Live in Ogden
A 1912 CPR company town in southeast Calgary, built around the Ogden Shops rail yards on the Bow River, now home to Canadian Pacific Kansas City's headquarters and a Green Line station under construction.
Ogden was built in 1912 as a company town for the Canadian Pacific Railway's car shops, named for CPR vice-president I.G. Ogden, and later took in Lynnwood, developed through the 1970s on its western half, and Millican Estates, named for an early homesteading family. At the 2021 census it held 8,315 residents, against a 2012 civic dwelling count of 3,879 across 4.1 km² wedged between Glenmore Trail, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River, with rental housing at 33.3%. The shops that gave the community its name and its jobs are still the defining feature: CP Rail moved its corporate head office back onto the century-old yard site in December 2012, and Ogden Station and Lynnwood/Millican Station are now under construction as part of the Green Line. This is what living here is actually like.
A 1912 company town, still built around its own rail shops
Bounded by Glenmore Trail to the south, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River to the west, and CPR rail lines and industrial land to the north and east. Ward 9.
Ogden was built in 1912 as a company town for the Canadian Pacific Railway's car shops, named for I.G. Ogden, a CPR vice-president, at the tail end of a boom that took Calgary's population from 11,967 to 43,704 between 1906 and 1911 on the back of the railway's investment. The shops were built to employ over 5,000 people, and during the Second World War they switched to manufacturing munitions for the Allied war effort alongside CPR's Angus Shops in Montreal.
The two later districts. Lynnwood filled in Ogden's western half through the 1970s, and Millican Estates takes its name from an early homesteading family. Together with the original townsite they make up the community as it stands today: 8,315 residents at the 2021 census, in 3,879 dwellings at the 2012 civic count, across 4.1 km² wedged between Glenmore Trail, Deerfoot Trail and the Bow River, with rental at 33.3% and average household income at $40,800 — below the city average, a genuinely working-class community by Calgary standards.
The shops never really left. In December 2012, CP Rail moved its corporate head office back onto the century-old yard site, building new offices inside the working rail yard rather than relocating elsewhere. The company — now CPKC after the 2023 merger with Kansas City Southern — still runs the yard that gave the community its name.
What is changing now. Ogden Station and Lynnwood/Millican Station are under construction as part of the Green Line, with Ogden's station design reaching 90% completion by December 2025. The Ogden Block, a commercial building from 1914, faces a demolition deadline of November 15, 2026 unless it is relocated — a visible sign of a community still being rebuilt around the infrastructure that built it in the first place.
- CPKC's active Ogden yard runs immediately north and east — real freight noise on some streets, day and night
- Homes date to several distinct eras going back over a century — inspect roofs, wiring and plumbing specifically for the block
- Average household income sits well below the city figure — understand the neighbourhood context before you buy
- Green Line construction at Ogden Station means years of nearby disruption before the line opens
- Limited retail inside the boundaries; Quarry Park across the Bow River carries much of the everyday shop
- The Ogden Block's demolition deadline is a live example of how much of the original townsite is still unsettled
How Ogden got here
- 1906–1911Calgary's population booms from 11,967 to 43,704 amid speculation over major rail investment, including CPR's plan for a car shop east of the city employing over 5,000 people.
- 1912CPR's Ogden Shops open and the company town is established, named for I.G. Ogden, a Canadian Pacific Railway vice-president.
- 1914The Ogden Block is built, a commercial building that becomes a fixture of the community's original main street.
- 1939–1945Ogden Shops shift to wartime production, manufacturing munitions for the Allied war effort alongside CPR's Angus Shops in Montreal, under CPR vice-president D'Alton Corry Coleman.
- 1970sLynnwood is developed on Ogden's western half.
- 2012CP Rail relocates its corporate head office onto the century-old Ogden yard site in December, building new offices within the working rail yard.
- 2015–2025The Lynnwood/Millican/Ogden Transportation Concept Plan is adopted to support affordable housing, green space and transit access, and Ogden Station and Lynnwood/Millican Station move into construction as part of the Green Line, with the Ogden station design reaching 90% completion by December 2025.
George Moss Park and the Bow River pathway through the old shops land
George Moss Park sits inside Ogden's own boundaries along the Bow River, with a riverside pathway that runs through the old CPR shops land toward Quarry Park and downtown. The Ogden Off-Leash Dog Park sits on the community's northern edge, close enough to the working rail yard that it doubles as a reminder of what this land used to be.
The resident's angle: there is no lake or major civic park system here — the genuine open-space advantage is the Bow River pathway itself, and its short connection across the river to Quarry Park's much larger recreation and retail district.
19 places, with real drive times
Road-adjusted distance and drive time from the centre of the community to each destination, nearest first. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 19 places, nearest first.
Method: distances and drive times are estimated from the centre of the community to each destination using Calgary's road grid, and are rounded to honest ranges rather than presented as precise figures. Ogden sits close to Quarry Park and South Health Campus, and further than most southeast communities from the airport, since it sits on the south side of the city.
Every gym within reach
The nearest full-service facility is across the Bow River at Quarry Park, with the community's own park and pathway as the free option at hand.
