COAL BROUGHT BANKHEAD TO LIFE
BY JACKIE GOLD BANFF CRAG & CANYON STAFF
In 1903 the Pacific Coal Company, a subsidiary of Canadian Pacific, founded the town of Bankhead .
With its easily accessible coal, and close proximity to the railway line, Bankhead seemed a logical choice for a supply depot for locomotives.
While that was the original purpose of the town, with the increasingly regular train schedules, the town soon grew, quickly expanding its numbers to 900 citizens, with room to grow.
A mining town, Bankhead's conditions were similar to other mining areas in Alberta . A rough and tumble environment, the men would often be worked to the bone, with long physically demanding hours below ground. Job security was tenuous at best however, and dependent on the ever changing price of coal.
In 1919 miners won the right to eight-hour days, a hard earned right, as previously they would work up to 12 hours a day, heading to work before dawn, and returning home after the sun had set. It was not unusual for miners to go for up to six days without ever seeing the sun, yet their wages, they felt, did not reflect the sacrifices they made for their families and the company.
Mounting tensions led to numerous disputes, as the miners tried to alleviate their desperate circumstances. Production costs were driven up as labour strikes slowed down the amount of coal being taken from the earth.
The miners were forced to fight not only with the management, but within their own ranks as well, as they struggled to eek out a living. As tempers mounted so did the job difficulty, as the coal became harder and harder to extract.
The seams of coal were twisted and warped inside the earth, making it difficult and costly to mine in Bankhead, even without the constant labour strikes.
Even the option of using electrical equipment was out of the question, as large pockets of methane gas were spread throughout the ground, just waiting for an errant spark to ignite them. The coal itself was of poor quality, a mixture of semi-anthracite and semi-bituminous coal deposits, 35 per cent of which crumbled to dust after sliding down pitching chutes. In an attempt to ensure every particle of coal was used, the CPR decided to build a briquetting plant in 1907.
Briquetting, involved mixing coal fines, or dust with molten pitch, pouring the mixture into molds, pressing it, and lastly, cooling. While the resulting products were good enough to heat homes, additional coal was needed from other mines to make it useable for the railway. The added cost of importing pitch from the States made the process even more expensive.
In 1922 the final nail was hammered into Bankhead's coffin, as an eightmonth strike swept the town.
Negotiations between officials and workers were held over the eight months, however ultimately failed, crippling the town for good.
The town drained of its citizens almost as quickly as it had filled, leaving behind few reminders of the community that had dwelt there for 18 years, save their own memories.
Source: www.coalking.ca/people/geographical/banff-bankhead.html
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