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The Face of the Railways: The Stations

Eighteen-thirty-six marked the start of a dramatic era of rail building in eastern Canada. Hundreds of railway lines were chartered, dozens actually built. Most of them designed stations from their own “pattern books” — that is, from standard plans. The earliest designs were very similar to the stage coach hotels that preceded the railway. Stations were basically two storeys in height and constructed of wood, with little architectural embellishment. But, as railway amalgamation proceeded, so did competition. Succeeding rail companies replaced the original structures with larger and more elaborate buildings to attract more passengers. The only exceptions were in Newfoundland and in Prince Edward Island, where the railways remained under single ownerships, and where patterns were repeated across the lines with little variation.

The greatest era of station building occurred between the late 1880s and the start of the First World War. Following that war, the CNR acquired many of eastern Canada’s bankrupt lines, while the CPR acquired others and added a number of their pattern-book stations. Among the more prominent station architects were Bruce Price and the Maxwell brothers of the CPR; H.H. Richardson, an American station designer whose style of wide-arched windows and rounded features influenced many of Canada’s stations; and Ralph Benjamin Pratt, a prolific architect who worked for both the CPR and the CNoR. His style typically incorporated a pyramid roofline.

In 1912 the National Transcontinental Railway (NTR), Prime Minister Wilfred Laurier’s transcontin- ental dream, pushed westward from Moncton, across New Brunswick, and on into Quebec and Ontario before crossing the Prairies to the West Coast. It, too, used a range of standard plans, largely storey-and-a-half with hipped rooflines and embedded dormers. A few stations had two storeys, such as the one still standing in Grand Falls. This line too became part of the CNR system.

John Schofield was prominent in bringing his neoclassical style to the CNR’s post–First World War stations. Sandford Fleming, while not primarily an architect, was responsible for such railway innovations as standardizing times along the railway networks and the insistence on using steel for bridge construction. The many smaller and earlier rail lines generally relied on their engineering departments for their standard station plans.

The stations were the real face of the rail lines, the point of interaction between company and customer. To embrace this relationship, the railway companies made every effort to ensure that these buildings were functionally effective and aesthetically appealing. Even the simple patterns were attractive, while with the large stations no holds were barred in obtaining the best architects and employing the grandest styles of the day.

Prior to the victory of the auto over rail travel, stations numbered in the thousands. But, as highways flourished from the 1960s onwards, and as the federal government began to feel that rail passenger service was outmoded, funding was cut and passenger service dwindled drastically. Freight operations were modernized and then computerized, requiring fewer trackside staff. Stations fell empty by the droves, and were bulldozed soon after.

Following the CPR’s clandestine demolition of its distinctive West Toronto station in 1982 (despite efforts to save it) enraged Canadians led by an infuriated Toronto mayor, Art Eggleton, demanded action. Voices were raised to demand that their heritage stations be saved. Regrettably, existing laws favoured the rail companies, for they were exempt from provincial heritage laws. Only the federal government could legislate the rescue of Canada’s historic stations. Surprisingly, that is what they did.

In 1988 special legislation introduced by MP Jesse Flis came into effect. Under this station-saving law, called the Heritage Railway Station Protection Act (HRSPA), stations designated by the Minister of the Environment through Parks Canada could not be demolished by the railway companies, nor could they be significantly altered.

Over several years, various ministers have designated more than three hundred stations across the nation. Of these, more than fifty are in eastern Canada. But this is still only one fifth of all those that remain on their original sites. Despite “designation,” where no reuse could be found many of the stations simply rotted away or fell victim to arson.

This chapter is a guide to the more significant of eastern Canada’s heritage railway stations. Those that are federally designated and still stand are all included. Many others that are listed on provincial heritage registries are also included. A few on neither list are mentioned due to their distinct heritage value.

By far, the greatest number of existing stations in eastern Canada are found in Quebec, where more than two hundred remain, and are either in use or have been preserved — many as heritage structures. Most reflect the standard patterns of their corporate owners: the Canadian Pacific, the Grand Trunk, the Intercolonial, or the Quebec Central, and a few from the Canadian Northern Railway. Of these, well over half remain on site.

