Oban is an

unincorporated area An unincorporated area is a parcel of land that is not governed by a local general-purpose municipal corporation. (At p. 178.) They may be governed or serviced by an encompassing unit (such as a county) or another branch of the state (such as th ...

administered by the Rural Municipality of Biggar No. 347, in the

Canadian province Canada has ten provinces and three territories that are sub-national administrative divisions under the jurisdiction of the Constitution of Canada, Canadian Constitution. In the 1867 Canadian Confederation, three provinces of British North Amer ...

Saskatchewan Saskatchewan is a Provinces and territories of Canada, province in Western Canada. It is bordered on the west by Alberta, on the north by the Northwest Territories, on the east by Manitoba, to the northeast by Nunavut, and to the south by the ...

. Oban is on Highway 14 in western Saskatchewan. The closest town is Biggar to the southeast. Biggar railway station is a divisional point for the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue a ...

(CNR). Oban had the last provincial

interlocking In railway signalling, an interlocking is an arrangement of signal apparatus that prevents conflicting movements through an arrangement of tracks such as junctions or crossings. In North America, a set of signalling appliances and tracks inte ...

tower at the Canadian National Railway and

Canadian Pacific Railway The Canadian Pacific Railway () , also known simply as CPR or Canadian Pacific and formerly as CP Rail (1968–1996), is a Canadian Class I railway incorporated in 1881. The railway is owned by Canadian Pacific Kansas City, Canadian Pacific Ka ...

(CPR)

level crossing A level crossing is an intersection where a railway line crosses a road, Trail, path, or (in rare situations) airport runway, at the same level, as opposed to the railway line or the road etc. crossing over or under using an Overpass#Railway, o ...

, which was constructed in 1910 and closed in 1990.

History

The name Oban is from the community

Oban Oban ( ; meaning ''The Little Bay'') is a resort town within the Argyll and Bute council area of Scotland. Despite its small size, it is the largest town between Helensburgh and Fort William, Highland, Fort William. During the tourist seaso ...

in Argyll, Scotland.

Economy

The community had a

grain elevator A grain elevator or grain terminal is a facility designed to stockpile or store grain. In the grain trade, the term "grain elevator" also describes a tower containing a bucket elevator or a pneumatic conveyor, which scoops up grain from a lowe ...

and

post office A post office is a public facility and a retailer that provides mail services, such as accepting letter (message), letters and parcel (package), parcels, providing post office boxes, and selling postage stamps, packaging, and stationery. Post o ...

till the 1960s. The Oban Salt Company opened in 1937.

Law and government

The Reeve and council of the RM of Biggar No. 347 provide the rural area with government and infrastructure maintenance. Oban is within the provincial constituency of Biggar and elects a Member of the Legislative Assembly (MLA) Oban is represented by a member of Parliament (MP) representing the federal electoral district of

Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar Saskatoon—Rosetown—Biggar (formerly known as Saskatoon—Rosetown) was a federal electoral district in Saskatchewan, Canada, that was represented in the House of Commons of Canada from 1997 to 2015. Geography The district consisted of the ...

Demographics

The population is enumerated as a part of the RM of Biggar No. 347. These statistics are for the RM. :::N/A = Data Not Available

Education

Historically Oban School District #4733 was located at Township 37, Range 16 West of the 3rd Meridian.

Transportation

In 1925 Oban was located on the Minnedosa–Saskatoon–Edmonton

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure used during cardiac or respiratory arrest that involves chest compressions, often combined with artificial ventilation, to preserve brain function and maintain circulation until sp ...

branch line between Castlewood, and Naseby. The CPR was intersected by the CNR GTP West. Oban was located on the CNR between Biggar and Palo. Oban was also a part of the Porter Subdivision, CNR between Lett and Biggar.

Infrastructure

Oban had the last

tower in the province, at the Canadian National Railway and Canadian Pacific Railway level crossing, which was constructed in 1910 and closed in 1990. The tower has been moved to the

Saskatchewan Railway Museum The Saskatchewan Railway Museum is a railway museum located west of Saskatoon, Saskatchewan at the intersection of the Pike Lake Highway (Hwy 60) and the Canadian National Railway tracks (on "Hawker" siding). It is operated by the Saskatchewan R ...

. Oban tower was a requirement for 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 ...

when it wanted to cross the existing CPR rail tracks. (The

Canadian Northern Railway The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canada, Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway , the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonto ...

was amalgamated with the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; ) was a Rail transport, railway system that operated in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the List of states and territories of the United States, American sta ...

by the Dominion Government to form the

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company () is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN is Canada's largest railway, in terms of both revenue an ...

in 1919.) Oban tower consisted of a 16-frame interlocking machine. There were levers attached to pipes and cranks which controlled semaphore signals and

derail A derail or derailer is a device used to prevent fouling (blocking or compromising) of a rail track (or collision with anything present on the track, such as a person, or a train) by unauthorized movements of trains or unattended rolling stock ...

s. If an approaching train did not react to the signals at the crossing, the derails were utilized, causing a minor accident and averting a major collision. The signals were and from the crossing. At from the crossing the derail would be encountered if the train did not stop at the signal. There were of railway track in the province of Saskatchewan. Rail companies intersected 58 times at level crossings. Some of these were railway lines crossing municipal street car lines. There were 36 Saskatchewan crossings which were controlled by mechanical interlocking machines between the early 1900s and 1990.

Photo gallery

Image:Lever frame Oban Tower SRM.jpg,

Lever frame Mechanical railway signalling installations rely on lever frames for their operation to interlock the Railway signal, signals, track locks and Railroad switch, points to allow the safe operation of trains in the area the signals control. Usuall ...

Image:ObanTowerLeverFrame.jpg,

Image:Oban-InterlockingTower-SRM.jpg,

Interlocking tower On a rail transport system, signalling control is the process by which control is exercised over train movements by way of railway signals and block systems to ensure that trains operate safely, over the correct route and to the proper timeta ...