BANFF RAILWAY STATION. After Confederation in 1867, Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald realized that to prosper, Canada needed a national railway to link east and west with a ribbon of steel. This was to become his "National Dream". To facilitate this mammoth undertaking, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was incorporated in February 1881. By 1883, construction had reached Bow Valley. In that year, three railway workers discovered natural mineral hot springs at the base of Sulpur Mountain. In November 1885, the federal government created the Hot Springs Reserve, forerunner of Banff National Park, for the enjoyment of all Canadians. Tourism in the Canadian Rockies was born. Wealthy people from all over the world would arrive by train and be taken by tally-ho to the Banff Springs Hotel, one of a series of grand hotels the CPR built along its mountain route. By 1910, the original log station built in 1886 was unable to meet the increasing tourist traffic and was replaced with this present structure. It features a typical long horizontal profile with a small second storey with two steep gables. Massive roof brackets support the wide overhang. The walls are stucco above a riverstone base. This building is designated a Federal Heritage Railway Station.