Montreal: A City of Heritage Stations

Commuter Stations

When the CPR began building commuter stations west of Montreal in 1890, it recognized that the booming affluence of Anglophone Westmount required something extra. They employed architect W.S. Painter to devise a larger and more attractive station than the standard plans being used farther west. In 1907 the new Westmount station was opened. Built to resemble a pavilion, it boasted a pair of low, wide pyramid-roof towers to mark the ends, and a row of wide-arched windows and doorways between. Now owned by the municipality of Westmount, the brick station sits vacant, its trackside heavily overgrown. However, the more visible street side, with its wide lawn, is well maintained. Commuter trains now stop at a new shelter style station adjacent to the nearby Metro station.

A Montreal commuter train comes to a halt at the classic CPR Vaudreuil station.

Despite the neglect of the Westmount station, Montreal’s western commuters can glory in an entire string of heritage CPR-era stations still in use. These include the Beaconsfield station, a brick CPR pattern with a bellcast roof adorned with a small gable; and the Valois, Vaudreuil, and Montreal West stations, all of which use various standard CPR patterns. While service to Vaudreuil–Dorion is frequent, service to a more elaborate wooden station at Hudson, on the Ottawa River, is only twice daily. The rare pattern used on the Hudson station is one of the CPR’s earliest, found more commonly in northwestern Ontario. The long station, with its steep roof gable ends and row of small dormers, also serves as an arts centre and theatre.

Rigaud

Situated at the current end of the track on what was the Montreal to Ottawa south shore line, the station in Rigaud, regrettably, ended its days as a commuter station when the local municipality declined to pay its contribution to the running of the commuter service. This attractive and distinctive two-storey stone building with mansard roof was built in 1940 by the CPR at the Quebec border with Ontario on its Montreal to Ottawa south shore line to emphasize the entry into a culturally and architecturally distinctive province. It now sits vacant, although it does appear to be maintained.

Montreal’s Central Station

When it was visible, Montreal’s Central Station offered a handsome image of a modern International-style station. It was designed in the 1930s by CNR’s main architect, John Schofield, who also designed the CNR’s large station in Hamilton, Ontario. Opened in 1943, it did not remain visible for long. Within a decade, covered over by the Queen Elizabeth Hotel and other skyscrapers, it became little more than a dimly lit subterranean concourse for shops and fast food outlets. Its railway role is limited to a few ticket counters, baggage checks, and the arrival and departure sign. It is more frequently used by commuters than inter-city travellers. Trains are not visible, as the tracks lie below the concourse.

Its few redeeming features are limited to the attractive bas-relief murals designed by Charles Comfort of Toronto, which depict Canadians at work and at play. Medallions can be found around the walls as can a bilingual version of Canada’s national anthem.

The interior of Montreal’s Central Station contains bas-relief works that depict life in the Canada from the era of rail travel.

Windsor Station

One would expect that William Cornelius Van Horne, the headstrong president of the CPR, would have gone for a Chateau style for his new Montreal station, which would have been keeping in line with his growing chain of hotels. Instead, he hired American architectural wonder boy Bruce Price to create a Romanesque building not just for the Montreal station, but for CPR’s corporate head office as well. But the Chateau elements were not lacking either, as evidenced by a steep roof above the upper floor. Three major additions between 1900 and 1913 kept true to Price’s original theme. Its prominent entrance on Rue Saint-Antoine leads into the grand hall with the waiting room immediately to its side. The station was known as a “stub” station, where tracks ended at the waiting room.

Montreal’s Windsor Station was the pride of CPR president William Cornelius Van Horne.

The original structure rose four storeys, with arched windows. The additions added several storeys, marking the rail company’s growing influence. But much has changed inside. The CPR moved its corporate offices to Calgary in the 1990s, while the tracks were relocated further west to serve the city’s commuter rail network. Today the grand concourse is eerily silent with only footsteps echoing throughout. Most of the original doorways and woodworking mark the hall which also features a display of CPR heritage photographs.

