1950-1959

September 1953

In late September, a diesel-hauled passenger train made a test run from Montreal to Vancouver. By the end of the 1953, the local day yard was shut down at Rivers, Manitoba.

1954

Manitoba Highway 25 opened to traffic. The short east-west route starts at provincial road 259 at Wheatland, Manitoba, goes east through Rivers, and terminates at Highway 10. The first car accident injury on the road occurred.

Manitoba — 1954

An old engine is well-known in the region. 7398, refitted with a diesel engine, passed through Rivers, Manitoba, with passengers who had been prevented from boarding a fog-bound TCA Airliner in Winnipeg.

May 1954

In mid May, 22 men (four roundhouse and 18 car-department employees) were terminated.

World — July 5, 1954

Elvis Presley records "That's All Right" at Sun Studios in Memphis, Tennessee, with Scott Moore and Bill Black. It was his first single, released on July 19, 1954.

November 1954

The Edmonton Eskimos Grey Cup Special train stopped in Rivers, Manitoba, both on its way to and on its return from their victory at Varsity Stadium in Toronto on November 27, 1954. Locals gained souvenirs, including a piece of a goal post presented to Rivers mayor, Mr. Stratford.

1955

Rivers, Manitoba, the first place on a main line in Canada to have known coal-burning locomotives, was the last place to see their use.

Canada — 1955

The meeting of the east-bound and west-bound Continental trains came to an end with a new CN cross-country passenger service — The Super Continental. Twelve hours of running time was cut from a Montreal–Vancouver trip.

World — November 1, 1955

The Vietnam war began and lasted until the Fall of Saigon on April 30, 1975.

1956

By 1956, Army helicopter pilots were also training at Rivers. After the closure of the helicopter school at RCN Air Station HMCS Shearwater, the Royal Canadian Navy began sending trainees to Rivers as well, making the BHTU the first tri-service flying training unit in Canada.