McLean, Saskatchewan

1,101 miles  (7 miles, recovery day)

At this point, I'm no longer north of Montana, and now I'm north of North Dakota.  Wow!  Montana is wide!

Jan 15 – Since McLean was the highest point on the Canadian Pacific Railway east of the Rocky Mountains, the train locomotives of the early days used this location for taking on water and fuel at the large coal dock.  A Y-shaped turn-around was used for the extra locomotive that was needed to pull the heavy westbound trains up the grade to McLean. In the early years, three grain elevators as well as farmers’ granaries were located along this Y. Farmers from a large area hauled their wheat by horse-drawn wagons to this main line of the CPR.  

The railway men referred to McLean as “Cow Town,” since more milk was shipped from here than from any other town on the CPR line.  In the 1930’s, approximately 200 cans of milk were stacked on wagons every morning, awaiting the train for shipment to Regina.

rail image & info:  http://mcleansask.com/general-information/