road building in the RM of St. Clements. Peter Karandiuk operating municipal equipment in 1937. Building Henderson Highway in the early 1900’s. Mike Yurkiw and Alvin Goodman Peters Road in 1946. Road construction in 1937 Art Boulton on Jackhammer Grading of St. Peter Road. St. Peter Road building m 1946. Grading St….
It is a little known fact that a street car ran from Winnipeg all through the Red River North region for many years. This pdf contains historic photos of its operation. Click the arrow below to view this document in a new page on your browser.
Laying the Rails Railway lines are made up of two parts: the ties and the rails. The ties are wooden planks, about six feet long. The rails are made of steel. The rails are joined to the ties and to each other by fishplates and spikes. The ties ire placed across the roadbed exactly two…
A second transcontinental. the Canadian Northern was built by 1896 and a third, the National Transcontinental took .shape in 1915. This. sudden erpan.ion was. More than the market could support and in 1923 the federal government was required to take them all over, all the lines, except those of the CPR, and place them under…
Who build the Canadian National Railway? No one built the Canadian National Railway. It formed between 1918 and 1923 after the Government of Canada purchased and/or acquired several government and privately owned railways that had gone bankrupt. On 20 December 1918, the Canadian government created the name Canadian National Railway and adopted the slogan, The…
Why did Canada build a railway? There were many reasons for building a transcontinental railway. The primary reason was to unite the forming country of Canada. Territories were becoming provinces, and provinces were joining to form a country. This union was called Confederation. A new government formed as well, and it agreed to build a…
In 1878 and 1879, the Government of Canada built the East Selkirk Roundhouse in anticipation of the coming Canadian Pacific Railway. Sanford Fleming, a surveyor for the CPR, had selected the East Selkirk/Selkirk site for the railway to cross the Red River. This area had high ground and was not susceptible to flooding like the…
During the early years of the depression the Council of the R.M. of St. Clements set about to create job opportunities and work situations for its residents. People were hurting and the relief lists were growing at an alarming rate. Council had been negotiating with the Canadian Industries Ltd. since 1929 and had their promise…
Colville Landing, or as it was originally known, Colville Landinga, was named after the Hudson’s Bay Company’s S.S. Colville which plied the waters of Lake Winnipeg for many years. It in turn was named after two of the most important figures in the Hudson’s Bay Company’s history, Andrew Wedderburn Colville, and his son Eden. The…
The St. Andrew’s Lock and Dam is most commonly known for its unique structure. Its adapted French design was used to work with the environment, instead of attempting to control the forces of nature. The creation of the dam increased trade access along the Red River from North to South by raising the water level…
For over one hundred and forty years, the ferry system was one of the most common transportation methods in Manitoba. In St. Clements, the ferry system was crucial in the everyday activities of its citizens, particularly for maintaining communication and flow of goods and services between West and East Selkirk. These raft-resembling crafts were located…
The Anson Northup At one time in history, the Rural Municipality of St. Clements was home to a very prosperous harbour. The Colville Landing played host to numerous steamships which traveled through the region. Trade soared in western Canada with the introduction of this effective method of transportation. Steamship transportation on the Red increased trade,…
We have had many disastrous floods over the years, but the one foremost in our minds was the flood of 1950. Let’s compare the 1950 flood with other major floods on the Red River: 1950– an elevation at the junction of the Red and Assiniboine of 758.5 feet, 30.9 feet above city datum or 12.9…
St Andrews Lock and Dam The natural course of the Red River had always been blocked by series of rapids which started just north of Middle-church and continued downstream to the St. Andrew’s rapids. The rapids, while considered by many to be picturesque, were an impediment to navigation as they fall some 15 feet within…