A trip aboard the Alberta Prairie conjures up visions of what a central Alberta wheat line must have been like 100 years ago. Traveling from the well-developed community of Stettler, it passes through stands of trees and fields before reaching Big Valley, where the ruins of a roundhouse and a restored depot remain.
Choices
The railroad offers an extensive schedule of excursions and specials throughout the year. All excursions include a buffet meal, which is served in Big Valley, onboard entertainment, and possibly a train robbery. Specially-themed rides include live dinner shows, steak barbecues, country dinner trains, Polar Express rides, and teddy bear trains. The trains are pulled by Baldwin 2-8-0 steam engine No. 41, or by General Motors Diesel No. 1259.
When to go
Summer excursions begin in May and continue until mid-October.
Good to know
The railway was once part of a vast grain railroad network belonging to the Canadian Northern. Be sure to chat with the train crew. Many of the veteran railroaders on this line have great stories. And if you get the right conductor, he might just sing you a song or recite a poem for you en route. Work continues on historic steam locomotive No. 6060, which is undergoing a multi-year rebuild.
Worth doing
In Big Valley, the restored station and several railcars display railroad and local history artifacts. You can take a self-guided tour of the five-stall roundhouse remains and former rail yards, view a wooden grain elevator, and visit the Jimmy Jock Boardwalk, which is modeled after a frontier town’s street.
Don’t miss
Be sure to visit the roundhouse and grain elevator interpretive centres on trains destined for Big Valley.
Getting there
Stettler is about 3 hours northeast of Calgary on Highway 12.
Location: 4611-47 Street, Stettler, AB
Phone: 800-282-3994 or 403-742-2811
Website: absteamtrain.com
E-mail: info@absteamtrain.com
