Old Time Trains

The Canmore Mines Limited

The Canmore Mines Limited conducted coal mining operations in Alberta for 93 years until it closed its main and last mine at Canmore on July 13, 1979. It operated 2.6 miles of private track to reach the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline. It used steam locomotives until 1961 including ex CPR 6144 a 0-6-0 yard switcher. One of the very few sources of hard coal in Canada it was mined to a depth of only 750 feet on 6000 acres east of Banff using compressed air locomotives underground and typical electric mining locomotives for above ground work. Following closure most buildings were quickly destroyed by the government. Canmore has since become a resort town with triple the population it once had. This redevelopment has erased almost all signs of its mining past.

Canmore Mines 4 (acq. 8/43) ex CPR 6144 nee 2144 CPR #1392 2/05 Canmore AB, October 31, 1962
Stanley R. McCarthy/Leonard Wallis Collection
After it was finally retired it went to Heritage Park in Calgary in 1963 where it was re-engined with a small diesel inside the smoke box and used to haul tourist trains around a short circle of track. Recently renumbered as CPR 2018.

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Old Time Trains © 2009

The Canmore Mines Limited

The Canmore Mines Limited conducted coal mining operations in Alberta for 93 years until it closed its main and last mine at Canmore on July 13, 1979. It operated 2.6 miles of private track to reach the Canadian Pacific Railway mainline. It used steam locomotives until 1961 including ex CPR 6144 a 0-6-0 yard switcher. One of the very few sources of hard coal in Canada it was mined to a depth of only 750 feet on 6000 acres east of Banff using compressed air locomotives underground and typical electric mining locomotives for above ground work. Following closure most buildings were quickly destroyed by the government. Canmore has since become a resort town with triple the population it once had. This redevelopment has erased almost all signs of its mining past.

Canmore Mines 4 (acq. 8/43) ex CPR 6144 nee 2144 CPR #1392 2/05 Canmore AB, October 31, 1962
Stanley R. McCarthy/Leonard Wallis Collection
After it was finally retired it went to Heritage Park in Calgary in 1963 where it was re-engined with a small diesel inside the smoke box and used to haul tourist trains around a short circle of track. Recently renumbered as CPR 2018.