Canada Southern Railway Station: Background

Local Rail Connections

Hall of Fame Inductions

© 2008 All content-unless otherwise noted: North America Railway Hall of Fame, P.O. Box 20040 St.Thomas, Ontario N5P 4H4
Phone: 519-633-2535 Fax: 519-633-3087 Donation Hotline: 519-633-3934

"The former Canada Southern Railway station in St. Thomas, Ontario ... was built by American railway promoters between 1871 and 1873 to serve both as the local station and as the headquarters of the company. As such, this large and impressive Italianate-style structure served as the symbol of the railway. After 1878 this regional rail line was controlled by the New York Central Railroad and, from 1883 until 1930, under the aegis of one of its subsidiaries, the Michigan Central Railway. Subsequently, the lease was transferred back to the New York Central until 1968 at which time the line was amalgamated into the Penn Central which went bankrupt in 1976. The company was reorganized as Conrail, which owned it until 1983 when it was purchased jointly by the Canadian Pacific Railway and Canadian National Railways. The St. Thomas station functioned throughout most of this period as the company's administrative headquarters and the location of its main shops and yards..."

"... Following years of local agitation the Legislature of Upper Canada passed an act to establish the County of Elgin in August of 1851. St. Thomas, in its role as county town, became the site of the county buildings, a courthouse and a jail. Throughout these years St. Thomas served as the distribution centre for the area, but when the Great Western Railway was built through London joining it to Niagara Falls and Windsor in 1854, and ultimately to Toronto in 1855, this was a blow to the village. Despite many years of efforts on the part of townspeople to facilitate the construction of a railway through their town St. Thomas had been spurned by railway companies. Desperate to be served by a rail link to potential markets, St. Thomas supported, and provided substantial sums towards, the construction of the London and Port Stanley Railway which opened in 1856. The effect was the complete opposite of that which had been hoped for, however, as merchants and businessmen lost customers to larger stores and firms in nearby London.

After years of economic stagnation which saw an actual decline in population, St. Thomas energetically boosted the establishment of the Canada Southern Railway. In 1870 St. Thomas voted a bonus of $25,000 to the railway to ensure that it establish its headquarters in the town. London, which at least partially owed its economic prosperity to its location on the Great Western Railway and its role as terminal point of the London and Port Stanley Railway, worked to deter the construction of the Canada Southern. The Great Western offered to build a branch line to St. Thomas and, when the Canada Southern commenced construction, the GWR proceeded with this scheme in an effort to protect its business. After years of endeavours to gain a rail line St. Thomas got two lines. This led to a race to complete the tracks, won by Great Western which opened its route to St. Thomas in February 1872. The Canada Southern opened its eastern section on 1 August 1872, the first train from Amherstburg reaching St. Thomas in December 1872. ..."

Architecture

Aesthetic and Visual Qualities

Functional and
Technological Qualities

Representative Qualities

Station Timeline

Excerpts from: Railway Station Report, Former Canada Southern Railway Station, St. Thomas
By Robert Hunter, Architectural History Branch, Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada (undated copy - 1989 ?)
Unless noted otherwise, photos were taken February 10, 2002 - DM