Dalhousie Station

Before there was Windsor Station, there was the Dalhousie Station. Here, on the site of what was prestigious Dalhousie Square (much of which burned in 1852) is the CPR’s first Montreal station. The large structure is brick above a stone base in which are a row of high-arched windows. In 1883 the CPR opened the station on the site, and a year later the inaugural transcontinental train steamed out toward Vancouver. But only a few years later the grand Chateauesque Viger station/hotel (see chapter 5) opened to great acclaim, and the Dalhousie station was left in its shadow. In 1993 the Eloise Circus moved in, and 2014 saw it undergoing further renovations.

Jean-Talon

This neoclassical urban station was built in 1931 and was designed by architect Colin Drewitt. It replaced the old Mile End station used by the CPR. From this station the CPR’s passenger trains steamed north into the Laurentians as well as west to Ottawa and east to Quebec City. The station closed in 1984 and served variously as a bookstore and liquor store. Designed in the Beaux-Arts style, it features a row of four pillars and a pair of columns guarding the main entrance to the waiting room. The high barrel-vaulted waiting room is illuminated by a row of tall windows with decorative curving beams, while fluted pilasters rise above the second-level mezzanine. Much of the interior still displays the marble and terrazzo of its floors and walls. Today, the former waiting room houses a Joe Fresh, where great care has been taken to preserve the three-storey room’s many architectural elements. The old station still serves the travelling public as an entrance to the Montreal Metro subway system, the entrance to which leads through the former men’s smoking room.

The Stations of the Eastern Townships

From 1836 onward, Quebec’s Eastern Townships endured a barrage of railway construction. Dozens of small railway companies laid out thousands of kilo- metres of track and erected hundreds of stations. Today, companies, tracks, and stations have largely vanished form the landscape.

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (CPR)

This elegant CPR station dates to 1887, when the railway was competing to finish its line from Montreal to the Atlantic. Its features include an additional passenger canopy, a bellcast hipped roof, multiple casement arched windows with transoms, and an eyebrow vent such as are found on a number of CPR station plans. Although fenced off from the track, its exterior has remained unaltered. The building now serves as a theatre administration office and has been designated under the HRSPA.

Saint-Jean-sur-Richelieu (CN)

This brick CN station bears a remarkable resemblance to the CPR station, with its wide-hipped roof with a lower-hipped extension. Brick adornments surround the operator’s bay window, as well as around the windows and doors on the street side, and rounded transoms appear over the windows and doorways. It, too, has been little altered, and serves now as a tourist office, although, like the CPR station, it is fenced from the track. It is located only a few blocks south of the CPR station. It was built by the Grand Trunk in 1891, replacing an earlier 1836 station shed, one which marked eastern Canada’s oldest rail line and would have been the country’s first railway station.

Sherbrooke (CPR)

Although no longer in use by the railway, Sherbrooke’s CPR station remains a landmark of the city’s downtown. Built in 1910, it was enlarged three times, in 1920, 1927, and around 1950. Although a single storey in height, the centre area of the operator’s bay is dominated by hip cross gable in the roofline, with a secondary cross gable at the eastern end of the structure. Its large size testifies to the amount of passenger traffic, as well as its former role as a divisional station. The yards remain in use, although all other ancillary railway structures are gone. The building remains busy, housing a farmers’ market known as the Marché de la Gare, as well as a deli and the Savaroso restaurant. It is also the home base of the popular Orford Express tour train, which departs from the west end of the structure.

Sherbrooke (CNR)

One of Quebec’s more elegant stations, Sherbrooke’s Grand Trunk station was built in 1890 after the railway had taken over the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway. The central section of this brick building is two storeys, with a high-peaked cross gable. Its two single-storey extensions feature hip gables at the ends. As with many of the GTR’s stations of the time, the many windows feature arches. Trains no longer call, of course, although the track remains in use. The station still plays a role in the area’s transportation system as a bus terminal, and contains a restaurant as well. It sits at the base of a hill, of which Sherbrooke has several, with the Hotel Wellington atop the hill behind the station.

