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WALKERVILLE – PERE MARQUETTE
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.
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GRAND TRUNK RAILROAD/CANADIAN NATIONAL
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.
- CANADIAN PACIFIC
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.
- MICHIGAN CENTRAL/NEW YORK CENTRAL
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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the c&o ran most of their trains into windsor in the early morning hours500am after CN bought the line because during the day CN was undertaking a massive tie replacement and usually had the line tied up with track gangs i used to work over on cental and i would cross the tracks at walkerville junction every morning near the end of temple drive every 2nd morning csx had their inbound train holding the main waiting for clearence to cross the CP/C&O diamond to continue north to the ETR for interchange work loads were usually lumber and tank cars of corn sweetners and grain for walkers distillery
Very interesting pictures and comments. I am very curious as to what train station existed in Windsor in 1864 and are there pictures of it. I am a member of an order of nuns in Windsor and in looking at the documents of our founding in 1864 it states that our fpur founding women arrived at the Windsor station on October 20th at 8 a.m. They were coming from Troy New York. I have been trying to find info and a picture of said station.
AS A CHILD I HAVE MANY MEMORIES OF OLDE WALKERVILLE AND THE TRAIN STATION AND REMEMBERED TALKING TO TRAVELERS ON THEIR JOURNEYS . ALSO TALKING TRAMPS WHO WERE DOWN ON THEIR LUCK. THEY WERE A DIFFERENT BREED FROM TODAY. I HAD A LITTLE GIRLFRIEND GAYNOR WHOM I SADLY MISS AND WISH I COULD SEE HERE AGAIN. YOUR FIRST FRIENDS ARE YOUR ONLY TRUE FRIENDS.
I remember arriving at Walkerville in 1966 and being shocked at the lack of a station platform and having to climb down steps to the ground. In the UK, there are always platforms that enable you to simply walk on and off the train.
The rail tunnel opened in July, 1910. From “Canada Southern Country” by Robert D. Tennant, Jr. (The Boston Mills Press). “The Detroit River Tunnel Company established its shops and yard on the Windsor side as part of Canada Southern’s redevelopment. In April 1906 the CSR had applied to the Board of Railway Commissioners for authority to expropriate lands in Windsor and vicinity in order to relocate and enlarge terminal facilities in connection with the tunnel project. The existing yards would be moved back 1.5 miles to the Wellington-Tecumseh Road area in order to accommodate the eastern approach to the tunnel”. This was the massive yard with roundhouse located east of Howard Ave. He goes on to say that this required the closure of Grand Marais Road.
He also states “… during 1911 Canada Southern built a new passenger station to serve the needs of the Michigan Central and the Canadian Pacific”. This more or less sealed the fate of the existing Canada Southern and Canadian Pacific stations located on the waterfront.
Ooops… I meant to say “massive yard with roundhouse west of Howard”.
Because I lived on Howard, I spent a lot of time putting pennies on the Powel Siding and down at the roundhouse. There were only a few houses and busineses south of Eugenie. The last building before the expressway, turned on an angle, is the last barracks for WWII troops being deployed. It sits at the road entrance to Zalev’s. I’d spend hours watching the trains on the turnstile and wished I had a trainset just like it. You could look through and see trains in various states of disassembly.