Aspen Crossing: A Train Haven Somewhere In Alberta

How many of you have heard of Mossleigh, Alberta? Some of you probably have. Did you know that just outside of Mossleigh, there is a garden centre with a variety of railroad stock, mostly cabooses(cabeese)? Probably not. This place is called Aspen Crossing. Yep. Its a neat little area, with a campground just nearby with so-called 'Caboose Cabins'. Aspen Crossing was originally built as a garden centre, but soon after, the place started adding some railcars to the property.






Remaining Pioneer grain elevators in Mossleigh along the CP Lomond Sub












ex-CP 434059





Today, the place owns 12 railroad stock. 5 cabooses, 3 boxcars, 1 bunk car, 1 snowplow, 1 GE 45-ton diesel, and 1 1887 Pullman Official Dining Car, built originally for Southern Pacific(SP 27 - San Mateo). CN owned it afterwards, giving it three different numbers in its service time(57, 85:2, 64:2). Before it was bought by Aspen Crossing, it served as the Sidetrack Café in Edmonton named Cowley. Now, its named Aspen and is used as a restaurant. Reservations should be made.


On to the cabooses. Out of the 5, they own 1 US-built caboose, and 4 CP-Angus built cabooses, two being rebuilt Angus vans. One of the vans, 434479 was in good enough shape to have people walk in and it out. Right away, you could tell it was all original from its date built(11/1974). The cupola however, didnt look very inviting, so I stayed on the main level. Other than that, the experience was amazing!






Inside CP caboose 434479













The other Angus van was CP 434395. It was sitting between the caboose cabins in the campground. It was in horrible shape, probably untouched since its 2011 retirement. The windows were shattered, it was rusting a lot, and just wasnt looking good at all. It was blocked off, so nobody could step foot on it. I snapped a couple pictures of it.









CP 434395









Some of the other stock owned is on the nearby rail line, the CP Lomond Sub. CP had the line for sale since 2002, and had close to no trains running it, mostly because the line is in much need of maintenance. Aspen Crossing has plans to change that. They are planning to buy a huge portion of the line and run a tour train on it.


Planning a trip past Mossleigh, Alberta? Maybe plan a stop here to rest and relax near trains!



Pictures were taken May 24, 2014.

A Treasure From A Rail Line Now History

Us railfans all have our ups and downs. An up could be a train with rare, foreign power or something. What about a down?

For me, its usually a train I couldn't take a picture or video of, while I know it had something cool on it. But the worst down for me is… tracks long gone. Abandoned. Ripped up. Roadbed left to let grass grow. You can't see the rocks, but you can still see the obvious differences in the landscape.

Those are what we see. An odd mound stretching far away, or even spots of dead grass. You follow the line to see where it goes. Then you see trees. The line goes in the thinnest of the bush, and then turns to follow alongside a highway. You soon know what your following. History.

In my lifetime, two tracks that I was very familiar with as a young child, are gone. One being the Cardston Sub, a line that stretched from Stirling, AB to Cardston. But it may have gone further beyond Cardston at a time, after researching with Google Earth.
The second, the Macleod Sub, that stretched from Fort Macleod, AB to Calgary. Abandoned in the late 90s due to weakened bridges and unkept areas of track. The track stayed until about 2007, when they finally ripped it up, all the way to south of High River. That section now shortened to around Sheep River after the 2013 Alberta floods, which afterwards forced officials to demolish the bridge at High River.
I have good memories traveling beside the Macleod Sub on Highway 2. I don't remember seeing any trains, but possibly one in early 2000 or sometime then. That train was around Nanton if so.

Even though the track is long gone, I still can't help but look out the car window and watch for the roadbed. It still hurts to know that trains possibly won't run that way forever.

It was until April 25, 2014 that things changed for me.
Coming home from Canmore after Easter break, we stopped in Claresholm for gas. The gas station, a Shell, has a portion sitting directly overtop of what was, not too long ago, track and ballast. All the elevators in Claresholm have been torn down, the last one was done this year. The rubble was cleaned up the same day we came back from our trip. Right across the road from the south entrance to the Shell, is the old roadbed. I went over to it while the car was getting fueled up. The first time I ever stood on the roadbed. It's quite something really.
Then something caught my eye. It was an old spike! Rusty, but in very good shape. I would not let go of it. I couldn't, until I got back in the car.

Pictures of the spike in its rusty, but proudly straight, state.

During my little visit on the track bed, I shot a pic in both directions of what's left of the line. 

South Facing

North Facing

RIP The Macleod Sub

I obviously have strong feelings about this line. Any info that you may have, including pictures or video from when this line was operational, please speak up! Thanks

My First days of Railfanning

What influenced you to sit beside tracks and watch for trains? To video them? To take pictures?
My answer would be, its all from my love for model railroads.

That's exactly how it went. It was my model railroad that made me realize that trains were what I liked and what I would do as my future career. Now, I do it everytime without care, as if I was born to do it. Well, its only been over a year since I began railfanning.

I live about 5km(estimate) from the CP secondary mainline, the Taber Sub, that runs through Lethbridge. By bike, its about 20-30 minutes one way. The distance doesn't stop me. I also have the option of taking the city's smooth Transit buses too. My first official catch was done on video, on a cold Saturday morning February 23, 2013. My location was just west of the University Drive overpass, which crosses the railway on the west end of the city. I probably waited about 20 minutes before I saw lights to the west, an Eastbound freight, most likely CP A44 - The Taber Wayfreight, which is a Lethbridge-Dunmore(near Medicine Hat) train. I took out my iPod and got ready to shoot my first railfan video. The engines finally came and passed, two ES44ACs 8878 and 8835. The wind was blowing brisk air at me, nearly freezing my hands when i stopped recording the video. I didnt care, I caught my first train officially on video.

It wasn't until March 15, that I Got another chance to railfan. This time, by request, the Lethbridge Yard, located at Kipp, AB, near Coalhurst, AB. The yard didn't originate here, but was relocated in 1983, after its original spot where the Park Place Mall sits today was to be sold for the redevelopment of what was to become the city's largest mall. The only remnants of the yard left is the station, now a Health unit, and a preserved steam locomotive, CP 3651, an MLW 2-8-0 consolidation sits where the mainline would've been beside the platform.
Anyways, the yard was my next spot. What I saw there, I'll never forget. CP GP38-2 3040 in  fresh new paint with CP SD40-2 5875 in the small Multimark scheme were switching. The sight of the Multimark excited me greatly, after hearing about CP's ECO rebuild program, I worried the multimark would soon die. I got roster shots of both units, with their vents frosted white due to the brisk, breezy air.

CP GP38-2 3040. I submitted this pic to the CP Diesel Roster site

CP SD40-2 5875.

Well, these were the first days of railfanning for me, and the end of this post. I hope you enjoyed it!
Until next time, Braedan signing off.