A winter-friendly camoèd medium-sized bison tube at the Welby siding. This cache is part of a gradually-expanding G.T.P.R. series gathered into this live bookmark list
Welby was once a village. Now all that is left is a railroad siding enclosed in slat fencing. The village is gone, but the railway remains quite busy as it is Canadian National's main line.
The community was known as Pleasant Plains in 1907. When the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway was built through, the community was renamed Welby after Grand Trunk Directory Rt. Hon. Lord Welby of London, England.
Back when the Grand Trunk Railway Company was planning a western expansion of their establish rail system, an unknown person devised an alphabetical naming scheme to name all of the un-named stations and sidings, starting in Manitoba, cycling five full rounds of the alphabet, and starting a sixth before finally ending at Prince Rupert, British Columbia. Welby is part of the first round.
Welby grew very quickly when the railway came through. Quickly establish a store and setting up a post office in 1909. Grand Trunk Pacific Railway went bankrupt in 1920, but the railway was taken over by the Canadian government and was made part of Canadian National Railway, or CNR. CNR expanded its operations in Welby by building a coal dock, water tower, and pumphouse to support operation of its steam locomotives.
In the late 1950's, steam locomotives were replaced by diesel locomotives. The support facilities were torn down and the station closed in 1960. The school closed in 1970 and by 1972, Municipal Affairs reported no residents.
Welby has been marked on many maps from 1911 to today, though the community is long gone. My Tom Tom automotive GPS indicates that the location is a bit south of this location, but the railroad station signs indicate otherwise.
Here are a few links to resources regarding Welby:
Article about Welby in "Saskatchewan Ghost Towns"
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