Photo Album with Fine Images of Calgary & Canadian Railroads, 1913-1917

Very good. 7" x 11" string-tied album containing 190 corner-mounted photos., most measuring 3.25" x 5.5". Some blank spots where photos were removed, a few images damaged, but condition is very good overall. This interesting album appears to have been compiled by a man from Calgary, Alberta, who was employed in the railroad industry before serving in the military -- possibly the Royal Canadian Engineers -- during World War I. An "M. Jeffrey" appears several times in the album, and we suspect (but have not been able to confirm) that he was the compiler. The first section of the album includes many good photographs of the locomotives, cars, tracks, depots, (truncated) dams, and bridges (some under construction) of the Canadian Pacific, Grand Trunk Pacific, and Canadian Northern Railways. There are several shots of Banff and the Rockies, before a transition into Calgary images, which include downtown buildings, streets, the interior of the city power house, and a remarkable street scene showing the hustle and bustle of the first Calgary oil boom. There are also rural Alberta images showing farm life and irrigation projects. Later sections focus on the compiler's military training (first in Ottawa and then at Shorncliffe Army Camp (Kent, UK), as well as the sightseeing he did while enlisted. But the strength of the album is in its excellent documentation of the early growth and development of Calgary and the transportation infrastructure of Alberta. (Inventory #: 23410)