One Every Two and a Half Miles
a brief look at the railway stations on the Prince Edward Island Railway

(Part I)

by Allan Graham

The province of Prince Edward Island is noted for tackling each new project in an unique way, and the building of the snake-like narrow gauge railway, by the then-British colony, was no exception. In order to "save money" the government of the day decided to pay the contractors, Schreiber and Burpee, by the mile resulting in a serpentine countryside avoiding hills and brooks. As the route was being surveyed, the residents of each on-line community desired to be given a station suitable to their perceived importance, resulting in a maximum of 121 stations of various sizes and styles, or one every two and a half miles of track.

P.E.l. is a land of infinite variety .... seascapes, landscapes, urban areas, rural areas, tourist traps and empty beaches. The buildings constructed by the P.E.I.R., C.G.R. and C.N.R. continued this formula with well over twenty-five designs and many sub-types of these basic architectural patterns. They ranged from open-door structures the size of a good Eastern Canadian outhouse to the three-storey stone station in Charlottetown.

ln 1873, P.E.I. became part of Canada (partly because of the railway debt) and Thomas Swinyard was dispatched by the Federal Government to inspect the fledgling acquisition. His subsequent study entitled "Reports to the Hon., the Minister of Public Works by Thomas Swinyard on the Prince Edward Island Railway 1874-75" contains a great deal of information about the first railway stations here. We will begin with Swinyard's description of what he saw in his survey and follow some of these original 65 stations through the years.

Thomas Swinyard was not pleased with the stations he encountered for they did not follow the designs given to the contractors. In a letter he wrote Dec. 16, 1874 to the Hon. Lemuel C. Owen, Pres. of the Executive Council for P.E.I., Mr. Swinyard states:

The manner in which the Stations and the buildings are built varies so much from the original contracts that we deemed it our simple duty to ask explanations.

The contractors for their part claimed that the change in main line to include a downtown crossing of the town of Summerside (which originally was to be a branch line) meant they had to find extra money somewhere. Swinyard was amazed that residence rooms for the agent and his family were not included (as originally planned) for some of the stations were located miles from available houses. This problem had not been rectified as of Dec. 28, 1874 when the announcement of the impending official opening of the P.E.I. Railway on Jan. 4, 1875 was placed in the newspapers. In this ad we read:

Commencing on the same date, and until the necessary accommodations can be provided for the residence of station masters at the various stations along the line, Tickets will be issued by a Traveling Train Clerk, appointed for that purpose, who will also take orders at the different stations for cars, for freight in full carloads to be loaded and unloaded by consignor, and consignee, as the case may be. Freight in small quantities will be taken up and put down at Platforms as the Train arrives.

Second Charlottetown Station opened July 7, 1907. (Photo by Margaret E. Mallett)

But, as we all know, the railway never really had to institute this scheme for Jan. 4, 1875 the Examiner reported:

The opening of our railway is, owing to the succession of heavy snowstorms which have visited the Island, "postponed until further notice".

The trains had indeed been sent out but each in its turn had become stuck in banks ranging from four feet to eighteen feet in height. These trains were abandoned where they were until spring. It was May 12, 1875 before service was restored right across P.E.l.

Not everyone on P.E.I. considered Thomas Swinyard to be the "saviour" of the railway as this article in the Examiner of Feb. 28, 1876 states so bluntly:

The Commission - of which 'Tho. Swinyard Esq.' was Commissioner - was ordered in ignorance, and continued in stupidity. It engendered much bitterness and rancour, annoyed the Local Government, irritated Mr. Owen, made Mr. Boyd ill, caused very heavy losses to Messrs. Carvell, Pope and other leading merchants, unnecessarily damaged the character of the railway, did no good whatever - and cost the country $12,555.24. Mr. Swinyard, it appears, valued his services at a much higher rate than Governors and Judges are paid...

Of the sixty-five stations built by 1874, Swinyard categorized six as "terminal", twelve as "way or crossing", and forty-seven as "flag" stations.

First Georgetown Railway Station, Engine Shed and Freight Shed showing a wood-burning engine leaving the station in 1875, the first year the P.E.I. Railway was in full operation. (Bea Mair Collection)

First Georgetown Engine Shed and Freight Shed on July 1, 1905, with the St. James Tea in the foreground. (Bea Mair Collection).

Postcard showing the second Georgetown station. Date unknown.

