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The Train Station
The Clean Annapolis River Project now makes its home in the newly restored Annapolis Royal Train Station located at 151 Victoria Street in Annapolis Royal. Jane Nicholson of Mrs Nicholson Inc. painstakingly restored the building and has compiled a short summary of both the Dominion Atlantic Railway and of the train station.

The Annapolis Royal Train Station

From the Annapolis Spectator, June 12, 1913:
"The new station is an assured fact. As a result of Mr. Gifkins' visit, the much needed new railway station will be located on the land back of the Rice property, now occupied by Joe Edwards. Victoria Street will be extended to make the proper approach."

From the Annapolis Spectator, March 12, 1914:
"The new railroad station was opened on Monday. A large crowd of citizens was on hand to see the first train come in.


The Annapolis Royal Train Station
Mr. Gifkins kept his promise, and in only nine months, Annapolis Royal had a "fancy" train station, designed in the Arts and Crafts style by the CPR's chief railway architect in Montreal. Unlike other DAR stations, usually constructed of wood, it was built of brick with a slate roof. Why build a "fancy" station in Annapolis Royal? It was to impress and encourage the tourists getting off those DAR trains and ferries - coming to visit old Fort Anne, or stay the summer at Milford House or fish and canoe at Kejimkujik. The station was, in other words, part of the DAR's marketing plan, and it was built to be beautiful.

Its beauty lasted only as long as its usefulness. After the final train went by in 1990, the station was used sporadically, but by early 2002, when saving it was first considered, it was flooded to the floor joists, long boarded up and left to rot.

The restoration of the Annapolis Royal train station began in July of 2005 with the removal of the rotten floors, sills, joists and supporting beams, and the installation of French drains around the perimeter of the building. All new wiring, plumbing, electrical and heating systems were installed, although the radiators in the two waiting rooms are original to the building.

The windows and oak woodwork have all been restored. Even most of the windowpanes are original. The stationmaster's desk was saved. The only structural changes made to the original design were the transformation of the main washroom into a kitchen and the insertion of a door into the original luggage room.

The station you see is essentially the station built in 1914. It is a tribute to the workmanship of the time that so much could be saved by today's craftsmen. The hardware on the sliding doors of the luggage room, the ticket window's brass grille, the half-door of the stationmaster's office all are original.


"I believe that a thing of beauty is a joy forever, and now the Annapolis Royal train station is beautiful again. Reason enough to be joyful, don't you think?"

Jane Nicholson
Mrs. Nicholson Inc.
After Restoring the Annapolis Royal Train Station


The Dominion Atlantic Railway (the DAR)

The Dominion Atlantic Railway ran for 36 days short of a hundred years in the northwestern part of Nova Scotia, primarily through an agricultural district known as the Annapolis Valley.

It was created on October 1st, 1894, through the merger of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway (which operated between Windsor and Annapolis Royal, as the name would suggest) and the Western Counties Railway (which operated between Yarmouth and Digby).


Before, During, and After the Renovations
The gap between Annapolis and Digby (the so-called "missing link") was closed in the early 1890s with government assistance. The merger of the two railway companies, for financial and operating reasons, permitted trains to operate directly between Yarmouth and Halifax.

A key component of the DAR's passenger and freight business was its connections with various ferries that operated in the Bay of Fundy and the Gulf of Maine. By 1904, the DAR owned and operated twelve steamships and ran services between Yarmouth-Boston, Yarmouth-New York and Digby-Saint John.

These ferry services launched the DAR into the forefront of Nova Scotia's budding tourism industry, bringing travelers from the United States and Upper Canada into the unspoiled Nova Scotia countryside. To cater to these travelers, the railway subsequently built a series of hotels... the "Digby Pines" resort hotel in Digby and the "Cornwallis Inn" in Kentville, among others.

On November 13, 1911, the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) leased the DAR and all its subsidiaries. This permitted the DAR to retain its operating independence and corporate identity.

During the First and Second World Wars, the DAR played a critical regional transportation role, serving HMCS Cornwallis, RCAF Station Greenwood, RCAF Station Stanley and Aldershot Military Camp. Post-war, the DAR was an important mode of travel, but by the late 60s, with the advent of Highway 101 and new ferry terminals in Saint John and Digby that did not allow for rail-side transfers at the dock, passenger numbers declined.

By the 1980s, the DAR/CPR transferred operation of the Halifax-Yarmouth passenger service to VIA Rail, a Crown corporation. In January of 1990, federal government cuts to VIA Rail meant the end of the line for the Halifax-Yarmouth service. The last train stopped in Annapolis Royal in March of 1990, and the track was taken up shortly afterward. The DAR operated its last four trains on Friday, August 26th, 1994, just 36 days short of its one-hundredth anniversary. The company is still maintained on paper and is currently headquartered in Calgary, Alberta.


Sources:
Ness, Gary W. Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway, Vol. 1, Calgary, Alberta: B.R.M.N.A. 1988

Ness, Gary W. Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway, Vol. 2, Calgary, Alberta: B.R.M.N.A. 1995

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