Click on each picture for a closer look!
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2010 has been a very exciting year for the Toronto Railway Heritage Centre, as anyone is aware who has been following our progress on this website. On December 12th, we were able to thank our dedicated volunteers with a fine party at Steam Whistle. For those of you who were unable to attend or who have supported our endeavour in other ways, the board of directors of the Toronto Railway Historical Association want to take this opportunity to wish you and your family a very Merry Christmas. For those of other faiths, the very happiest of holidays and best wishes for 2011.
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Railways and Christmas-time have always had a long and fruitful association. For inter-city passenger train carriers, the Christmas season is probably the busiest time of the year as people travel home to spend the holidays with their loved ones. In the days before FedEx, UPS and Purolator, the railways played a key role in delivering parcels for the holidays, not just gifts being exchanged among friends and family, but presents being purchased through the Eatons catalogue and delivered across Canada where they were hidden away in closets and under beds until they were wrapped and deposited under the Christmas tree.
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For manufacturers such as Lionel, Christmas was also a bonanza as dads throughout North America purchased toy trains, as much for themselves as for their sons. As a child growing up in Montreal, my own memories of Christmas were inextricably linked to trains. Usually a week or so before December 25, my mother would take me downtown to visit Eatons and Simpsons department stores. As I got older, she would deposit me in the toy department while she went off to browse and shop for items that were more of interest to her. Not only did the toy train display feature operating layouts that occupied a huge space in those days, Eatons had a replica of a Canadian Pacific Royal Hudson that hauled shoppers on a miniature railway track through an elaborately decorated fantasy land concocted by the store’s set designers.
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Following the shopping we had lunch at Murray’s Restaurant, long a fixture in Montreal and Toronto. It was there that I acquired a life-long taste for rice pudding. After lunch we walked over to Canadian National’s Central Station and then across Dominion Square to the Canadian Pacific Windsor Station. Both railways erected huge trees in the middle of the concourse as well as other displays throughout the stations. From there it was home to much excitement and anticipation in the days leading up to December 25. Every relative who gave me a Christmas present knew that I loved trains and I was seldom disappointed.
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We’re pleased this year to present three photographs of railway station Christmas trees courtesy of Raymond S. Farand of Ottawa. In December 2009, Raymond photographed the trees in the Ottawa VIA (lower left image), Montreal Central (upper right image) and Montreal Windsor (upper left image) stations. We thank Raymond for permission to use his photos.
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We wish that we could include a contemporary photograph of a spectacular tree at Toronto’s Union Station but, alas, the City of Toronto since acquiring the facility in 2000 has shown no inclination to erect such a tree so we’ve used an image that is almost 30 years old.
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The Union Station photo at the lower right dates from 1979 and I have no information on who took it or where it came from. It’s a slide that looks like it was photographed from a magazine. If anyone knows, please advise so we can provide proper attribution. Aside from the Christmas tree, the photo has other interesting details that are worth noting. It was taken shortly after VIA Rail was formed and assumed responsibility for passenger trains in Canada. The ticket counters are still located on the north side of the Great Hall.
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The four sided bulletin board with the departure times was installed in 1967, replacing the handsome original installation at the centre of the Great Hall. This consisted of a circular marble information counter with a tall four-sided clock mounted on top of a marble column. Instead of numbers, the clock faces had the twelve letters of UNION STATION. Mounted in the column was some kind of mechanical train board, the workings of which I have never been able to obtain any information.
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When the four-sided bulletin board shown in the photo was installed in 1967, each side had arrivals or departures for Canadian National and Canadian Pacific trains. By the 1970s, this had become somewhat of an embarrassment for CP since they only had a few trains on each of their two boards, whereas CN’s boards were filled with trains. VIA appears to have just left the CP boards blank.
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This installation was replaced in 1986 by the monstrosity that currently and gracelessly occupies the centre of the Great Hall and is completely unsympathetic with the otherwise Beaux-Arts magnificence of Toronto’s finest chamber. Apparently this structure was VIA’s ode to the 150th anniversary of passenger trains in Canada, which they celebrated in 1986. Even VIA gave up on it and it is currently occupied by Travelers’ Aid, whose volunteers spend most of their time answering questions about VIA trains since passengers quite naturally assume that it is a VIA information counter.
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The installation was featured on VIA’s December 2009 Christmas timetable although the two attractive and cheerful models who are obviously ecstatic at the prospect of boarding a VIA train aren’t dressed for the season. The photographer and indeed the VIA official who approved the photo appear not to have noticed that the overhead train board which is normally filled with trains is empty and all that is shown are train cancellations.
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On that amusing note, I wish you all the very best of the season.
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Posting by Derek Boles, TRHA Historian
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