- Pool, fitness floor, gymnasium and childcare under one roof
- Quarry Park's own commercial studios sit a similar drive away, across the river
- Repsol Sport Centre is the quadrant's larger inner-city facility, further northwest
- George Moss Park and the Bow River pathway are the free option, inside the community itself
| Facility | What it is | Drive |
|---|---|---|
| Remington YMCA open | Full-service YMCA at Quarry Park: pool, fitness floor, gymnasium and childcare, the nearest full facility to Ogden. | 6–9 min |
| George Moss Park & Bow River pathway open | Free option: the community's own park and the riverside pathway along the old shops land. | 1–2 min |
| Quarry Park fitness studios open | A small cluster of commercial studios in the Quarry Park business district, across the Bow River. | 6–9 min |
| Repsol Sport Centre open | Fifty-metre pool, indoor track, climbing wall and a large fitness floor at Lindsay Park. | 14–19 min |
| Chinook-area commercial gyms open | Commercial chains clustered around Chinook Centre and Macleod Trail. | 12–16 min |
Check current CPKC campus access. The old shops site is now a working corporate and rail campus — it is not open ground, whatever its history.
Two schools inside the community, one of each board
Banting and Best School carries the public side from kindergarten through grade 9, and St. Bernadette Elementary/Junior High School carries the Catholic side. Both sit inside Ogden's boundaries; the designated senior high for either board is outside the community.
| School | Board | Note |
|---|---|---|
| Banting and Best School | Calgary Board of Education | Public school inside the community, kindergarten through grade 9. |
| St. Bernadette Elementary/Junior High School | Calgary Catholic School District | Catholic school serving the community. |
| Designated senior high | Both boards | Designated senior high sits outside the community boundaries. Confirm the current designation for a specific address with the board before you buy. |
| Calgary Catholic School District | Calgary Catholic | Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. |
| SAIT and Bow Valley College | Post-secondary | Nearest post-secondary options, both reached via Deerfoot Trail toward downtown. |
Alberta funds Catholic education the same way it funds public education, so there is no tuition for a resident student at either board. Confirm the current senior high designation for a specific address with the board before you buy — southeast designations shift as enrolment changes across the quadrant.
Month by month, what living here looks like
Not a highlights reel — the actual annual rhythm, including the dates residents have to remember.
- CPKC's Ogden yard runs its full winter switching schedule through the cold
- Chinooks reach the far southeast late, same as elsewhere on this side of the city
- The Bow River pathway below George Moss Park ices over on the shaded stretches first
- Green Line construction crews pause the heaviest work at Ogden Station through the deepest cold
- A chinook can clear Glenmore Trail's snowbanks within an afternoon
- Remington YMCA's pool runs its busiest weeks of the year
- The Ogden Off-Leash Dog Park stays open through the cold, packed down hard by regular use
- Longer light by month end
- Meltwater off the CPR yard's flat lots runs toward the Bow River faster than the drains can take it
- Snow tires stay on a while longer on the shaded streets under the rail overpasses
- The Bow River pathway reopens along George Moss Park
- Green Line survey and grading work resumes at Ogden Station
- Last hard frosts — planting waits for the long weekend
- The Bow River runs high with early melt below George Moss Park
- Banting and Best and St. Bernadette both restart outdoor recess routines
- Migratory birds return to the river below the old shops site
- Long evenings on the Bow River pathway become a genuine after-work habit
- Community league and field sport seasons start
- CPKC's yard and headquarters campus are at their tidiest of the year
- Hail season begins — the southeast gets more than its share
- Peak daylight at the solstice — over sixteen hours
- School year ends at Banting and Best and St. Bernadette
- Remington YMCA's summer programming ramps up
- Thunderstorm season is fully under way
- Calgary Stampede — ten days, about fifteen minutes northwest
- Hottest month, with little shade over the old rail yard's open ground
- Evening thunderstorms roll in from the west across the river valley
- Deerfoot Trail carries the heaviest Stampede-week traffic of the year
- Quietest weeks before school returns
- The Bow River runs low and clear past George Moss Park
- Harvest and construction traffic both pick up on Glenmore Trail
- Green Line construction crews push to close out summer-phase work at Ogden Station
- School year restarts at Banting and Best and St. Bernadette
- First frost typically arrives late in the month
- Quarry Park's retail gets busier with back-to-school traffic
- CPKC yard lighting comes on earlier as the days shorten
- First snow is normal, and normally melts
- Snow tires go on
- Peak colour along the Bow River pathway below George Moss Park
- Shorter evenings noticeable by mid-month
- Dark by 5pm
- The Ogden Block, built in 1914, faces a demolition deadline of November 15 unless relocated — a visible marker of a community still being rebuilt around the Green Line
- Indoor recreation season restarts at Remington YMCA
- Freeze sets in on the Bow River's calmer stretches first
- Outdoor rinks open once the freeze holds
- Holiday quiet across the community
- CPKC's yard keeps running through the holiday break — freight slows but does not stop
- Chinooks, when they come, arrive late and weak here, same as the rest of the southeast
36 photographs of the community and its surroundings
All freely licensed and served from this app — nothing loads from a third party. Filter by category.
Showing 1–12 of 36 photographs.
Honesty note. This page uses only the general Calgary, seasonal, Alberta-wildlife and transit photography from the site's shared library. Nothing here is presented as a photograph of Ogden, its rail yard, or the Ogden Shops site itself.