Biggar station facts for kids
Quick facts for kids
Biggar
|
|||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 |
|||||||||||
| Location | Main St and First Ave, Biggar, Saskatchewan Canada |
||||||||||
| Coordinates | 52°3′13″N 107°59′11″W / 52.05361°N 107.98639°W | ||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 side platform | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 1 | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | yes | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | 1910 | ||||||||||
| Previous names | Grand Trunk Pacific Railway | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
|
|||||||||||
| Designated: | 1976 | ||||||||||
The Biggar station is a special old railway station in Biggar, Saskatchewan, Canada. It used to be a very busy stop for trains crossing Canada. This station is now a National Historic Site. Today, it's a stop for Via Rail's Canadian train, which travels across the country.
Contents
The Story of Biggar Station
Biggar first got train service in 1907 from the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR). A year later, in 1908, the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway (GTP) built its own railway line through Biggar. This was part of their big plan to build a railway all the way across Canada.
Why Biggar Was Important
The GTP chose Biggar as a key stopping point on its main line. This line connected Winnipeg, Manitoba, in the east to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, in the west. A "division point" like Biggar was where trains would stop for crew changes and maintenance.
The town of Biggar was named after William Hodgins Biggar. He was a very important lawyer for the railway company.
Building the Station
The Biggar station building was finished in 1909 and opened in 1910. It was one of the biggest GTP stations in western Canada. It even had a restaurant that was open 24 hours a day for passengers and railway workers.
Changes Over the Years
In 1920, the GTP railway company had money problems. The Canadian government took over the railway. It became part of the Canadian National Railways (CNR), which is now known as CN.
Under CN, the Biggar Railway Station continued to be a stop for their main cross-Canada passenger train, the Super Continental.
Via Rail Takes Over
In 1978, CN handed over its passenger train services to Via Rail. Via Rail is a new government company that focuses only on passenger trains.
In 1981, the Super Continental train was stopped due to budget cuts. This meant Biggar lost its passenger train service for a while. But in 1985, the Super Continental service came back.
In 1990, there were more budget cuts for Via Rail. The Super Continental was stopped again. However, another famous train called Canadian started using the CN line through Biggar. Before this, The Canadian had used a different route further south.
A Protected Historic Site
In 1976, the Biggar station was named a National Historic Site of Canada. This was to recognize the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway's important role in developing Western Canada. It also honored the special design of its stations.
Later, in 1996, the Biggar Railway Station was also named a Heritage Railway Station. This special protection helps prevent the building from being torn down or changed too much.
The station was built mostly of wood in a "bungalow style." This was a common design for small-town railway stations built by the Grand Trunk Pacific during that time.
What Happened to Biggar Station
The Biggar Railway Station was a stop for Via Rail's Canadian train. Trains would stop there two days a week in each direction.
Biggar was the first stop for the westbound Canadian train after it left Saskatoon. It was about an hour's train ride from Saskatoon. Edmonton was about five hours away by train to the west.
Biggar was also a key point for Canadian National Railway (CN) freight trains. But this freight service closed in April 2014.
Even though the main station building was too old to enter, there were two smaller heated sheds for passengers to wait in. Sadly, the old station building was planned for demolition. It was finally torn down in July 2018.
