Rails to the Atlantic. Ron Brown
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
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