Richmond

Shortly after the rails reached this Eastern Townships location, Richmond became a major rail hub on the key Montreal to Portland, Maine, route, and with its branch to Quebec City. In fact, its yards remain in use. The Grand Trunk built this station in 1912. The distinctive structure contains a full two-storey central portion with an octagonal two-storey bay window. Two single-storey extensions lie on either end. It is constructed of brick with carved stone lentils. Passenger service ended in the 1980s. Fenced from the track, the Richmond station now houses a motel and restaurant.

Acton Vale

The first reaction to this wonderful station is “wow.” During its heyday, the GTR festooned its lines with grand upscale stations that often featured a prominent tower and decorative gables. And here, on its main line from Montreal to Portland, Maine, the GTR designed one of its more elegant small-town stations. Completed in 1900, this wooden building features a wooden turret, dormers, a steeply pitched roof, and multi-paned windows.

One of Quebec’s finest station preservation efforts is the GTR station in Acton Vale.

The “wow” factor also derives from its state of preservation. Here, the municipality has restored the building as a tourist centre, and has carefully preserved its interior and exterior details, including washroom lettering. The tracks remain in use while a nearby bike path offers an interpretive plaque. The Acton Vale station was designated a national historic site in 1976 and is listed on the Canadian Registry of Heritage Properties.

Farnham

A postwar International-style building, this large CPR station near the vast rail yards in this busy divisional town is two storeys and displays the flat roof typical of the style. The bay window extends slightly into the second floor, but the building offers few other architectural embellishments. It was constructed in 1950 to replace an earlier structure destroyed by fire. The station is designated under the HRSPA.

Tring-Jonction

Built in 1914 shortly before the CPR assumed control of the Quebec Central Railway, the stone appearance of this station’s exterior may be misleading as the material is actually moulded concrete that incorporated locally produced asbestos into its material. It is distinguished by a prominent cross gable and a porte-cochère supported by free-standing columns. The building has been renovated to serve as a local library

Vallée-Jonction

Only a few kilometres to the east of Tring-Jonction lies the unusual station at Vallée-Jonction, and it, too, is constructed of concrete moulded to resemble stone. It was built in 1917 and sits on the inside of the track junction; as a result, the station forms a “T” in three sections. A single storey in height, it also exhibits a porte-cochère and roof-line dormers. Situated on a narrow river flat below the main village, this location was a divisional point where a small roundhouse with turn- table still stand. A sturdy bridge takes the tracks over the Chaudière River, while a railway display stands nearby. Once the base for the Chaudière-Appalaches tour train, the building now houses Le Musée Ferroviaire de Beauce. There is a railway hotel nearby.

East Angus

Yet a third stone-like station built by the CPR — this one in East Angus in 1913 — and leased by the Quebec Central Railway. Like the station at Tring-Jonction, East Angus has a wide hip-gabled roof and prominent gable above the operator’s bay window. It now functions as a local history interpretation centre known as La Vieille Gare du Papier.

Lacolle

Americans arriving in Lacolle on the former Delaware and Hudson Railway might be forgiven for thinking that they had been suddenly transmitted to Europe, for here is a station that resembles a miniature castle.

As a port of entry, the Lacolle station provided American tourists arriving on the Delaware and Hudson Railway a taste of Quebec’s architecture. It is now vacant.

Designed by Montreal architect Charles Tetley, the station was intended to resemble a Norman manor house and give arriving visitors a preview of Quebec’s architectural heri- tage. Built of stone in 1930, the station sports a pair of conical towers that rise above a long stone structure where small dormers penetrate the steep roofline. This was formerly the customs point for arriving visitors. Now vacant, the station is owned by the municipality.

Coaticook

It would seem that border stations in the Eastern Townships of Quebec adopted particularly unusual styles. The one at Coaticook, near the U.S. border, was built by the GTR in 1904 at a time when that railway was upgrading its stations to make them more appealing. It replaced a much simpler station built on the St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railway, which linked Montreal with Portland, Maine, in 1853. The wooden building rises two storeys, with a central high gable over the operator’s bay, while the waiting room offers a semi-conical roof. It is said to be the largest rounded station in eastern Canada. Passenger service ended in 1958, freight in 1980. The town purchased the station in 1988 for one dollar, remodelling the interior in 1999. In 2010 the town sold the old station to Solutions Affaires Experts-Conseils, a local business.

