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

by Allan Graham

(PART III)

C. FLAG STATIONS

In addition to the original six terminal stations and twelve way stations there were also forty-seven flag stations according to Thomas Swinyard's 1874 survey. These flag stations originally consisted of a 100-foot platform and an open-arch shed to shelter passengers. We have found only one postcard photo of this early flag station design- Traveller's Rest near Summerside.

Over the years many other designs were used for these flag stops, all being variants of two styles. Style one looked like a good-sized woodshed and contained a small waiting room with a bench attached to the wall all around and small freight shed. Our photo shows Colville Station but others of this type (or variant thereof) were DeBlois, Alma, Howlan, New Annan, Clyde, Loyalist, Pisquid, Millview, Glencoe, Surrey, Hopefield, Wilmot, Bunbury, Roseneath, Robertson and Munn's Road.

Postcard showing the first Traveller's Rest station. (Joyce Johnston Collection)

A more elaborate and aesthetically-pleasing style of flag station is illustrated by our photo of Harper's Station, near Tignish. These structures were small hip-roofed buildings with double doors on the freight shed. The exterior was either all clapboard or half clapboard, half shingled. Some had no window in the waiting room but instead had glass in the upper half of the waiting room door. Standard equipment in the small waiting room was a beehive stove. Other stations similar to Harper's (or a variant thereof) were Douglas, Duvar, the second Traveller's Rest, Union, Suffolk, St. Andrew's, Dingwell, New Zealand, Augustus, Auburn, the second station at Five Houses, Clarkin and Watervale. It is assumed that most of these communities had a flag stop similar to the first Traveller's Rest one with its open archway before they received one of the more commodious Harper's style buildings.

D. MEDIUM-SIZED STATIONS

As some of the communities along the Prince Edward Island Railway line began to grow and enlarge the need was felt for better accommodations. Several of these had flag stations like the ones discussed above but the amount of traffic warranted a building with more freight storage and more passenger space. In some cases agents were even necessary. None of these communities had a large station when Swinyard did his survey.

Most of these medium-sized stations had a large roof with an overhang over the track-side platform. In some cases a high freight platform brought the wide eave dangerously close to the head of the freight attendants so a portion of the overhanging roof was raised in a V-shaped.

Colville station, now used as a farm storage building. (Margaret E. Mallett photo)

We have photos of three of these medium-sized stations with large overhanging roofs- West Devon, Conway and Piusville. Other similar stations (varying in size) were located at St. Louis, Kinkora, Albany, Portage, McNeill's Mills, Elmsdale, North-am, St. Nicholas, Fredericton, Perth, Selkirk, St. Theresa's, Tracadie and Bear River. Kinkora, Albany and Bear River had agents and a bay window was added to accommodate him. Northam and Selkirk had raised roofs over the freight shed door. Portage, McNeill's Mills and Selkirk stations are now houses and Northam, St. Nicholas and Perth are used as farm buildings. Conway is now a storage building at a crushed gravel plant in O'Leary. St. Louis was torn down.

Bedford had a station that combined several of the characteristics of the types already mentioned. On the track-side was a large overhang supported by plain brackets. The building just missed having a gable roof because of the tiny hip at each end. Bedford station's only appeal to the aesthetic was the ornamental fringe along the eaves. After C.N. no longer needed Bedford station, it was cut in half and one half turned into Walmsley's Auto Repair Shop.

Douglas station 1971, used then as a storage shed at a 
private home. (Margaret E. Mallett photo).

West Devon station 1971. (photo by Margaret E. Mallett).

Bedford station 1971. (Margaret E. Mallett photo).

Bloomfield station, (Keith Pratt Collection).

York station 1971, hauled back from track and used 
to store hay. (Margaret E. Mallett photo).

The Bloomfield Station had the same fringe on the edge of the roof as Bedford but it lacked the hips at the ends. In many ways it also resembled the original way stations mentioned earlier.

The station at York was a very plain building with a wide overhang on the track-side. It was unique in that it contained living quarters in the back for a caretaker and his family. Besides the ample freight shed at one end and the waiting room at the other, there were, in the middle, two bedrooms and a large living room where the ticket office was located. A lean-to kitchen was built on the back and the long attic could be used for sleeping quarters. Supplied to the caretaker were coal, brooms and soap. The York station was moved back from the track in 1964 and used to store hay.

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©1999, Allan Graham, all rights reserved.