The Alberta Coal Branch is the name given to a segment of the Canadian National Railway (originally the

Grand Trunk Pacific Railway The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway running from Fort William, Ontario (now Thunder Bay) to Prince Rupert, British Columbia, a Pacific coast port. East of Winnipeg the line continued as the National Tra ...

) and the region through which it passes. It is located within

Yellowhead County Yellowhead County is a municipal district in west central Alberta, Canada. It is the only municipal district within Alberta census division No. 14. History *1994: Established as a ''Municipal District of Yellowhead No. 94'' on January 1. ...

in west-central

Alberta Alberta ( ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada. It is part of Western Canada and is one of the three prairie provinces. Alberta is bordered by British Columbia to the west, Saskatchewan to the east, the Northwest Ter ...

, Canada.

Geography

The Coal Branch region encompasses a portion of the eastern slopes and foothills of the Canadian Rockies east of

Jasper National Park Jasper National Park is a national park in Alberta, Canada. It is the largest national park within Alberta's Rocky Mountains spanning . It was established as a national park in 1930 and declared a UNESCO World Heritage Site in 1984. Its locatio ...

. It extends from Alberta Highway 16 in the north to the Brazeau River in the south. The McLeod, Lovett and Embarras Rivers flow through it, and it includes many former coal-mining towns and

ghost town Ghost Town(s) or Ghosttown may refer to: * Ghost town, a town that has been abandoned Film and television * ''Ghost Town'' (1936 film), an American Western film by Harry L. Fraser * ''Ghost Town'' (1956 film), an American Western film by All ...

History

The Coal Branch rail line was built between 1911 and 1912 by the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway to gain access to deposits of high-quality

steam coal Coal is a combustible black or brownish-black sedimentary rock, formed as rock strata called coal seams. Coal is mostly carbon with variable amounts of other elements, chiefly hydrogen, sulfur, oxygen, and nitrogen. Coal is formed when dea ...

. It diverges from the main line at Bickerdike and runs south through Coalspur to the Lovett River, a distance of . A series of coal mining, railroad, and logging towns quickly developed along the route. Going south from Bickerdike, they include

McLeod River The McLeod River is a river in west-central Alberta, Canada. It forms in the foothills of the Canadian Rockies, and is a major tributary of the Athabasca River. __TOC__ Course The river begins just outside the eastern border of Jasper Nation ...

, Erith,

Weald The Weald () is an area of South East England between the parallel chalk escarpments of the North and the South Downs. It crosses the counties of Hampshire, Surrey, Sussex and Kent. It has three separate parts: the sandstone "High Weald" in the ...

, Embarras,

Robb Robb is a surname of Scottish origin, formed from a diminution (reduction) of the name Robert. Robert was a popular name, especially after its use by three Scots Kings in the fourteenth century. Rob is first recorded as a surname in the mid-15th ...

, Coalspur, Diss, Sterco,

Foothills Foothills or piedmont are geographically defined as gradual increases in elevation at the base of a mountain range, higher hill range or an upland area. They are a transition zone between plains and low relief hills and the adjacent topogr ...

and Lovetteville. A western branch that opened in the summer of 1913 diverges at Coalspur and extends to Mountain Park. Along that route lie Mercoal, Shaw, Leyland, Cadomin, and Mountain Park. In 1921 a spur long was built to Luscar. The Coal Branch towns thrived from the arrival of the railroad until markets for steam coal declined as the railroads replaced steam locomotives with

diesel Diesel may refer to: * Diesel engine, an internal combustion engine where ignition is caused by compression * Diesel fuel, a liquid fuel used in diesel engines * Diesel locomotive, a railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engin ...

. Most of the mines closed during the 1950s, after which the population quickly declined and many of the towns were abandoned. Today the permanent population of the area is small, but the scenic mountain setting makes the Coal Branch area a popular destination for all types of outdoor recreation. Coal mining continues near Luscar, producing coking coal for export to Asian steel mills, but most of the workforce lives to the north in Edson and Hinton.

References

{{coord, 53, 11, N, 117, 01, W, display=title, type:city_region:CA_source:GNS-enwiki Yellowhead County Canadian National Railway lines Grand Trunk Pacific Railway Railway lines opened in 1912