Field Report: Historic Railway Structures in Vancouver, B.C. – Part 2 of 3
Click on each image for a closer look!
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In the image at the upper left, we view the former CPR Waterfront Station in a picture taken from Grandville and West Cordova Streets in Vancouver, British Columbia. This station designed by the architectural firm of Barrott, Blackader & Webster and was built by the CPR in 1910 to be the Pacific terminus for Canadian Pacific Railway’s transcontinental passenger trains from the east. Today it is used as the terminus for SkyTrain, Trainbus, West Coast Express and SeaBus services. More information can be found at Wikipedia.
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The Pacific Central Station in Vancouver was designed by the architectural firm of Christopher Bozyk Architects and opened as the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway terminus on August 28, 1915. It served as the Great Northern Railway terminus from 1917 to 1965. The building was designated a heritage railway station in 1991. The West Coast Railway Association’s website has a fine period photograph on this webpage of Pacific Central Station).
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Wikpedia tells us that today ….
“Pacific Central Station in Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada is a railway station which acts as the western terminus of VIA Rail’s cross-country The Canadian to Toronto, and the northern terminus of Amtrak’s Cascades to Seattle. Until VIA Rail took over operations around 1979, Canadian Pacific Railway’s passenger trains went further west to Waterfront Station in downtown Vancouver, which is now used by the SkyTrain and the West Coast Express commuter railway.”
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Jason Pelton of the TRHA visited the station as well recently and offers these images (beginning at the middle above and going clockwise):
- Two images of the Pacific Central Station taken from Thornton Park at night
- Two large murals on the walls of the McDonald’s restaurant of a CNR 6400 series streamlined 4-84 Northern pulling passenger trains
- A picture of the interior of the station
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Posting by Russ Milland; Pictures by Jason Pelton
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