Jubilee Express
Story told by Don Totten
In 1980, Alberta Transportation Minister, Henry Kroeger, was instrumental in negotiating with Canadian National Railway to donate Steam Locomotive 6060 to the Province of Alberta as a gift for their 75th anniversary. She ran proudly under steam from Eastern Canada to the Edmonton area, to operate on a number of excursions that would see her pull a special train—the Jubilee Express—as celebration for all Albertans.
One of the first and most urgent challenges in organizing the Jubilee Express was: where to get equipment? Specifically, good passenger cars. Part of the answer was found at the Alberta Railway Museum.
Another interesting contribution came from the Canadian Pacific Railway. During the summer months, commuter cars based in Montreal were not in use. Commuters who live in the city’s outlying suburbs were on summer vacation.
The number of cars provided by CPR was a least ten. These passenger cars proved to be excellent for the occasion. They rode well and had lots of good seating, plus overhead storage. The cars had never been this far west. A CNR switcher was also added to the train as back up.
The first two round trips departed out of Edmonton, one northwest to Whitecourt, the other southeast to Camrose.
The next trip, on the Labour Day weekend, ran south to Calgary. I recall driving with my father, who was visiting us from Ontario, out to Conrich, Alberta, to see 6060 come into Calgary from the northeast.
What a sight! We snapped a few photos as the train passed the elevator in the early evening light, then followed the train to Sarcee Yard in time to see the passengers get off and make their way onto waiting City Transit buses.
The crew switched the train around on the wye in preparation for the next day’s trip back. There was a lot of activity around the 6060 as fans took photos of the crew servicing the rods and adding water to the tender and passenger cars were cleaned. Excitement was in the air, and my dad and I had tickets for the train the next day!
The next morning dawned warm and clear—a perfect September day. The City of Calgary once again arranged for City Transit buses to bring passengers to the train. It was amazing. People were everywhere, taking photos, talking to each other, just TAKING IN this amazing sight. Organizers shuffled everyone aboard and a horde of people waved and watched from the roadways as we departed Sarcee Yard.
Soon we were off, gliding across the vast Alberta prairie. At that time, 1980, the railway line ran east of Calgary towards Drumheller, though the rail is all gone from that track now.
This part of the railway line was historically and economically significant to the province, as the Canadian Northern Railway completed its construction just prior to the beginning of the First World War to provide service to newly developed coal mines in the Drumheller valley.
Harry Home referred to this line by another name (probably a nickname) but I cannot recall what he called it: perhaps a reader might help me out with the nickname? In the late 50s he was stationed in Hanna, a steam locomotive stronghold at the time, working for the Canadian National Railway as a young engineer. Harry loved working there.
At Rockyford, the train made a stop and the local fire department came with their fire hoses and fire truck to water the locomotive. Passengers were allowed to detrain and take in the activities. I can’t recall now, but it seemed like Rockyford had quite a number of grain elevators. When watering the tender was complete and the passengers were back on the train, we slowly left town.
Rockyford is on the west side of a very impressive valley that eventually follows the Rosebud Creek into the Drumheller area. As you descend into the valley the railway begins to twist and turn, crossing numerous bridges all the way to Rosebud and Wayne, then north into Drumheller.
In the vestibule doors one can hear the sounds of railroading: the squeal of the wheels in the curves, the hiss of the airbrakes being applied. The landscape changes too, as the rolling Alberta prairies give way to high valley cliffs. The late summer sun’s rays reflected off the steep valley walls that act like an oven and the heat begins to bake us all. Who knew it could get this hot in Alberta?
All too quickly, we arrived in Drumheller. The passengers detrained, some choosing to visit a new exhibit celebrating the area’s connection with dinosaurs, others heading downtown. Local service clubs did an amazing job of providing a great meal to all the passengers, all part of the trip. While we were at lunch, the 6060 was serviced and left us briefly, heading up the hill east of Drumheller to the south end of the Stettler Subdivision, to be turned at the wye located at station named “Dinosaur.”
In the mid-to-late afternoon, all the passengers returned to the train. My father pointed out the tired children getting on the train with their parents—not unlike the sights I’ve seen in more recent times at Alberta Prairie Railway. In quick order, we were underway. 6060 was doing that slow, steady chuff-chuff heard when the running is fairly level and the train is being managed with a moderate throttle.
As the train swung to the west at Rosedale and passed over a bridge near Wayne, we headed into a grade—not too steep; however, the cadence of the exhaust changed. It was an intoxicating sound. The stack developed the slightest grey hue as the exhaust became more pronounced. You could tell, 6060 was in for a battle up a long, saucy grade. With each twist and turn, the sound of the whistle at crossings and the steady barking of the exhaust reflected from the high valley walls. The 6060 was thundering as we headed across a bridge, curving and climbing west out of the valley. This went on until we arrived in Rockyford where we stopped for water and a locomotive service. Finally, it was a short run into Calgary where we were met by City Transit buses and a crowd of locals, out to see this very special train arrive.
The crew looked over the 6060. They turned it on the wye, serviced it and made it ready for the trip the next day to Hanna.
My father left the next day with my mother and sister to drive back to Ontario. This left me free to ride to the Drumheller area on my motorcycle, where I had the opportunity to take more photos of 6060 passing through the Drumheller valley once again.
It is sad to say that much of this railway line has been taken out of service, the rail removed. Such a loss of infrastructure.
During the following week, 6060 made the last run of the Jubilee Express as it traveled north to Edmonton and storage at the Alberta Railway Museum. Extensive repairs were required before 6060 could return to operation, and this did not happen until 1986 when another great event came along: Expo 86. That’s another story.
The Rocky Mountain Rail society can use your help to have 6060 returned to operation. If you would like to help, please visit our