St. Armand

Yet another unusual border station is the one built by the Central Vermont Railway in St. Armand in 1864, making it one of Quebec’s oldest surviving first-generation stations. Rising a storey-and-a-half, this Italianate brick station is identical in style to many small-town stations through the northeastern U.S., though the style is rare in Canada. Tracks were lifted in 1955, but the station, although much altered inside, has retained its attractive exterior features.

Lac-Mégantic

It is sadly ironic that one of the few structures in Lac Mégantic to have survived the horrific explosion caused by derailed tanker cars in June of 2013 would be the station that the railway company owned. The station is one of the more attractive erected by the CPR on its tracks from Montreal to the Atlantic. Here, the operator’s bay extends fully into a second storey with a hip roof. The two levels are connected by pilasters.

The CPR-built station in Lac-Mégantic survived the fiery devastation caused by derailed tanker cars, which destroyed much of the town’s core and killed many.

Built in 1926, its purpose was not just to serve the local wood industry, but also to attract tourists to the scenic region. The row of doors and windows are multi-panelled, with rounded tops surmounting the transoms. A separate transmission building dating from 1930 was linked to the main building in 1950, giving the station a rather elongated appearance. A well-maintained garden marked the street entrance. It is designated under the HRSPA.

Drummondville

VIA Rail makes only three stops between the outskirts of Quebec City and Montreal. They are at Saint- Lambert, Saint-Hyacinthe, and Drummondville. The Drummondville station was built by the GTR in 1904, and is a simple, elongated brick structure with a row of Richardsonian-style windows and doors. Although train service is frequent, VIA has removed the ticket agent, and the waiting room has become a confining, bleak hall.

Saint-Hyacinthe

Built by the GTR in 1899, this station is another example of the remarkable styles that this rail line came up with. The station has so many different elements that it is hard to categorize them. The roof is a good place to start, as it offers a high-hip cross gable with a bellcast slope extending to the street side and the two-storey operators bay. An arched portico marks the entrance to the building, while a pair of hip-gable dormers lie on either side. This brick on stone structure extends to two storeys in the centre, and a storey and a half along the extensions. While VIA Rail makes frequent daily stops, the waiting room now lacks an agent and has been reduced to a dull, featureless waiting area. In the meantime, the Mega Copie Restaurant has taken over the old waiting room, which has retained a good number of it architectural features.

Rivière-Bleue

Built in 1913 by the NTR, this nicely preserved small-town station reflects the common country station pattern of the NTR: storey-and-a-half, with steep hip roof and hip dormers in the end gable as well as atop the agent’s bay window. The upper floor housed the agent’s apartment. While the last passenger trains stopped coming to Rivière-Bleue in 1979, the tracks remain in use for freight service. In 1981 Le Club d’Artisanat Riverain Inc. saved the building from demolition, and for a number of years it housed a private museum. Today, it houses a museum, café, and gift shop, and is listed on the Quebec registry of heritage properties.

Stations of Quebec’s South Shore

Montmagny

The ICR was built as a major trunk line to link Canada’s eastern provinces. The striking mansard-roofed station in Montmagny was built by that railway in 1881, one of six such structures built between Levis and Rivière-du-Loup after the ICR took over the GTR in 1873. The station in Montmagny is the sole survivor. After several decades as a CNR station, it was taken over by VIA Rail for its Atlantic routes. Cutbacks by the federal Conservatives forced the railway to remove its agent in the early 2000s.

Saint-Pascal

Although the route later became part of the ICR, several stations along the section of line from Levis to Rivière-du-Loup were of Grand Trunk design. The station at Saint-Pascal was one, and displays a distinctive Quebecois flavour with a broad, sweeping bellcast roof that resembles many Habitant homes built at the time. The original station was built in 1856, and, according to Parks Canada, was either replicated or heavily renovated in 1913. No longer a VIA Rail stop, the building, fenced from the track, now houses community service groups.

La Pocatière