The Railway Station

The Railway Station. . The Prince Edward Island Railway was established in 1871. By 1874 there were 70 stations across the Island, including an open-ended "Terminal" Station about a mile north of the Summerside harbour. A track ran down to the waterfront where the railcars met ships to load and unload freight passengers. By 1878 this spur was replaced with a loop through town and a new 3-storey Station was built., Being close to the water the Station became polluted with refuse washed underneath by high tides, forcing the railway authorities in 1891 to move it to a site closer to Water Street. In 1907 a 216-foot long brick freight shed was built replacing the previous one that was destroyed in the "Great Fire of 1906.", The PEI Railway was absorbed into the Canadian National Railway system in 1919 and Summerside continued to be a busy terminal. There were numerous "close-calls" for vehicles and pedestrians at the two crossings on Water Street. In 1927 a new station was constructed and the old 3-gabled station building was hauled south of the tracks where it served as a canning factory for many years. The last train passed through town in 1989. All that remains of the railway now is the 1927 station (Rotary Regional Library) and the original railway bed, which has been transformed into a section of the Confederation Trail., (photo captions) , . Summerside station in 2004 [City of Summerside Collection] , . Railway yard, Summerside Waterfront, c. 1938 [MHCA (G. Gallant Collection)] , . Two wharf buddies pose on Holman’s Wharf, c. 1935. Not the old three gabled station in the distance. [MHCA (Daley) Collection] , . The second Summerside station , [MHCA (SHS) Collection] , • A postcard of the second Summerside station in 1907. [Joyce Johnston Collection] Published in “A Photo History of the Prince Edward Island Railway” by Allan Graham