The speed and efficiency of rail travel changed everything in the new west. It allowed politicians, businessmen, entertainers and even Royalty to extend their reach and visit what just a few short years earlier had been the inaccessible frontier.

Brandonites were so enamoured with the idea of coast-to-coast travel that on Dominion Day, July 1st 1886 the first transcontinental passenger train entered the city to cheering crowd. Several excited passenger had walked to Chater so they could board the train to say they were one of the passengers on its inaugural arrival. Many stayed aboard to Oak Lake and then traveled back on the next eastbound freight train.

After years of political strife in the effort to see his dream and political promise come to pass, John A. and Lady MacDonald made a well-publicized trip west on the new CPR.
 
Their stop in Brandon in late August 1886 was for just twelve hours. They were honoured by the city of Brandon as the train pulled in, and were welcomed on behalf of the community by Mayor Smart and other community leaders.

At night “thousands thronged the streets that were brightened by store windows that had been especially decorated and illuminated for the occasion”. 

Then they quickly moved on to the next stop. This was the only time John A. would cross the country on the rails he had envisioned.
   
In 1887 a celebratory jubilee train crossed the country in celebration of the 50th year of Queen Victoria’s reign. Although she didn’t tour Canada, the admiration of royalty was strong in Canada and the decorated train helped celebrate her reign across the land.

Going First Class

The 1890’s represented a period when first-class railway travel meant precisely that.

One could travel in plush and paneled elegance. 

Sleeping cars, a popular innovation on medium-distance trains, were being built as fast as the car builders could turn them out and travel on luxurious transcontinental expresses promised pleasures never to be exceeded in the decades to come. It was common for towns to greet the train’s arrival after hearing the whistle in the distance. 'Train time" was a welcomed daily event in which many stores closed their shops for the arrival & departure of friends & family, and expected cargo.

Before the railway the mail often arrived by riverboat to one of the few post offices of the area - Grand Valley. Return mail could take weeks. 

It didn't take long for Canadian government postal system to see the advantage of "rail mail".

Time of delivery was cut to days, in some cases hours.

Trains made it possible to carry more mail and parcels quickly to nearly every city and town in the west.

Over the decades, politicians as diverse as Clifford Sifton and John Diefenbaker had easy access to the outlying regions of the country. 


The Royal Family – then as now, were always welcome across the land. The train made it happen.

There were several Royal tours.  In 1939 the CPR assigned 5 Hudson style 4-6-4 locomotives to the unprecedented royal tour of King George VI.

They were impressive locomotives able to travel at speeds of 90 mph. They featured with elaborate dining cars, sleeping cars and viewing carriages. They even had a special car for the royal "butler" to steam clean and press the clothing of King and Queen.

There were other specialty service trains that arrived in Brandon over the years,

The Seed Selection Special

One typically prairie example was the Seed Selection Special, a wintertime highlight for farmers.  This train brought agricultural specialists to give lectures and discuss the sustainabity of available strains of grain.

Later the “Horticultural Show on Wheels” brought displays and a wider range of information for farmers and homeowners. The staff lived right on the train.

The Brandon Fair was one of many ways in which Brandon acted as the economic and cultural centre of Westman. Railway lines often offered special trains to and from the city for special occasions. Crowds like this group from Minto found it very convenient.


Through the summer both CN & CP offered special Picnic Trains for the railway families as well as the public. A decorated a train made day-trip excursions to nearby towns. Neepawa, Souris and Virden were popular destinations.

Troop Trains

In times of war the speed and flexibility offered by our rapidly developing train system was put to full advantage.

In the spring of 1885 a special train carrying two companies of the 90th Battalion were welcomed as they stopped in Brandon.  This was the first of many troop trains as the new rail line was quickly put to military use. Through the Riel Uprising, the Boer War and subsequent World Wars, the departure and passing of troop trains was an occasion for emotional and patriotic displays.

In World War 1 alone over 5000 troops from this area passed though on special troop trains.

Troops departing from A4 Royal Canadian Artillery Training Centre Headquarters at the old Brandon Normal School on Queens Street and the Recruitment Centre at the Brandon Armoury were always sent of by appreciative crowds.


Horses were also frequent passengers. Brandon had a reputation as the Horse Capital of the west and a May 3, Brandon Sun article proclaimed that over 1500 horses per month would be trained here for service at the front and sent overseas never to return.

The transportation of war materials was another important task. By 1915 Manitoba Engines Limited located on the corner 8th St. and Assiniboine Ave was producing engines but switched  to manufacturing 18 pounder and 4.5 inch howitzer shells for the war effort.

Just as our train system made this diversification of war materials manufacture possible – it also allowed a similar diversification of troop training centres.