The Edmonton Incline Railway | City of Edmonton

The Edmonton Incline Railway was completed in 1908 to move people and goods from Ross Flats to downtown.

Horse-drawn carriages near an inclining wooden railway.

The 230 foot long Edmonton Incline Railway was the brainchild of some of Edmonton’s early entrepreneurs, and was the result of commercial and industrial activities in the early 1900s. While initially successful, the venture was short lived, and the railway closed permanently in 1911.

Planning

It took just over 2 years of planning to break ground on the project.

Construction

Learn about the process of constructing the Edmonton Incline Railway in 1907.

People standing next to large gears and pulleys

Operation

The railway was in operation for 4 years.

The End

Operations ceased in 1911

Bibliography

This bibliography is designed to situate the records used in the City of Edmonton Archives Edmonton Incline Railway virtual exhibit in their larger context. It shows where these disparate records come from by grouping them by creator rather than by subject.

Wherever possible, links to catalogue entries in our online catalogue have been included. We also have some further catalogue information in our reference room.

For an explanation of terms and acronyms, see our Virtual Exhibit Glossary.

MS Fonds (Private Records)


Fonds Number	Record Number	Title
MS-56		Northern Alberta Pioneers and Old Timers Association fonds
	EA-10-1201	McDougall Hill - Looking South West, 1914
	EA-10-1454	Walter's Mill - North Side, 1912
	EA-10-1828	Incline Railway Under Construction, 1906
	EA-10-2967	Edmonton Inclined Railway, ca. 1911
MS-59		Hubert Hollingworth fonds
	EA-160-1586	Edmonton Looking North from Rossdale, 1948
MS-209		William A. Griesbach fonds

RG Fonds (City of Edmonton Records)


Fonds Number	Record Number	Title
RG-8		City of Edmonton. Office of the City Clerk fonds Special Committee Reports
	RG-8.10, File 4	Petition to City Council, January 25, 1909
	RG-8.13, Contract #12	Joseph Hostyn

Photographs (with no associated fonds)


Record	Title
EA-500-10	Edmonton Incline Railway, 1908
EA-500-11	Edmonton Incline Railway - Hoist, 1908
ET-17-55	View N.W. from Donald Ross School, 1965

Newspapers

"Edmonton's Incline Railway" The Saturday News, May 23, 1908

The following sources were used in the research for this exhibit:

MS Fonds (Private Records)


Fonds Number	Record Number	Title
MS-153		Douglas Parker Fonds

RG Fonds (City of Edmonton Records)


Fonds Number	Record Number	Title
RG-8	RG-8.0 Class 24, File 27	Correspondence between Sec-Treasurer to G. Percy Blythe, Secy. Treas., Donald Ross Incline Railway Company Limited, November 16, 1910

Clippings Files

Chateau Lacombe, 1958-1964, File #1
Chateau Lacombe, 1965-1967, File #2
Chateau Lacombe, 1968-200?, File #3
Dawson, Herbert J.
Edmonton Incline Railway Company Ltd.
Hostyn, Joe - Manager of Donald Ross Hotel
Ross, Donald & Olive
Secord, Richard and Annie
Sheppard, William Henry
Taylor, Charles E. - Street Railway Superintendent

Books

Ride of the Century: The Story of the Edmonton Transit System by Ken Tingley. Edmonton Transit System, 2010.
Naming Edmonton: From Ada to Zoie by City of Edmonton. The University of Alberta Press, 2014.
Edmonton, Gateway to the North: An Illustrated History by John F. Gilpin. Windsor Publications (Canada), 1984.

Contact Us

City of Edmonton Archives

Prince of Wales Armouries, 2nd floor
10440 108 Avenue
Edmonton, Alberta

Email cms.archives@edmonton.ca

Link https://cityarchives.edmonton.ca