Rails to the Atlantic. Ron Brown
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