It is great what neighbours and friends of Countess share with us. This intriguing piece of history is literally out of the Royal Line (the train line that connected Bassano to Empress, and went through Countess, Duchess, Rosemary, Gem and Patricia).
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In the Fall of 2005, a few years after my parents had purchased the historic hamlet of Countess, I began seeking out more information around the history. A touch point at then was CPR to gain more information, and some was furnished by the corporate Historian, which follows:
Before the Great Depression, immigrants and settlers flooded the
Prairies. CPR developed immigration and colonization programs, including
irrigating large portions of southern Alberta, setting up experimental
farms, and building ready-made farms in Alberta and Saskatchewan that
settlers could move right into and start cultivating. CPR also expanded
its hotel and resort chain and its fleet of Pacific Ocean ships. CPR
acquired a fleet of Atlantic Ocean steamships and ferries on both
coasts. CPR doubled its track mileage and double-tracked most of its
western main line. CPR was also locked in deadly competition on the
Prairies with Canada’s two other transcontinental railways – the
Canadian Northern and the Grand Trunk Pacific – railways that eventually
went bankrupt and were rolled into the huge Canadian National Railways
supported by the public purse until the early 1990s.
CPR embarked on its major mainline double-tracking program on the
Prairies between 1911 and 1914. This is where Countess and its
importance comes into play.
Most double-tracking took place as track twinning, except through
Countess. CPR opted for a “kinder, gentler” route with better grades
west of Swift Current, Sask. The second mainline single track that
served as a double track in western Saskatchewan and eastern Alberta
took a bit of a circle route. It branched off the original mainline
just west of Swift Current at Java, Sask., ran up to Westerham, Sask.,
skirting the Red Deer River into Alberta, at Empress, and back down to
the original mainline just east of Bassano, through Countess. CPR
twinned the first four-and-a-half miles of mainline east of Swift
Current. And then the second track diverged northwest at Java toward
Empress, Alta. The first 33 miles out of Java went into operation on
November 2, 1911. The small gap between Mile 33 and Cabri saw traffic on
June 25, 1912. The section between Cabri and Westerham, Sask., went into
operation on September 29, 1913. In the meantime, construction crews were
busy building northeast off of the CPR mainline at Bassano, Alta.,
through the “regal” communities of Countess, Duchess, Princess and
Majestic toward Empress and the Alta./Sask. border. This whole 126-mile
section was completed before World War I and put into operation, from
west of Countess right through to Empress and eight miles beyond across
the provincial border, on June 12, 1914. There was only a missing
16-mile link left to hook it up at Westerham with the secondary main
line out of Swift Current and Java. This went into operation on November
23, 1914.
Empress was the divisional point on this line. East of Empress to Java
(Swift Current) was called the Empress Subdivision. And west of Empress
to Bassano, through Countess, was called the Bassano Subdivision.
But the world changed after World War II. Passenger and small break-bulk
freight traffic went over the road. CPR dieselised its operations in the
1950s to cut operating costs. And CPR’s secondary main line through
Countess toward Empress and the Saskatchewan border became less vital.
CPR abandoned from Leader, Sask., to Empress, Alta., in 1990. And, in
December 1997, CPR closed down the 115.4-mile Empress to Bassano line
through Countess. Only a small stub of this former secondary main line
in Alberta exists today. It juts northeast from near Bassano pointing
toward the former hamlet of Countess and serves as a storage siding.
–Corporate Historian
The 152nd Canada Day (formerly Dominion Day) was a blast. The Chronicle family was on the road of the Royal Line down to the Village of Rosemary for the annual festivities. This year saw the fun of the bubble people on water, pickle ball, air brush tattoos, food trucks, the 30th Rosemary School Reunion, Gem MB Youth fundraising, bungee seat, Beach Volley Ball Tournament, Mobile Escape Room (sorry need to catch our breath)…. oh and it kicked off with a pancake breakfast, a Parade (10 a.m.)-where you will note first responders from Patricia, Duchess and Rosemary— with many vintage and fancy cars in the Show & Shine along main street that followed, oh and a pop-up market of vendors.
Whew! Poppa and Grandma met us from Countess for a picnic in the midst of the fun. This evening there will be fireworks at dusk if you are in the area!
As the saying goes, a picture is worth a thousand words…so I leave you with a photo montage of a great day!
Much like you could order houses from the Sears Roebuck catalogue in the way back, so to did CP Rail have their own version of the quick build. There is one still standing in Countess, it has been renovated over time, but here’s a glimpse:
Money can get your name on lots of things. Looking around villages, towns and cities in the late 20th and early 21st century one can notice how many companies have sponsored things. Just look to the local hockey rink and chances are there is a company sponsorship deal. Townships of CP Rail were no different on the Royal Line.
Bassano was named after one of their biggest shareholders from Italy, the Marquis de Bassano whose name was used for the town of Bassano, and his wife, the Countess had the small hamlet of Countess named after her.
The thoughts of where the names come from emerges as we contemplate the history of railways in the area. In the early 2000’s Bassano moved for a time from the “Best in the west by a Dam site” to the Train engine logo. Which was puzzling when it was unable to refurbish their old CP Rail station, Countess was not selected to become its new home, that was Beiseker, AB in 2012. The 104 year old station had already received 1/2 million dollars in renovations on its way to become a tourist destination and museum.
Unfortunately in 2015 fire would reduce the historic building to ash. For an example of historic CP Rail Station a trip to Empress, AB will be beneficial.
Countess still holds to celebrating our railroad heritage as part of the Royal Line with our on-site CP Rail Caboose. It was an amazing thing to go through the rail yards and explore the old engines and cars in the early 2000’s with Wayne Ragan to find this attraction:
The historic Royal Line: Bassano, Duchess, Countess, Rosemary, Patricia, Gem, and Empress:
Many folks know about the rich history of farming, ranching and oil & gas in our province. One of the resources that can be forgotten is coal. It was a major economic drive in Southern Alberta until oil & gas took off. What some may not realize is that the Royal Line had their own tie to the coal industry.
From 1920-22 Duchess, AB had a coal mine. The Duchess Coal Company worked a shallow mine for coal for the two years.
Knowing that CP Rail targeted work contracts and immigration from Wales, due to their knowledge of mining and working through rock to build the rail line. It is a preponderance how many would settle and work for the early coal companies. A family aside for this writer, my Great-Granddad came to Montreal, QC for a short stint to work with CP Rail just for this reason.
Countess Chronicle 