A. THE TERMlNAL STATIONS

Map of P.E.I. showing the Terminal Stations in 1874.

All of the island stations were at one time constructed of wood, including the terminal ones which had covered platforms. This created a great fire hazard as well as problems with fumes every time an engine passed through the engine shed. Let's look at each of these six “terminal" stations beginning with Charlottetown.

The second Charlottetown Station was built on Weymouth Street a few feet away from the original. This beautiful structure 118 by 43 feet with walls of Island sandstone, trimmed with Wallace, N.S., grey sandstone certainly compensated the good people of the city for the failing of their first smoke-filled edifice. included in the new one were a general waiting room, ticket office, newsstand, a men's waiting room and a ladies' waiting room on the first floor. The offices for the superintendent, assistant superintendent, roadmaster and other officials were located on the second floor. The third floor was used for union meetings and storage. Four tracks ran into it from the east. This beautiful building which opened for use on July 7, 1907 was constructed to last, resting as it does on a concrete and stone foundation with floors of expanded metal and concrete supported on steel beams. The first train out of this new facility was a funeral train to Sherwood. The station in this suburban community was originally called "Cemetery" for it was located next to an enormous graveyard and special trains were always dispatched from Charlottetown to take the mourners and the deceased to this way stop. The train would be turned at Royalty Junction and then return to carry the funeral party back to the city.

This photo by Anson Leard is thought to show the covered platform of the
first Alberton station. Note the ventilator on the roof for the entire train
went right through this structure. (P.E.I Archives Collection).

VIA used the general waiting room in the second Charlottetown station for its chartered bus service to Moncton until 1983 when it moved to the former Batt and MacRae building on the corner of Upper Queen and Euston Streets where it shares a depot with Island Transit, a provincial government bus service. C.N. moved in the Fall of 1983 to new quarters at 281 University Avenue. If approval is received from the Canadian Transport Commission the historic station on Weymouth Street will be sold to the Charlottetown Area Development Corporation (C.A.D.C.). On Saturday, June 2, 1984 a Farmers' Market opened in this beautifully-appointed structure.

Newspaper advertisement proclaiming the opening 
of the farmers' market in Charlottetown station.

The other five "terminal" stations -- Tignish, Alberton, Summerside, Georgetown and Souris - according to Swinyard's report, had passenger stations 20 by 32 feet with covered track and platform 136 feet long. Swinyard did not regard it necessary to have covered stations in these communities, one concern being that such stations could accommodate only one train at a time. The original contract had called for these "terminal" stations to be 30 by 50 feet storey and a half structures with dwelling rooms, urinals and closets and a verandah on both sides.

These first "terminal" stations were really three buildings side by side - a station, an engine shed and a freight shed. We are indeed lucky that a picture of the Georgetown Station complex exists, one of a wood-burning engine leaving the town in 1875, Although the smoke from the engine hides some of the enormity of those early stations. Note the long ventilator on the engine shed so that when the engine passed through these covered platforms the fumes theoretically escaped into the air. The second picture shows the engine shed and freight shed on July 1, 1905, with crowds at the St. James Tea in the foreground. By 1905 the new wharf-side station had been constructed - in fact it may have been in use as early as 1902. The well-known and respected Charlottetown architect, C.R. Chappell designed a grand edifice on one of the most beautiful station sites in Canada. At the head of the railway wharf and overlooking the harbour entrance, a new station was erected topped with an octagonal tower. In the waiting room the upper third of each window was leaded yellow stained glass. The interior walls were sheathed in white oak. This structure costing around $6200. was unique in P.E.l. in design and beauty but was unceremoniously destroyed to make room for the Georgetown Seafood Plant. Where else in Canada could an agent watch the approach of a steamship bearing passengers and mail for the waiting train. Steamers such as the "Earl Grey", "Stanley" and "Minto” plied the Northumberland Strait between Pictou, N.S., and Georgetown, P.E.I., during the winter months. Since this was, therefore, the first Island railway station encountered by visitors, including royalty, a special effort was made to design and build an architecturally-pleasing structure.

In 1952 a third station was built in the center of Georgetown near where the first station had been. This small, unassuming shelter provided merely storage and protection from the elements. It was an insult to the people of Georgetown who had enjoyed such great accommodation since 1902.

