At villages and whistestops across northern B.C., the little stations of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway once provided a connection with the outside world. I had believed there was just one left--the Kwinitsa Station that was moved about 70 km. west and restored to provide a museum building on the Prince Rupert waterfront (ironically, not far from the main GTPR station). Then, one day in the winter of 1998 when I was in Kitwanga looking at totem poles and old churches (as part of my Canada book travelling), I came across this station, towed away a little distance from the railway tracks onto a bare patch of ground along the road, roughly boarded up and scrawled over with graffiti. It burned down in 2003--when I went through Kitwanga in June, there was still a pile of burned boards and metal on the ground across the road from St. Paul's Church. I subsequently discovered that an identical station at Dunster, southeast of McBride, still exists in good condition--the community has restored it very close to the tracks--so it qualifies as the least-altered of all the small GTPR stations in BC

This is a Type 'E' station; according to Hal Kalman's "History of Canadian Architecture," vol. 2 page 483, more than two-thirds of the Grand Trunk Pacific's stations were built to this plan. "Almost all were placed on the north side of the track with the waiting-room end towards the east (probably so that the uninsulated buildings could take advantage of the morning sun)." On the prairies, Kalman writes, the GTP laid out all its towns on a uniform plan, like the CPR and the Canadian Northern railways before it.

There is one other station I know of, slightly larger than these ones, at Fort Fraser, now moved and renovated, with stucco siding and new windows in new positions, as the Last Spike Pub.

[Note from Robert McDonald, Port Townsend, 2008: I got a copy of CN Western Stations (2002), and was irked to learn there officially no such thing as a "Type E station."  Had to go back and change my photo options.  Neither the GTP nor the CNR sanctioned that designation.  The correct designation is Plan 100-152.  There were eight Plan 100-152 stations on the Smithers Division, Skeena Subdivision.

Update, 2008: Just a note to say "Hello!" and let you know there is an update to my CN stations blog entries.

www.oil-electric.com/2008/09/type-e-mythology.html]

Note from Robert McDonald: You have a wonderfully interesting web site filling in the nooks and crannies that historians overlook in their broad brush ramblings. My family lived in PR from 1957 to 1959. Being an avid railroad fan, I got to the point of frequently riding locomotives on the Skeena Subdivision.My last ride was in November of 1959, on the passenger train. We made a stop at Amsbury. All 14 stations on the Skeena Sub were identical, and did reside on the north side of the track, except Tyee. Grand Trunk applied to BC Government for water rights for their steam engines. Amsbury was identified on Water Rights file 0127384, 13 May 1937; name confirmed 4 October 1951 on 103 I. The Grand Trunk Pacific, later CNR, obtained their water from this creek, which is at the Amsbury Station. How sad to see of their demise, burned in 1963. Progress. Hope you enjoy the photo.

Photo taken looking east at CNR Station - Tyee, Mile Post 92.8. August 7, 1957.  Highway 16 is just to the left off frame.  I believe the nearby Ecstall River was the source for the water tank – Robert McDonald.

Note from Judy Tidball, 2009: Our little family moved from Blue River to Kwinitsa in 1974 when our daughter was three years old. We lived there till she was in Grade 3. We have many happy memories from Kwinitsa, and met a lot of great people. One couple that we met, who lived in Prince Rupert at the time, ended up being the last residents of Kwinitsa. The family who looked after the station prior to us moved to Penny BC (in between McBride and Prince George)

The CN made a lot of improvements in the old building while we were there, put in propane lanterns and even a propane fridge, and the B&B (bridges and buildings) crew was out doing maintenance often. We didn't miss having electricity or running water, and sure didn't miss the crowds or traffic of the city. Our neighbours in the winter were the patrolmen who drove in front of the trains to make sure there were no snowslides. This was a real danger in the winter due to the snow/rain cycle of the weather in that area, and also because of the close proximity of mountain/railway/highway/river. The remainder of the year, our closest neighbour was five miles away at Telegraph Point.

My former name is Judy McInnis, and I was the wife of Ray McInnis, telegraph operator for Kwinitsa railway station. My personal email address is jtlabradors@gmail.com.

Note from John Rinaldi: When we came to Canada in 1952 ( I was five years old) we lived in that Kwinitsa station for a few days while my dad ( Richard Rinaldi ) was making arrangements to transfer to Telegraph Point, just a few miles from Kwinitsa. My dad worked for the CN for 35 years and for seven years of that we lived in Dunster, B.C. (about 25 miles east of McBride). I have fond memories of living in that Grand Trunk station, which by the way was still there in 1988 and may still be. We lived in about 10 different places on the CN system. The last Grand Trunk station we lived in (just after we left Dunster) was at Amsbury, just out of Terrace, B.C. We left there in 1963, when the CN had their big station shutdown. A sad time for many class E Grand Trunk stations. The station at Amsbury was burnt in 1963, along with many others.

Note from Wainwright, Alberta: Roy at www.railpark.org maintains a site related to railway history and the Main Street program there.

Note from Kent Sedgewick, November 2003: There is a Type "E" station in Prince George at the Railway Museum, relocated from Penny, east of PG. Another, 6 km west of Entwhistle, Alberta, converted to a house.

