Canada Southern Station, St. Thomas, Ontario, August 1, 1956
Photo from the Keith Sirman Collection
See www.canadasouthern.com/caso/photo.htm
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Built between 1871 and 1873, the Canada Southern Station reflected the historic position of St.Thomas as a major railway centre. The City of St.Thomas was able to secure the station building by providing the Canada Southern Railroad with a bonus of $25,000. The Station has gone through many ownerships; CSR, MCR, NYC Penn Central, Conrail, CNKP. The Canada Southern Station was built to be the national headquarters for the CSR, as well as a passenger station. The style is Italianate. There are no other stations in Ontario built in this style.
Construction required 400,000 buff white bricks, which were then painted red in its years as a New York Central facility. The building is 354 feet long, 36 feet wide and 2 storeys high. The sheer size of the building was meant to astonish and captivate visitors. There are a total of 44 bays in the building, each containing a round arched window encased in a brick moulding. There was also a grand canopy that encircled the building (shown in the photo below) that was taken down in 1969 when passenger traffic ended. The original eight chimneys were removed in 1962 when the heating system was changed to large boilers.
The Station represented the vision that St.Thomas could be the "Railway Capital of Canada". The success of the Canada Southern route, billed as the shortest and most direct between Detroit and Buffalo, led to it being owned by American interests for more than 100 years. As the former headquarters building and only known original station of the Canada Southern Railway, the St.Thomas station serves as reminder of the intense competition amongst regional rail lines in the 19th century and of the influence of foreign capital in railway construction and profitability.
Read more about The Canada Southern Station
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Facilities and Structures