Look around the heart of Edmonton these days and you won't see much evidence of the historical importance of the railway to the city. But for several generations, the railway was the lifeblood of the community and, without the trains, Edmonton would not have grown the way it did.

Edmonton was supposed to be on the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) mainline but a last minute decision in 1881 shifted the route through Calgary instead. It wasn’t until ten years later that tracks reached the Edmonton area, but even then, they didn’t quite make it.

The Calgary and Edmonton Railway made its way northward in 1891, but stopped on the south side of the North Saskatchewan River, right where the venture had purchased land. A railway station, a hotel and a commercial area were built and newcomers were encouraged to settle in what was then called South Edmonton. Now it's called Strathcona.

The aim was to create a new commercial centre that would overtake Edmonton. Property was purchased from landowners, rails were laid and the first train arrived in August 1891. The new link to the outside world brought prosperity, thousands of new settlers and the promise of a great future. The railway put up the first buildings along 103th Street and Whyte Avenue including the railway station, section house, engine house and hotel, called Edmonton House (now the Strathcona Hotel).

It was a little railway, with a big name and even bigger ambition, that was actually the first to arrive in Edmonton proper. The first Edmonton Yukon and Pacific Railway train steamed across the Low Level Bridge and onto the flats named for hotelier Donald Ross on October 20th, 1902.

Edmonton's second railway was the Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR), which arrived in November 1905, opening up a gateway to the city from points east. Newcomers no longer had to go through Calgary and subsequently Strathcona.

Edmonton, which had become a city in 1904, gave the land between 101st Street and 116th Street and between 104th and 105th Avenues to the CnoR under the condition that the railway build a divisional point there. Union Station was erected in 1905 on the west side of 101st Street north of 104th Avenue, and was distinguished by an imposing tower and handsome architectural design. The station lasted until 1952, when it was demolished.

A number of storage tracks were laid out and, at 112th Street and 105th Avenue, the railway built a ten stall roundhouse with a powerhouse and machine shop. Nearby a coaling plant, water tank and icehouse completed the services.

On December 20, 1918, the federal government created the Canadian National Railways (CNR), bringing together various rail companies, including Canadian Northern, under one umbrella organization. The volume of passengers and freight travelling by rail surged in the 1920s, including a sixfold grain increase in grain shipments in just five years.

In 1927, CNR began work on a new terminal building along the mainline tracks north of 104th Avenue right at the corner of 100th Street. The location commanded a view all the way down that street to the Hotel Macdonald – the railway’s other Edmonton landmark.

The CNR’s chief architect John Schofield oriented the building so it would be exactly at the centre of the intersection. The two-storey structure was framed with steel and concrete and faced with brick, stone and tile, with a front entrance held up by heavy stone columns in the Grecian Doric style. The entire ground floor and balcony were finished in terrazzo marble, in two foot squares laid alternately with light and dark marble chips.

A powerhouse situated 200 feet (61 metres) away produced steam to heat the building. The steam from the coal-fired boiler was transported through pipes nearly three metres high, 1.5 metres wide and buried in a tunnel three metres underground.

The grand opening, on St. Patrick’s Day, March 17th, 1928, was such a local event that it drew more than 10,000 curious citizens – one in seven Edmontonians. Premier John Brownlee proclaimed it, “A day which is the beginning of all things.”

Even as the Great Depression and then the Second World War hit, trains continued to come and go, and more of them with each passing year. In 1948, a third storey was added, along with a bigger east wing.

For more than 37 years, the station was a place of tears and laughter, sad goodbyes and happy reunions. It was at the station where thousands of newcomers set foot in Edmonton for the first time. Troops left for war. Some returned to the marble hall; some sadly did not. In its lifetime, Edmonton grew from 70,000 people to more than 320,000.

The 1928 station played host to its final “All aboard!” On the evening of February 12th, 1964, Train 178 left for Saskatoon and the ticket wickets were closed for the last time.

The structure was demolished later that year to make way for the 26-storey CN Tower, with a railway station in the basement. It was completed in 1966. That railway terminal – the third on Edmonton’s CNR line – closed in 1998, bringing to an end a 93-year run by passenger trains into downtown Edmonton.

Next week: When the CPR came to Edmonton.