Kent Sedgewick's photos from the 1970s and 1980s of old GTP stations are on-line at the Fraser Fort George Regional Museum site. (If this link path doesn't work, click on the home page, then follow Online Exhibits-Settlers Effects-Prince George-The Crossroads-The GTP 1915-1965-pages 10 to 12). He has further photographs of vanished and vanishing towns and buildings in the area on the UNBC site.

Note from Pete Amyoony: Three of us in Dunster have been working on a Community Web Site and it is finally up on the net.  It is about all things in the community and includes some pictures of the Dunster GTP station in all stages from 1920's to the present time. The site is a work in progress and we hope to have more pictures of the station up soon.

Note from Jeff Henricks: There remain no less than 15 of these stations (the GTP, plan “A” or type E) in Alberta.  All built by the GTP.  Only one, remains on site.  That of Park Gate Alberta (very poor condition and beyond the words “derelict”).  I believe there may still be a couple others I have yet to find.
In BC, there remain no less than 3.  Those mentioned on your website.  I understand there may be a couple more that have been moved or relocated.  The one in Dunster certainly looks good sitting near the tracks. 

Note from Lorne Wasylishen, Smithers: Pelham Hardcastle was the last permanent operator working in the Kitwanga station, he was later promoted to a a train dispatcher and is now retired in Alberta. There were some temporary people there after him before the station was shut down in 1985 when CTC came in. Between the shutdown and the station being moved I know two railroaders who were rummaging in there and found two brass GTP spittoons. One has since been lost in a house fire and I am presently trying to track down the other. I'm trying to collect photos of all the stations from Redpass Jct. to Prince Rupert, not even close yet but making progress. 

The modest, ramshackle Canadian National Railway station on the Prince Rupert waterfront was in fact the terminus of a vast national railway network, the Grand Trunk Railway--the third of the federally chartered Canadian transcontinental railway systems from the a century ago. Although the station was to have been designed by the legendary architect Francis M. Rattenbury, connected with a luxurious hotel in the midst of a thriving port and city, in reality the station appears to have been the work of an anonymous CNR designer, supervised by General Manager A.E. Warren and Engineer H.A .Hixon of Winnipeg. (Thanks to Sue Rowse for research.)

Canadian National Railways runs its Skeena service from this station. It is an immensely scenic run, but regrettably doesn't generate enough traffic or revenue to pay for the refurbishment of the station or the waterfront. Like the City of Prince Rupert itself, rail travel in Canada has fallen on hard times. Prince Rupert has been in an economic tailspin for a decade or more, with the decline of the fishing and forest industries. Its population has dropped and real-estate values are shrinking. But there is talk of offshore oil and gas development, as controversial as it is potentially lucrative. It will be interesting, if any of us live long enough, to see the impact on the north of CN's takeover/buy out of the provincially owned BC Rail, announced by the provincial government in November, 2003.

Although much of Smithers's business district is now focused along the highway, the old Grand Trunk Pacific station is well-restored, with "the beanery" an excellent cafe. I was so impressed by this view along the tracks, looking west--it seemed to encapsulate all the promise of the Grand Trunk in the years before the First World War, of new land and opportunities with the new northern terminus at Prince Rupert not far away, and productive agricultural land along the Bulkley River, such as the fields near Quick, attracting new settlers.

Note from Ron Wheeler, 2008: I grew up in Smithers, B.C..  In the late 50,'s, CNR converted to diesel Power Locomotives and had to change the tracks to a heavier RAIL to accommodate them. When this conversion was completed, we saw the last of our beloved Steam Powered Engines. They used to change Engines in Smithers and take the un-hooked engine into the Round House for service and repairs.  Now, the Round House is gone, along with
the Steam driven Turn-Table, the Sand Pit, the water tower, and everything else. Nothing's left except the passenger terminal, which seems to be kept up in its original condition.
 
I am an HO Scale model railroader and I am trying to find out all the information on the description of the Steam Locos that pulled our Passenger trains from Prince George to Prince Rupert, changing Engines in Smithers. Who manufactured them, and when? What was their configuration, IE: 2-6-2  or 0-8-0 or 4-8-4, or what?  I believe they were Oil Fired. (we kids were always taken up to the engine, during a trip, to see the engineer and fireman hard at work, bouncing around on the rails at top speed).
 
I would appreciate any information you have that would help me with my research! 

***

More to be posted here soon, I expect, about Smithers and the station. As I understand it, "The Beanery" was the universal name for Canadian National canteens/coffee shops along the line--does anyone know of a good written source or memoir about them, or can anyone provide some anecdotes? Also read the Blue River site.

From MK: as the GTP was bankrupt by 1917 or so, and then became part of the Canadian National system, the cards would have been published during the First World War.

Note from Gilbert, Timmins Ontario 2009: I have a picture frame from the "Grand Trunk Pacific Railway" (poster size). I have had it for many years and was wandering if you could tell some history behind it. There is only the frame, no picture, but for some reason it has followed me all of my life. The frame seems to be made of oak and very old but aside from that I have no idea where it would have been hung back in the day. In any case if you could shed some some light on this or know someone who might I would greatly appreciate it