The Pembina Valley Railway grew out of pressure placed on the Government of Alberta by early settlers of the area between present day Busby and Fort Assiniboine. In the early 1920s settlers began calling on the government to build a railway into this area, which they did.
For 90 years trains ran back and forth between Busby & Barrhead.
In 2011, the train line was closed down due to the need for major overhauls and repairs. The cost of which was more than the line was worth, so it was closed.
Residents who for 90 years lived with the sound of passing trains enjoyed the months of silences that followed.
In early 2012, less than six months after the tracks were pulled up and sold for scraps, residents reported the sounds of passing trains again.
No new tracks were ever put in.
Only a couple of weeks after the sounds returned a group of teens who were riding their bikes through the woods came across a train parked where the tracks used to be. They watched as a conductor counted the cars and then returned to the engine. The train then pulled away, on no tracks. Many believed the teens’ story to be alcohol fueled but they stood by it.
Days later a couple driving home mid day from near by Edmonton nearly ran into a train on an unmarked crossing. They later discovered it was unmarked because there were no tracks there anymore.
There are dozens of related stories. The locals now treat the old train way as if it is an active train route.
It should be noted that the strangest part of the train sightings is that the train is always a passenger train. This is strange for a couple of reasons; first, The Pembina Valley Railway never supported passenger train only trains moving resources and second, the passenger train reported seems to be filled with passengers. Many have reported being waved to by people on board the train.
