Truro, Nova Scotia railway station
Encyclopedia
The Truro Railway Station is an inter-city railway station in the town of Truro
, Nova Scotia
. It is operated by Via Rail
.
opened its line from Richmond
(in present-day Halifax
's North End) to Truro in December 1858. For the first decade of rail service to the town, the NSR served passengers from a small wooden structure located approximately where the present-day station is situated.
In June 1867 the NSR opened its eastern extension from Truro to the Northumberland Strait
port of Pictou Landing
.
In the following month, Confederation
on 1 July 1867 saw ownership of the NSR transferred from the Government of Nova Scotia
to the Government of Canada
. In 1872 the federal government merged the NSR into its new Crown corporation, the Intercolonial Railway. That November saw the ICR complete a new line from Truro to Moncton and by 1876 the line would be extended to Quebec
. The new line to Moncton diverged from the Halifax-Pictou mainline immediately east of the station in a broad curve.
1872 was also the year that the ICR opened a new station to replace the original NSR building. The larger terminal was also constructed of wood but had a handsome hip roof
and large passenger waiting areas, baggage and express freight handling areas, along with offices for local railway officials. More than 20 trains per day were calling at the Truro station during the late 19th century. The new station was located in the same vicinity as the original NSR station and adjoined a new ICR round house
for servicing steam locomotives.
In 1901 the Midland Railway opened its line across Hants County
, connecting Truro to Windsor
and the Dominion Atlantic Railway
through the Annapolis Valley
. In 1912, the DAR purchased the Midland line, bringing this important regional railway to the town.
In 1904, the Truro Railway Station saw the inaugural Ocean Limited, a daily express service from Halifax to Montreal. This was supplanted by the Maritime Express and the Scotian, as well as various local trains.
In 1906 the ICR constructed a new round house in the town's east end along the line to Pictou. In 1911 a disastrous fire destroyed the ICR passenger station. The replacement station was a mammoth sandstone structure with a signature clock tower which occupied almost 2 blocks along the south side of present-day Esplanade Street from Inglis Street to Outram Street. The DAR accessed the station at the west end of the terminal trackage on its own line while the ICR trains used the mainline.
In 1918, the ICR was merged into the new federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR). The large sandstone railway station in Truro saw constant use through the First World War
, Great Depression
, Second World War
and the post-war era. It was during the 1950s and 1960s that passenger rail traffic began to drop as a result of increased taxpayer-funded highways and airports, thus by the late 1960s, CN was looking at reducing its operating costs for historic railway station buildings, as well as eliminating unproductive railway property that it was paying tax upon.
In 1972 CN, to the chagrin of many residents in the town, demolished the large sandstone station building and replaced it with a linear concrete strip mall
(called the Truro Centre) which served to separate the town from the active rail yard opposite the station. A new passenger station was placed in the strip mall in the same location as the predecessor railway stations. The DAR (operated as CP Rail
) continued to offer a mixed train
service from Truro to Windsor during the 1970s but from a new passenger/freight station at the west end of the town on Willow Street.
In 1978, CN and CP transferred responsibility for their passenger services to a new federal Crown corporation Via Rail; at this time the mixed train service on the DAR to Windsor was cancelled. Passenger rail service in Truro as offered by Via Rail was relatively stable during the 1980s as the town enjoyed a moderate frequency of trains. This came to an abrupt halt on 15 January 1990 after massive budget cuts to Via Rail saw rail service from Truro to Sydney
, as well as to Edmundston, New Brunswick annulled, leaving Truro with only the 6 day/week Ocean
service from Halifax to Montreal.
During the early 2000s, CN removed all of the yard trackage in the vicinity of the station with only a mainline to Moncton and a mainline to Sydney left in operation. The platforms at the station were reduced to the one on the Halifax-Moncton mainline. An anti-graffiti
plan by the town has seen large decorative murals painted on the trackside of the Truro Centre east and west of the station; most of the murals depict town history and local attractions centred on a railway theme.
In 2006 the Town of Truro commissioned a master plan which envisions extending Inglis Street south across the tracks to connect the central business district with Victoria Park
. This would require demolishing part of the Truro Centre, including the present post-1972 station, in order to create a railway crossing. The master plan also envisions building a new, more architecturally and aesthetically-pleasing railway station on the southeast side of this new intersection with the extended Inglis Street and Esplanade Street.
Truro, Nova Scotia
-Education:Truro has one high school, Cobequid Educational Centre. Post-secondary options include a campus of the Nova Scotia Community College, as well as the Nova Scotia Agricultural College in the neighboring town of Bible Hill.- Sports :...
, Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia
Nova Scotia is one of Canada's three Maritime provinces and is the most populous province in Atlantic Canada. The name of the province is Latin for "New Scotland," but "Nova Scotia" is the recognized, English-language name of the province. The provincial capital is Halifax. Nova Scotia is the...
. It is operated by Via Rail
VIA Rail
Via Rail Canada is an independent crown corporation offering intercity passenger rail services in Canada. It is headquartered near Montreal Central Station at 3 Place Ville-Marie in Montreal, Quebec....
.
History
The Nova Scotia RailwayNova Scotia Railway
The Nova Scotia Railway is a historic Canadian railway. It was composed of two lines, one connecting Richmond with Windsor, the other connecting Richmond with Pictou via Truro....
opened its line from Richmond
Richmond, Nova Scotia
Richmond is a Canadian urban neighbourhood comprising part of the North End of the Halifax Peninsula in Nova Scotia's Halifax Regional Municipality....
(in present-day Halifax
City of Halifax
Halifax is a city in Canada, which was the capital of the province of Nova Scotia and shire town of Halifax County. It was the largest city in Atlantic Canada until it was amalgamated into Halifax Regional Municipality in 1996...
's North End) to Truro in December 1858. For the first decade of rail service to the town, the NSR served passengers from a small wooden structure located approximately where the present-day station is situated.
In June 1867 the NSR opened its eastern extension from Truro to the Northumberland Strait
Northumberland Strait
The Northumberland Strait is a strait in the southern part of the Gulf of Saint Lawrence in eastern Canada...
port of Pictou Landing
Pictou Landing, Nova Scotia
Pictou Landing is a community in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia, located in Pictou County .-References:*...
.
In the following month, Confederation
Canadian Confederation
Canadian Confederation was the process by which the federal Dominion of Canada was formed on July 1, 1867. On that day, three British colonies were formed into four Canadian provinces...
on 1 July 1867 saw ownership of the NSR transferred from the Government of Nova Scotia
Government of Nova Scotia
The Government of Nova Scotia refers to the provincial government of the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. Its powers and structure are set out in the Constitution Act, 1867....
to the Government of Canada
Government of Canada
The Government of Canada, formally Her Majesty's Government, is the system whereby the federation of Canada is administered by a common authority; in Canadian English, the term can mean either the collective set of institutions or specifically the Queen-in-Council...
. In 1872 the federal government merged the NSR into its new Crown corporation, the Intercolonial Railway. That November saw the ICR complete a new line from Truro to Moncton and by 1876 the line would be extended to Quebec
Quebec
Quebec or is a province in east-central Canada. It is the only Canadian province with a predominantly French-speaking population and the only one whose sole official language is French at the provincial level....
. The new line to Moncton diverged from the Halifax-Pictou mainline immediately east of the station in a broad curve.
1872 was also the year that the ICR opened a new station to replace the original NSR building. The larger terminal was also constructed of wood but had a handsome hip roof
Hip roof
A hip roof, or hipped roof, is a type of roof where all sides slope downwards to the walls, usually with a fairly gentle slope. Thus it is a house with no gables or other vertical sides to the roof. A square hip roof is shaped like a pyramid. Hip roofs on the houses could have two triangular side...
and large passenger waiting areas, baggage and express freight handling areas, along with offices for local railway officials. More than 20 trains per day were calling at the Truro station during the late 19th century. The new station was located in the same vicinity as the original NSR station and adjoined a new ICR round house
Round House
The Round House is the oldest building still standing in Western Australia. It is located at Arthur Head in Fremantle, and recent heritage assessments and appraisals of the precinct of the Round House incorporate Arthur Head....
for servicing steam locomotives.
In 1901 the Midland Railway opened its line across Hants County
Hants County, Nova Scotia
Hants County is a county in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia which was the home of Thomas Chandler Haliburton, Alden Nowlan and Noel Doiron. The county of Hants was created June 17, 1781, and consisted of the townships of Windsor, Falmouth and Newport...
, connecting Truro to Windsor
Windsor, Nova Scotia
Windsor is a town located in Hants County, Mainland Nova Scotia at the junction of the Avon and St. Croix Rivers. It is the largest community in western Hants County with a 2001 population of 3,779 and was at one time the shire town of the county. The region encompassing present day Windsor was...
and the Dominion Atlantic Railway
Dominion Atlantic Railway
The Dominion Atlantic Railway was a historic Canadian railway which operated in the western part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley....
through the Annapolis Valley
Annapolis Valley
The Annapolis Valley is a valley and region in the Canadian province of Nova Scotia. It is located in the western part of the Nova Scotia peninsula, formed by a trough between two parallel mountain ranges along the shore of the Bay of Fundy.-Geography:...
. In 1912, the DAR purchased the Midland line, bringing this important regional railway to the town.
