Back when Walkerville was a self contained community, this view show how well this little town was connected to the outside world.
Streetcar tracks are visible in the road. The Train station is just past the bank, and at the end of the road the Ferry to Detroit.
It’s funny sad how backwards we’ve gone. On the bright side, the Albert Kahn designed bank is still standing and still in use…
Amazing how much this area has changed over the years. Everything in this shot is gone except for the bank. The silos at Hiram Walker have since been erected as well as the Walker Power building. The Peabody building has also came and gone since this picture was taken.
Here is the modern day version of this photo showing the A.H. Kahn designed bank, Walker Power building and then finally the Hiram Walker silos along the river: http://goo.gl/maps/tH3Jd
As Andrew said, it’s sad how backwards Windsor has gone…..this little town was better connected to the outside world than modern Windsor is
What was behind the train station, the building you can just see a little?
At least it’s still a bank, and not a bar like the one in downtown Windsor, ingeniously titled “The Bank”.
Shawn, I think that was a part of the train station for baggage and such (if you mean the far left of the picture). If it is the little grey building, I believe that is where the crossing guard for teh train tracks stayed before they were automated.
Ahh very good. Thank you… yes I meant to the left of the picture. Looks like a significant size building.
All empty field now…
When did the station leave us?
It would have been nice to relocate the new station here… We certainly missed an opportunity to locate the new station in the best possible site.. Now we’re left with a quonset hut station located behind hiram walker. I can only imagine people coming off the train in the heart of walkerville, surrounded by cafes, pubs, and other businesses… although I love the hiram walker buildings, I think locating such an important civic building in the heart of walkerville would have made a better impression of windsor to folks coming off the train.
AS stated before on this site VIA Rail did on the cheap, they owned land, did not have to reconfigure the tracks, also the location of the the old Walkerville maybe is not available, the lease holder is the sucssesors of Pere Marquett Railroad.
We should be thankful that they even built a new station, since they are cutting service.
Dave, I believe the station came down in the early 50’s. I think 1953.
windsorshane, you said it!
Dave Aaron is correct the remaining part of the station that survived into the C&O days burned in the late 7o’s or 80’s they have alot of old photos of the station when it was being demo’d on a site called Digitale Archives of Ontario
i think the city approached the VIA big shots and said heh!! we have a blue print for the bus terminal i think the new train station would look good with the same design LOL
not to get off subject but they talked about the Sandwich post office on the news last nite apparently the upper 2 storys are in pretty bad shape i wouldn’t be surprised if the building comes down if the city lets this happen the mayor and council should be hung in city hall sqaure nice old photo Aaron
gary hahaha, I doubt they would succeed in a hanging especially since the gallows would be made entirely of stucco..
Ya your probably right Jim heheheh!
C&O / PM / LEDR station came down in 1957.
The baggage & express building (noted above) burned in the late 90’s, another mysterious arson. The second floor was the Lake Erie Navigation Company’s offices, which shipped goods on the Alexander Leslie – mostly coal – out of Erieau. After they closed, papers and the office itself was something of a time capsule. The door still had the original turn of the century lettering on it. Some documents made it out, and while the door almost did – as well as a few other things courtesy of a history minded railroad employee – they never did and it all went up in smoke.
VIA built the new depot on the cheap, however the consultation with the city and citizens about it was absolutely minimal. I’m sure some kind of arrangement could’ve been worked out. In St Thomas they are currently finishing building a permanent, slightly smaller replica of the London & Port Stanley depot on the original site. Perhaps it would’ve been a good idea to a similar replica on the same site of the above station to be used as a station, cafe and / or museum/archives. If St. Thomas can do it for a tourist line, surely Windsor could figure out how to bring back some of it’s own history. In theory, anyways.
The LPS is part of CN rail, not VIA, if CN is builing a replica station in ST. Thomas, who is the mover behind getting it done?
L&PS is CN north of St Thomas, south it is Port Stanley Terminal Rail.
Movers are the city, Elgin County and the PSTR. Currently they’re finishing relaying the rail that CN (illegally) removed back to the site of the original station by Talbot St. Future construction in the coming years will include relaying rail to the old CN-Wabash line to reconnect the PSTR with the outside world again – and potentially back to London one day, who knows.
A great project in which Elgin County and St Thomas are correcting a mistake of architectural heritage they lost. Windsor should take note.
VIA had a budget, but I’m sure would’ve been keen on working with Windsor if they could pick up part of the tab of the construction to build something a little more significant, Windsor-specific and impressive for visitors. Wouldn’t it have been nice to get dropped off at a replica historic depot, fix a near 60 year old blight of an empty lot and arrive at the Joseph Chimczuk Museum & Heritage Archives all in one shot? Sounds good to me, but woulda / coulda / shoulda / nobody thinks ahead so we never even attempted to do anything like that. Again – Windsor should look at what is happening in St Thomas right and take some serious notes. Their project and various extremely well run museums (ECRM, Hall Of Fame / CASO station, Elgin County Archives, Elgin County Museum, etc) are a terrific example of how that sort of thing can work with the right commitment.
Btw – the only reason why the station came down in 1957 is C&O didn’t want to pay taxes any longer. An incredible shame that it was allowed at the time – again, no foresight – and that some kind of deal couldn’t have been worked out to adjust the taxes or take over or protect the building somehow / someway. A major piece of Hiram Walker history and one of the earlier examples of Windsor’s big mistakes. That spot has been an empty lot almost as long as it was a majestic railroad station now, and that’s an absolute shame.
Interesting to note though that the station in Walkerville still kind of sort of survives in Kingsville, in a way. The Kingsville station was the luxurious end point for the Mettewas Hotel, the beaches, etc. So the station was designed to be a visual match with the Walkerville station. Kingsville station’s features closely resemble the Walkerville station’s designs, just condensed (and obviously no tower). But compare the construction and design between the two and you’ll see what I mean. It was as though they used the same blueprints, just cut out most of the expansive elements.
Photos of the Walkerville station’s demolition – through various stages – are all available online at the University’s archive project page.
I just found out the train station burn in 94