Steam Brings in Rail

Selkirk hauled in the first steam engine (train) the Countess Dufferin

The Story behind the story?

The St. Paul Pioneer Press of a recent date said that manager J.P. Farley reported all obstacles to the advancement of its lines removed, and that work would be at once pushed forward on both the St. Vincent and Alexandria lines, and that both would be completed by the first day of October next. Regarding the St. Vincent extension, the men are now in the field, and the work of preparing the road-bed for the super-structure is rapidly going forward. For 28 miles north of Crookston the road has been ironed since 1872 and extensive repairs on this portion of the line are demanded. The grading from the end of the track to St. Vincent will also be proceeded with; and it will be done in the course of a very few months. Mr. Farley has made contracts for the iron with the Cambria Iron Company of Johnstown, PA. There is every reason to believe that the Pembina Branch of the Canadian Pacific will be completed as soon as the St. Vincent branch of the St. Paul & Pacific, in which case the cars will be running between St. Paul and Winnipeg by the first day of the coming October...

From THE COMMERCIAL AND FINANCIAL CHRONICLE, Volume 27 [Publisher: National News Service (1878)]