The third "terminal" station we will look at is Tignish. As far as we know the original covered Tignish station was replaced around 1893 by a two-storey structure which included a dwelling for the agent. One of the photos we have of this beautiful structure shows a narrow gauge train preparing to head east from Tignish. The second photo shows the station with a small building located to the east of it. When the station burned in 1949 this small storage shed became an interim station until the third depot was constructed. The third Tignish station was a one-storey structure similar in some ways to several across the Island. It is still in use as lodging for the crew of the three-time-a-week freight train from Borden and Summerside.

Alberton (then called Cascumpeque) was to be the northern terminus for the main line of the Prince Edward Island Railway so it received a covered station as well. The line went right through the station and down to the railway wharf in Northport. The original covered station, similar to Georgetown's was used from 1875 to 1905 when a beautiful boulder station was erected, one of two such structures on P.E.I. (see the article on P.E.I.'s Boulder Stations in Canadian Rail issue 332). The first station was torn down. After C.N. no longer needed the stone station it was purchased by the Town of Alberton. It is a busy spot every summer with P.E.I. Government tourist bureau in the agent's office and one waiting room and a Handcraft Guild Sales Outlet in the other waiting room.

Alberton Depot, Alberton, P.E. Island.

Postcard showing the second Alberton station built of boulders in 1905. Note 
the water tower at the wye. (Copied by Margaret E. Mallett from an original 
in the collection of P.E.I. Museum and Heritage Foundation).

The fifth "terminal" station mentioned by Thomas Swinyard was Summerside. The original railway survey called for Summerside to be on a branch line with the main line going straight from Traveler's Rest to St. Eleanor's. The will of the people was eventually heard, however, as the Patriot of Sept. 7, 1872 explains:

We are pleased to find that the Government have decided to change the location of the station at Summerside. The station is to be at the head of the Railway Wharf in that Town. This is where it should have been located at first, and where it would have been located if the late Government had not preferred the interests of a ring of land speculators to those of the inhabitants of Summerside and of the surrounding districts.

As far as we know, no picture exists of the first Summerside station, located almost a mile from the wharf. In fact, it is not known for sure that this first station building was completed before the political accusations began to fly over its location. A location near the railway wharf made much more sense for summer ferries ran between Pointe du Chene, N.B., and Summerside, P.E.I., for many years. Visitors arrived on the wharf at Summerside from all over the world and the only regular transportation available was the railway.

Consequently before 1878 a beautiful two and a half storey structure was erected at the head of the Railway Wharf. This magnificent structure served the public well until April 1927 when it was moved across the tracks where it was used for commercial purposes until it was destroyed by fire. 

In January 1927, tentative plans for a new Summerside station were displayed at the hardware department of the biggest store in Summerside, R.T. Holman Ltd. The new depot must have been constructed between January and April of that year for the old station was considered surplus in April. This third station continues to be used by both VIA (for its chartered bus service to Moncton) and CN (for its crew on the Borden to Summerside and Tignish trains, and the roadmaster's office).

The sixth of the "terminal" stations mentioned by Swinyard was Souris. This eastern terminus originally consisted of an engine shed, station and freight shed on the sand dune, crossing Colville Bay. The main highway now follows this sand pit between Souris West and the Town of Souris. Having a station on a sand dune, barely above sea level, posed loads of new problems as these two newspaper clippings illustrate. The first quote is from the Daily Examiner of Sept. 25, 1877:

The storm of the 22nd. was felt very much here (Souris). The tide rose to a greater height than was known for years... Part of the Railway leading to the harbor freight house was carried off a distance of twenty yards from its former location. The Station House presented a sad spectacle. Would that some of the great ones had seen it that day, and its speedy removal would surely follow... Some sticks of timber were put on the railroad at the turn-table, by the tide.

Our second quote concerning this railway station on the sand bar is from Daily Examiner of Nov. 8, 1877:

The road across Souris Beach is now everything but good... A few days ago a party of four- in two wagons- were coming home when the tide was high, and it was blowing hard. They missed their way. The drivers were obliged to get out into the water and lead their horses to the Railway Station on the south side of the beach...

Prior to 1895 a two-storey mansard-roofed structure was constructed in the town of Souris. This station contained living quarters and was similar to the second-Souris stations in O'Leary and Kensington. In 1971 this second Souris station was destroyed by an arsonist shortly after Margaret Mallett had taken the picture below. CN had previously moved the agent into one end of the old freight shed. The first photo shows the Souris station in 1895 with a narrow gauge train in front.

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©1999, Allan Graham, all rights reserved.