In 1904, the Truro Railway Station saw the inaugural Ocean Limited, a daily express service from Halifax to Montreal. This was supplanted by the Maritime Express and the Scotian, as well as various local trains.
In 1906 the ICR constructed a new round house in the town's east end along the line to Pictou. In 1911 a disastrous fire destroyed the ICR passenger station. The replacement station was a mammoth sandstone structure with a signature clock tower which occupied almost 2 blocks along the south side of present-day Esplanade Street from Inglis Street to Outram Street. The DAR accessed the station at the west end of the terminal trackage on its own line while the ICR trains used the mainline.
In 1918, the ICR was merged into the new federal Crown corporation Canadian National Railways (CNR). The large sandstone railway station in Truro saw constant use through the First World War
World War I
World War I , which was predominantly called the World War or the Great War from its occurrence until 1939, and the First World War or World War I thereafter, was a major war centred in Europe that began on 28 July 1914 and lasted until 11 November 1918...
, Great Depression
Great Depression
The Great Depression was a severe worldwide economic depression in the decade preceding World War II. The timing of the Great Depression varied across nations, but in most countries it started in about 1929 and lasted until the late 1930s or early 1940s...
, Second World War
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
and the post-war era. It was during the 1950s and 1960s that passenger rail traffic began to drop as a result of increased taxpayer-funded highways and airports, thus by the late 1960s, CN was looking at reducing its operating costs for historic railway station buildings, as well as eliminating unproductive railway property that it was paying tax upon.
In 1972 CN, to the chagrin of many residents in the town, demolished the large sandstone station building and replaced it with a linear concrete strip mall
Strip mall
A strip mall is an open-area shopping center where the stores are arranged in a row, with a sidewalk in front. Strip malls are typically developed as a unit and have large parking lots in front...
(called the Truro Centre) which served to separate the town from the active rail yard opposite the station. A new passenger station was placed in the strip mall in the same location as the predecessor railway stations. The DAR (operated as CP Rail
Canadian Pacific Railway
The Canadian Pacific Railway , formerly also known as CP Rail between 1968 and 1996, is a historic Canadian Class I railway founded in 1881 and now operated by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited, which began operations as legal owner in a corporate restructuring in 2001...
) continued to offer a mixed train
Mixed train
A mixed train is a train that hauls both passenger and freight cars or wagons. In the early days of railways they were quite common, but by the 20th century they were largely confined to branch lines with little traffic. As the trains provided passengers with very slow service, mixed trains have...
service from Truro to Windsor during the 1970s but from a new passenger/freight station at the west end of the town on Willow Street.
In 1978, CN and CP transferred responsibility for their passenger services to a new federal Crown corporation Via Rail; at this time the mixed train service on the DAR to Windsor was cancelled. Passenger rail service in Truro as offered by Via Rail was relatively stable during the 1980s as the town enjoyed a moderate frequency of trains. This came to an abrupt halt on 15 January 1990 after massive budget cuts to Via Rail saw rail service from Truro to Sydney
Sydney, Nova Scotia
Sydney is a Canadian urban community in the province of Nova Scotia. It is situated on the east coast of Cape Breton Island and is administratively part of the Cape Breton Regional Municipality....
, as well as to Edmundston, New Brunswick annulled, leaving Truro with only the 6 day/week Ocean
Ocean (passenger train)
The Ocean is a Canadian passenger train operated by Via Rail between Montreal, Quebec and Halifax, Nova Scotia. It is currently the oldest continuously-operated named passenger train in North America. The Oceans schedule takes approximately 21 hours, running overnight in both directions...
service from Halifax to Montreal.
During the early 2000s, CN removed all of the yard trackage in the vicinity of the station with only a mainline to Moncton and a mainline to Sydney left in operation. The platforms at the station were reduced to the one on the Halifax-Moncton mainline. An anti-graffiti
Graffiti
Graffiti is the name for images or lettering scratched, scrawled, painted or marked in any manner on property....
plan by the town has seen large decorative murals painted on the trackside of the Truro Centre east and west of the station; most of the murals depict town history and local attractions centred on a railway theme.
In 2006 the Town of Truro commissioned a master plan which envisions extending Inglis Street south across the tracks to connect the central business district with Victoria Park
Victoria Park (Truro)
Victoria Park is a natural woodland urban park in the town of Truro, Nova Scotia.-Geography:Situated along a hill occupying the southern edge of the Salmon River valley near the town's southeastern boundary, the park is dominated by Lepper Brook, which joins the Salmon River downstream from the...
. This would require demolishing part of the Truro Centre, including the present post-1972 station, in order to create a railway crossing. The master plan also envisions building a new, more architecturally and aesthetically-pleasing railway station on the southeast side of this new intersection with the extended Inglis Street and Esplanade Street.