Nothing spurred urban growth in a prairie community more than the presence of a railway station.

The railway played a major role in opening the Canadian West. It transported people and the necessities of life there, while bringing out Western products to market across Canada and for export abroad. Local businesses sprang up around the railway station, and with them came nearby homes for their owners and workers. In time, many of these railway stops blossomed into towns and cities.

Exhibits inside the Canada Hall deal more thoroughly with the part played by the Canadian Pacific Railway and other railway companies in the development of the West.