Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions
A Major Alberta Attraction - Great For The Whole Family
"School Special" Excursions
Alberta Prairie offers an opportunity that only a very few people remember and
most people have never experienced. Riding the rails on a Sch
ool
Special will not only provide students the unique experience of train
transportation, but will also offers a wide range of educational opportunity
involving Canadian heritage and the geography of the region.
These excursions leave Stettler at 10:30 a.m. and return at 3:55 p.m. and
includes a diesel-powered round-trip to Big Valley lunch, guided walking tours
to the round house built in 1911, St. Edmunds Anglican historical church, Jimmy
Jock Board Walk and the station/museum, and games & prizes for the children.
Complimentary train tickets for teachers/or supervisors are provided on the
basis of one ticket per 18 students. The cost per person is $30.00 plus GST.
Following is a brief description of what is expected to happen during a typical
school excursion:
10:00 a.m. - Passengers arrive and train ready for boarding
10:30 a.m. - Train departs Stettler station
- Passengers will be served by a full complement of Alberta Prairie hosts,
hostesses and train operating crew.
- Typically the train features two concession and souvenir areas, and up to
eight passenger coaches.
- On-board public address system keeps passengers abreast of features along
route, history of the area and the program of events at destination.
- Gabriel Dumont, Metis buffalo hunter and hero of the Riel Rebellion will move
about the train greeting and meeting students.
- Not less than one Clown/Magician/Balloon sculptor and children's entertainer
will move up and down the train entertaining the students in their seats. Every
coach on the train is visited at least once, and often twice.
- During our journey, we pass through some of the best farm lands in Alberta
rich with various kinds of animals, birds and plant life sightings of deer and
even moose are common.
- On route points of interest include the Fenn-Big Valley oilfields, Fenn
General Store, Warden Jct. rail yards and locomotive shelter, and Caprona
siding.
- Each school will have not less than 15 minutes on each leg of the journey to
wander up and down the their section of the train, visit a concession or the
open-air coach and discover the sights, sounds and smells of turn-of-the-century
train travel.
11:55 a.m. - Train arrives Big Valley
- Students will get a glimpse of a small village right out of Alberta's
colourful past.
- Each school group will be assigned a APST staff member as a tour guide. Tours
of all the interesting things to see in Big Valley and a lunch break are
included in the schedule
- Menu consists of hot dogs and hamburgers, vegetable sticks, chips, juice and a
treat.
- During your stop at this typical rural Alberta town, students will have a
chance to visit a fully restored 1912 Canadian Northern Railway station which
also doubles as the community's museum, historic St. Edmund's church (the blue
church on the hill), Jimmy Jock Boardwalk (an old time Western town within a
town), the ruins of an authentic railway roundhouse, a grain elevator
interpretive centre and tour the trains caboose.
2:30 p.m.
- Depart Big Valley bound for Stettler
- Clown/Magician/Balloon Sculptor and children's entertainers will move about
the train performing. Time will again be provided for each school to tour their
end of the train.
3:55 p.m. - Train arrives at Stettler
station
