 According to train historian Adam Peltenburg, the CNoR rail line branch through Goodwater was part of, "major developments in the prairies" that began around 1910.In 1911, the trade publication, "Daily Consular and Trade Reports", wrote that, "one of the most important of the new lines now under construction in that province is the Maryfield extension, to be carried through the coal fields to Lethbridge, Alberta.