 Gardiner was born in Edinburgh , Scotland , the third son and fourth child of John and Janet Gardiner . Along with his parents , older brothers John and Alexander , older sister Edith and younger sister Christina , he emigrated to Winnipeg , Manitoba at age seven in 1911 . The family initially lived in a house on William Avenue before relocating to Alexander Street ; both streets were south of the railways , and were full of Scottish @-@ Irish working @-@ class families . John took a job as a rail car <unk> , and Gardiner took an early interest in the trains , often waiting up late at night to watch them arrive into the city . He was enrolled at the Albert School , and befriended Wilf <unk> , an immigrant child from Wales who would also go on to be a National Hockey League ( NHL ) goaltender . 
