Canadian Railroads > VIA HQ.....and Central Station Complex

VIA Headquarters in Montreal is part of Place Ville Marie with it's iconic cruciform tower built above the 'Underground City' and Central Station's platforms and tracks north of the Concourse leading to the entrance to the Mount Royal Tunnel.

Here's a trackplan....entrance to the tunnel is on the left and the viaduct tracks from the south on the right.


http://esteemfoundation.org/emdx/rail/GareCentrale/PlanVoies.gif


Place Ville Marie was part of the redevelopment of the downtown railway lands surrounding Central Station in the 1950s and '60s.....beginning with the the CN Headquarters Building, Queen Elizabeth Hotel and eventually Place Bonaventure above the viaduct and south approach to the station.


http://www.vieux.montreal.qc.ca/plaque/horizon/gares/eng/gare_3a.htm


Here's an interesting aerial photo from 1947.....now click on 'satellite' in the upper left corner.....zoom in and you can see how the complex has developed over the years. To locate Central....follow the Viaduct curving in from the lower right. The other two station (bottom centre) are Windsor (L) and Bonaventure (R)


http://www.app.catbus.ca/1947satelliteview/app.html#17;45.50002306756993;-73.56633156769482



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 06:25 by ghCBNS.

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Here's the former CN Queen Elizabeth Hotel and CN Headquarters Building The QE is currently closed and under going a $140 million renovation. It will reopen this July:

https://fairmontmontreal.com/en/

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Entrances to CN Headquarters and Central Station:

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About all that's still visible of the original 1943 Central Station building is the upper portion of the Concourse......now hidden in on rue Belmont.

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Place Bonaventure is built above the viaduct and south approach to the station. The Ocean usually boards from the platform serving Tracks 13-14 which extend outside ....and viewed here from the Park Car .Note the cantenary supports for the electrification that once extended to the Victoria Bridge/ Pointe St. Charles and Turcot. The wires now extend for only a short distance south of the station....but are still inplace for the AMT commuter trains north through the Mount Royal Tunnel to Deux Montagnes and also to Ahuntsic.

http://www.stm.info/sites/default/files/bonaventure.pdf

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These are great! Thanks for sharing them, it's going to be a while before I make it there.

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And a couple of other shots from the Park Car including meeting the n/b Adirondack on the Victoria Bridge:

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Thanks for your work and photos in this posting. A trip to Central Station with my Grandfather was always a highlight of any of our family's semi-annual trips to Montreal when I was young(er.)

A couple of shots from July 1973 and the n/b Montrealer arriving on Track 13 below Place Bonaventure:

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Wow ! When I started sailing for "Shell Oil" out of Montreal in 1980 I used to always going down to "Place Bonaventure" and watch the action from the entrance of the hotel on the outdoor garden/park or whatever you want to call it.Some times I was brave enough to walk up that ramp about halfway and sit on the support as there was no room on the road . Sometimes the security guard would come down and kick me out and sometimes not!!! Oh to be young again...:) Thanks for bringing back those memories...

For awhile in the '70s the sign read 'Hotel' instead of 'Place' Bonaventure.

The Hotel occupies the top three floors in a setting of roof-top gardens. Get a south facing room above the Viaduct for a great view.

http://hotelbonaventure.com/en/images/

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So very outstanding!! Thanks for posting so many pics. Only been in Central twice being that I am from the Midwest US. Once stayed in the QE Hotel so convenient from inside the station. The other trip was on a Montreal - Gaspe and Montreal - Halifax ride that started in Winnipeg and went to Vancouver first. Glad I got in the Gaspe portion with Skyline dome to view the wonderful scenery prior to its termination. Thought once I was in Montreal better do the Halifax ride, too. All this riding was my treat right after I retired.

Wow what a treasure trove of photos and documents. I can recall as a kid during the mid 50's before they built Place Ville Marie being able to look down into the open tracks between Dorchester Blvd (as it was called back then) and Cathcart street which ran above the Mount Royal tunnel portal. I was too young to understand what I was looking at, but I did enjoy seeing the occasional electric train popping in and out of the tunnel.

And thanks for the link to the track plan. First time I've seen one for Central Station.

And on a side note, if you look at the 1947 satellite view and drag the map to the down to the lower right corner, you will see McGill University -- my alma mater -- in the upper left corner

Thanks again for the stirring up wonderful memories

WP17



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 11:03 by WP17.

WP17 Wrote:
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> And on a side note, if you look at the 1947
> satellite view and drag the map to the down to the
> lower right corner, you will see McGill University
> -- my alma mater --

And looking at that satellite view a bit more...about 6 streets above the viaduct curve and just in from the canal lock....you can see the Montreal & Southern Counties electric interurban terminal. The old station building is still standing:



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/23/17 11:23 by ghCBNS.

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Great photos. As my youngest daughter has chosen McGill for college, and I now have VIA as an account (not a coincidence), I'm looking forward to spending lots of time in Montreal!

Excellent mix of rail and architecture information!

ghCBNS Wrote:
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> WP17 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > And on a side note, if you look at the 1947
> > satellite view and drag the map to the down to
> the
> > lower right corner, you will see McGill
> University
> > -- my alma mater --
>
> And looking at that satellite view a bit
> more...about 6 streets above the viaduct curve and
> just in from the canal lock....you can see the
> Montreal & Southern Counties electric interurban
> terminal. The old station building is still
> standing:

During the 1990's this was one of my favourite restaurants, "Il Etait Une Fois," they made a great burger.

https://www.flickr.com/photos/taken_by_tom/1469352428/

Now it is a pizza place. Formerly making great pizzas, they must have changed chefs or recipes, as they make quite mediocre pizzas the last few years.

Michael