The Fairmont Chateau Lake Louise - Courtyard Entrance 1920

The entrance courtyard of the Chateau Lake Louise about the year 1920. For many years following its opening in the mid 1890s the CP hotel on the shore of Lake Louise relied upon horse-drawn carriages to ferry its guests over the 3.5 mile distance separating the hotel from the railway station at what was then known as Laggan, Alberta. In 1912 the ninety minute traveling time was reduced considerably when the Company replaced the carriages with a small railway, over which guests rode in 35-seat gasoline powered open trams while their luggage accompanied them in small trailers. The original cars pictured here were supplemented in 1925 by modern, enclosed "street cars", but with the increasing popularity of the private automobile during the 1920s the usefulness of the tramway declined and the system was closed down at the end of the 1930 season.