The station above was on Devonshire Road in Walkerville. The station was designed by Detroit Architects Mason & Rice, in 1890. The station was demolished in 1957.
Here’s the site of the station today.
Today Via services are run out of the new Walkerville station, with talk of replacing this station with a new one.
The CN station was located on the waterfront at the foot of Goyeau in Windsor. It was built in 1884 and closed in 1961. It was demolished shortly after.
The photo above and below appeared in the Michael Gladstone White book “A Moment in time”, however as usual there is no credit given for the source of the images. The one below however ran in the Windsor Star December 30, 1952.
The Star at the time was calling for the end of this station, and the story alongside the photos read as follows:
The traveler who comes by train has already passed through London, and he undoubtedly remembers the station he saw there. The stations he sees reflect the life – or lack of it – of the communities he passes. This picture shows the Windsor waiting room. It has wooden floors, its door frames are old and scarred. In another day the glow from the old coal stove may have been a delight to the traveler, but in these times it looks incongruous. The same arrival may make the mistake of walking up the plank stair, and into one of Windsor’s toughest sections. If he finds his way to Ouellette, he finds no expansive view of the river, but in its place a barricade of old buildings. Windsor needs badly a new C.N.R. station, but it needs just a much a program to rejuvenate this vital area.
This station was located along the riverfront, built into the embankment for the bridge on Riverside Drive that crosses the rail cut.
The station was built in 1890 and designed by Edward Colonna, who was for a while the architect for the Canadian Pacific railroad, designing stations from coast to coast.
The station was located at the green arrow. Traces of the station can still be seen in the embankment, an old door and window, are visible in the brick wall.
This photo above is the first one I’ve ever seen of the original Michigan Central Station. This photo also appeared in the Michael Gladstone White book “A Moment in time”, without a source. He claimed in the book it was taken in 1907. He notes this station was located on the riverfront between Elm and Cameron. It must have been replaced shortly after as the new station opened in 1911.
The 1911 station has been covered here recently in full detail. It was torched by an arsonist in 1996.
More info on this station can be found on this post.
Please add what you know below…
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Very interesting pics! I recall the complaints when CN shut down the station at the foot of Goyeau and starting using their new Walkerville (now VIA) location as being in an "inconvenient" location and too far from downtown. The taxis however, made good $$$ moving passengers to/from downtown. But the Crosstown bus was just a short walk away. Would that the VIA station was at the Goyeau location now -- nestled among the bars and parking lots :-). However, a track meandering along the beautiful waterfront park would be too disruptive for the picnicers and pigeons, I guess.
About the first great picture, wasn't that the origin of Hiram Walker's railway? I think it was called the Lake Erie & Detroit River railway 'til he sold to Pere Marquette...
Wonderful job on this site, Andrew; keep up the great work.
Maybe its time to stop calling the Via station in Walkerville new it was supposed to be a temporary fix by C N. If we leave it to long it could be one of Windsors heritage buildings.
If they ever get high speed rail on Via, it will probably go thru Sarnia, Durand Mi. to Chicago. Amtrack is building a new station in Troy Mi. bet the Chicago train goes north to Durand, then Chicago.
re:Amy Sisson - I know the building you're speaking of . Check it out at http://www.canadasouthern.com/caso/images/windsor-boardinghouse.jpg
nice post Andrew!
Andrew, that boarding house Amy is talking about is the same one i sent you pic of last year. we figured out it's now below the crest of the westbound howard ramp.
i've never seen that original MCR station either....i wonder when it was built
Aaron, I'm going to guess the old MCRR station was maybe 1870-1880?
thanks Andrew.....i'm surprised MGW didn't take credit for building it.
Did Michael Gladstone White kill your puppy or something?
I`m not sure but the top photo was`t that station destroyed by a fire in the nities.
no...he just has a habit of not giving credit where credit is due. sorry if you're offended Aidan. but if knew who did, he wouldn't tell me who it was.
Aidan, no. I just hate when credit isn't given. I know for a fact that he doesn't own the rights to the majority of the photos in his books, and that he can even credit the sources of the photos isn't cool.
At least 80% if not more came from the Archives and Museum, and he passed them off (in my opinion) as his own.