Passenger Trains > North American Railway Stations Part 53

Next up is Vancouver's Pacific Central Station currently used (or at least was) by VIA Rail and Amtrak.  It was formerly CN's Station in Vancouver. Great Northern also called there after closure of their own station as did the Rocky Mountaineer before they built  their own facility nearby.  CP had a separate much more opulent station downtown (sorry no digital photo available). It's still in use as the Waterfront Station and serves the ferry to North Vancouver and commuter rail. 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/20 03:50 by andersonb109.

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andersonb109 Wrote:
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> CP had a separate much more opulent
> station downtown (sorry no digital photo
> available). It's still in use as the Waterfront
> Station and serves the ferry to North Vancouver
> and commuter rail. 

Here's a view from April 2007, looking east.  The facility also serves two rapid transit lines, which have separate stations. SkyTrain's Expo Line (station is semi-outdoors, on the far side of the main station, oriented east-west) and the Canada Line (subterranean, oriented north-south).  This photo was taken during Canada Line construction, hence the chain-link fencing and gravel pile in the lower right corner.

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railsmith Wrote:
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> Here's a view from April 2007, looking east.  The
> facility also serves two rapid transit lines,
> which have separate stations. SkyTrain's Expo Line
> (station is semi-outdoors, on the far side of the
> main station, oriented east-west) and the Canada
> Line (subterranean, oriented north-south).  This
> photo was taken during Canada Line construction,
> hence the chain-link fencing and gravel pile in
> the lower right corner.

The old CP Dunsmuir Tunnel under Downtown Vancouver was double-decked to carry the Skytrain Expo Line.

CP had used the tunnel from the waterfront to reach the roundhouse and yards at False Creek

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Bruce, so good, so correct including the fact that Central Pacific served the GN Internationals which I rode to Seattle, Parlor Car I believe.  And on an early trip on the Canadian, rode into the CP station!  And these days visit it often when in Vancouver.
 

Once upon a time Vancouver boasted a third Terminus: Union Station serving Great Northern and Northern Pacific: https://www.flickr.com/photos/37908073@N04/9188449914/

Nice looking station. Where was it located? I thought I had seen a photo of a station that was once directly next to the current Pacific Central. 

apparently    Union Station occupied what is now a parking lot on the north side of the Canadian Northern-Canadian National-Pacific Central Station as seen (dimly) in these views;
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/lord-byngs-farewell-visit-at-c-n-station-union-station-visible-in-background
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/circus-tents-being-erected
some additional views:
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/gnr-great-northern-railway-station
https://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/union-depot-r-r-station

ORNHOO Wrote:
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> Once upon a time Vancouver boasted a third
> Terminus: Union Station serving Great Northern and
> Northern Pacific:
> https://www.flickr.com/photos/37908073@N04/9188449
> 914/

Contrary to what is stated at the linked site, the GN station was demolished in 1965 (not 1968).  Along with the vacant railway yard lands to its east, the site is slated to be redeveloped for a major hospital and health-care campus, slated to open in 2026.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/12/20 17:21 by railsmith.

That's a great picture of the Pacific Central station.

I thought the neighborhood had a lot of potential for gentrification on my last visit to that area. Circa 2005. Light rail stop, lots of lofts, small shops, etc.

Posted from Android

I rode into and out of the CN station on both the CN and GN back in the day. At that time the words Canadian National were atop the building in neon, in the same script as the current sign. Anyone know what the story of the sign might be? I imagine the CN sold the station to the city, who liked the look of the sign, but the CN wouldn't allow the use of its name. So the city had to come up with the current, and at least to me kind of generic, name they could use for the sign. Am I close to the mark on this?

alally8444 Wrote:
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> I rode into and out of the CN station on both the
> CN and GN back in the day. At that time the words
> Canadian National were atop the building in neon,
> in the same script as the current sign. Anyone
> know what the story of the sign might be? I
> imagine the CN sold the station to the city, who
> liked the look of the sign, but the CN wouldn't
> allow the use of its name. So the city had to
> come up with the current, and at least to me kind
> of generic, name they could use for the sign. Am
> I close to the mark on this?

Nothing to do with the city. VIA Rail owns the station, and has operated trains from there since 1978. The name changed in late 1991/early 1992 following a major renovation into a multi-modal facility, which coincided with the city's intercity coach station closing and the coach routes shifting to Pacific Central. VIA took ownership of the station around that time.

The original Canadian National sign, in pieces, was donated to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, B.C., where it remains in storage, disassembled.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/13/20 04:03 by railsmith.