Whistle Stops: Train Stories Through the Years
 
Medical Emergencies

In 1908 Dr. Schwalm was called to the railroad yards where a young Samuel White lay seriously injured. He’d had one leg severed by a locomotive's wheels. A special train was commissioned to carry doctor and patient to Portage la Prairie. Despite the effort they weren’t able to save him.

A Local Connection

The effect of the loss of the Titanic in 1912 was felt around the world. One of the many notables who were lost that day was Grand Trunk Pacific president Charles Melville Hays. In Rivers, all work ceased, as the Company's shops became, during a memorial service, a place of worship. A rather unique tribute in history was paid to the man's memory as every wheel on Canadian and United States affiliated lines, stopped turning. 

A Busy Year

1925 seems to have been a busy year at the station as the town greeted thousands of visitors by special trains. Celebrities such as His Excellency Lord Byng, paid particular attention to ex-servicemen and then requested a school holiday.  A large group of teachers from eastern Canada paused here. Three trainloads of Elks visited with their lodge band and offered an impromptu musical performance. A Knights of Templar special came next.

Silk Trains

As the economy developed the trains carried a wider assortment of goods into the news city, stocking the stores with consumer items from around the world. Trains proved especially valuable where time of delivery was crucial.  The Silk Trains were a good example.
Speed was essential because the railways paid a high daily insurance while the cargo was being transported.   In 1925 a silk train stopping in Rivers took ninety-two seconds between the stop, examination, and change of locomotives before wheels were once more whirling the live cargo towards its New York

In 1927 Rivers witnessed the largest silk assignment ever to cross the Pacific Ocean. Two, trainloads of eleven cars each tested here, briefly, as locomotives were changed and equipment checked before the $7400000 cargo continued on its way.

Unexpected Visitors

In 1930 the Rivers Banner reported on the visit of a "Know Mississippi Better" train, and the short stop of a special train carrying CNR president Sir Henry Thornton and other railway officials.

In 1952 Rivers Airfield came in handy when a plane carrying one hundred American newsmen couldn’t land in Winnipeg due to fog. They landed in Rivers where a special train took them on their way.

The 1954 Grey Cup Train

We older football fans remember hearing about the special Grey Cup Trains that took eager fans across great distances to watch their team play for the championship. Old timers in Rivers remember the Edmonton Eskimo Grey Cup Special stopping here going and returning. The homeward bound football fans, cheered by their team’s victory were accorded bagpipe music and offered, in return, a piece of the goal-post to Mayor Stratford.

 
The town gained souvenirs including a piece of a goal post presented to the mayor, Mr. Stratford. Locals still remember the chocolate bars with “Edmonton Eskimo” wrappers being handed out.