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Transcona Trail

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Trail Stewardship Group: Transcona Trails Association

The Transcona Trail is an multi-use asphalt path used by walkers, runners and cyclists. It follows a variety of hydro lines along a Manitoba Hydro right of way. The western section of the trail follows the Central Manitoba rail line and is bordered by chain link fence on both sides. It starts at Regent Ave and runs to Ravelston where you’ll find the entrance to the Rotary Tall Grass Nature Park at the corner of Ravelston Ave and Bradley St. Along the trail you may find a large variety of birds. You pass through quiet residential neighbourhoods and arrive at open fields.

The Grand Trunk Pacific Railway purchased 800 acres of land east of Winnipeg in 1907 or 1908 for the construction of railway repair shops and a future town site. In 1910 the Transcona post office opened and the town population was 1,600 people. In 1911 the Transcona Board of Trade was established and in 1912 the town of Transcona was officially incorporated. The Transcona Railway Shops maintained railway cars for the National Transcontinental Railway and the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway. The name Transcona is a combination of “Transcontinental” and “Strathcona”. “Transcontinental” is for the CPR transcontinental trains or for the National Transcontinental Railway, plus “Strathcona” is for Lord Strathcona, Donald Alexander Smith, a railway industrialist who headed one of the groups responsible for constructing the Canadian Pacific Railway. In 1913 the Transcona Shops officially opened. In 1961 Transcona had 13,000 citizens and became a city. In 1972 the City of Transcona amalgamated with the city of Winnipeg. Transcona has maintained its small town atmosphere.

FAST FACTS

  • asphalt surface
  • 6.7 km route length
  • Parking
    corner of Regent Ave & Peguis St
    corner of Ravelston Ave & Bradley St
    Transcona Bioreserve parking lot on Gunn Rd
    Park City West Community Club @ Hoka Ave

POINTS OF INTEREST

  1. Rotary Tall Grass Nature Park – This is a rare patch of relatively untouched wet prairie that has never been ploughed. It has 0.7 kilometres of limestone trail.
  2. Train Park – During the late 1920’s Canadian National Railways embarked on a programme of home shop locomotive building, and between 1926 and 1931 constructed a total of 72 engines of which 33 were fabricated at Transcona Shops. Locomotive #2747 was the first steam locomotive to be built in western Canada.
  3. Transcona Community Bioreserve – This former site of an industrial plant has been turned into a naturalized park with more than 1.6 km of crushed limestone trails and a large patch of Big Blue Stem Grass. In the spring it is noisy with frogs. In the summer it is full of colourful wild flowers, butterflies and song birds.
  4. Cordite Trail – is situated in a very open meadow-like field area and runs along the bank of the Cordite Ditch at the northern edge of Transcona.
  5. George Olive Park – This 16 acre nature park named for a former mayor of Transcona, has ponds, waterfowl and its own trails. The area was chosen to be preserved because it is an excellent example of a natural southern Manitoba marsh ecosystem.