![]() ![]() ![]() The Northern Railway of Canada then moved its rail shed to a point below the embankment opposite what is now Spadina Avenue.The first passenger train departure in Upper Canada originated from a wooden shed opposite the Queen’s Hotel on Front Street on May 16, 1853.The trainsheds were demolished in 19, and the station was torn down in 1931, four years after the present facility was officially opened. By 1911, the station handled some 40,000 passengers on more than 130 trains daily. Its tall silhouette was a noted feature of the turn-of-the-century Toronto skyline.Įven though this station almost doubled the previous station in size, demands for an even larger station came soon after the completion. In its time, the previous Union Station was considered to be one of the most modern and handsome stations on the continent. The station was modelled on the Illinois Central Station in Chicago and had three domed towers, one containing a clock. Hannaford, Chief Engineer of the Grand Trunk Railway. The front of the old station was completed in 1895 and contained ticket offices, waiting rooms and railway offices. Track-level view of the 1872 version of Union Stationīefore the current structure, an earlier Union Station was built in 1872 on Front Street between York and Simcoe Streets. Later that week, on August 11, the Station received and dispatched its first passenger trains. During this 11-minute ceremony, the Prince of Wales was also presented with a gold key that unlocked the station. The ticket was to Alberta and cost $71.20 which today would be approximately $1184.49. Howard Ferguson and numerous other members of the Ontario and Canadian governments.Īfter cutting the ribbon, the Prince of Wales was escorted to the ticket counters where he was issued the first ticket ever sold at Union Station. The welcoming party included Ontario Lieutenant Governor William Donald Ross and Mrs. ![]() Baldwin, and Canadian Prime Minister William Lyon Mackenzie King. The Prince of Wales was accompanied by his brother and sister-in-law, the Duke and Duchess of York (shown in foreground of photo), British Prime Minister Stanley Baldwin and Mrs. In front of a large crowd on August 6, 1927, His Royal Highness, Edward, the Prince of Wales, cut the ribbon that opened Union Station with a pair of gold scissors. Prince of Wales, 1927 Prince of Wales opening Union Station in 1927 You build your stations like we build our cathedrals. Each of the 22 Bedford limestone columns weighs 75 tons is 40 feet high. The exterior walls of the station are Indiana and Queenston limestone. The interior walls are of Zumbro stone from Missouri the floors are Tennessee marble, laid in a herringbone pattern. The list alternates from side to side, naming the cities from east to west. Mid-way up the north and south walls are carved the names of the cities that were then serviced by the CPR and the Canadian National Railways (CNR), the government-owned railway that replaced the Grand Trunk. The shape of the ceiling is echoed in the four-storey, barrel-vaulted windows on the east and west walls. Construction began in 1913 but was delayed for several years because of the First World War. It was built by Canadian Pacific Railway and Grand Trunk Railway at a time when a railway station was viewed as the gateway to a city, Union Station was the largest and most opulent train station erected in Canada during the last great phase in railway station construction. ![]() MacDonald, Hugh Jones of the CPR and John M. Union Station was designed in the grand manner of the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris by a team of architects composed of the Montreal firm of G.A. Construction of the facade of Union Station ![]()
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