Galt Historic Railway Park was created about 2000 as a site for the preservation and display of items and artefacts which recapture the history of the railway in Southern Alberta.
The Galt Historic Railway Park & Railway Heritage Interpretive Centre, collects, preserves, restores, exhibits and interprets artifacts which represent the history and social impact of the “steam” and “coal” eras in southern Alberta, with emphasis on Galt Railway System (1885 – 1912) and the 1890 International Train Station Depot from Coutts, Northwest Territories / Sweetgrass, Montana.
From the Galt Historic Railway Park
Along with its historic railway station, the museum holds a collection of rolling stock and several little speeders, which were used for railway maintenance. When we visited, the rolling stock on display to that date were a CPR cattle car, number 277324, about a half dozen passenger, baggage and mail cars and the half dozen or so speeders.
Displayed with the passenger and mail cars is this Baggage Express car, numbered 411692 by the CPR. Built in the Canadian Car and Foundry (Cancar) shops in Montreal in 1951 or 1952, it was originally numbered #4725. In service until 1967, 411692 served on the ‘Dominion’ and ‘Expo Limited’ routes. After its retirement it was modified to be used on Maintenance of Way (MOW) service as a sleeping car for workers doing railroad maintenance or removing derailed train cars. The CPR retired it from that service in the early 1990s, after which it languished for several years in the CPR Ogden Yards in Calgary. During this time it experienced vandalism, even a fire, likely also caused by vandals. Finally, it was donated to Galt Historic Railway Park by the CPR, arriving at the museum in March of 2011, part of a "hospital train" which included most of the railway cars at the museum. The museum, incidentally, was surreptitiously located, likely by design, with a CPR track running beside it, mitigating the effort necessary to get full sized railroad cars to the museum.
Following is text from a plaque mounted at the car.
CPR 411692
Built in 1951, this all steel car was originally a baggage car with sliding doors on both sides, it would have contained all the luggage crates, items which would be handled by a strong man and a dolly. In later years it was converted to a diner for the work crews who would be on track repair or to assist in removing derailments. During storage this car suffered some damage because of a fire. Demolition has been started and with restoration this car will become a hands-on educational railway display car, providing opportunity to experience railway skills and safety for visitors. This car weighs 45 tons; its curved roof provides clearance for train tunnels as well as preventing buildup of smoke from clogging tunnels when steam locomotives were in use. Moved onto the site from Ogden Yards in Calgary March 2011, it was donated by CPR.