Creston Station - Creston, BC
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T0SHEA
N 49° 05.960 W 116° 31.084
11U E 535179 N 5438609
Now standing mostly unused beside the railway track, this station was the second to be built in the town of Creston.
Waymark Code: WMPW5X
Location: British Columbia, Canada
Date Posted: 10/28/2015
Views: 2
Creston Station, built in 1949, was one of the few "modern" stations on the Crowsnest Pass Route. The original Creston station, a more elegant mansard roofed, CPR style station, was built a few years after the railroad went through in 1898. It was torn down in 1949 and this newer style one built in the same year. With the improvement in highways, passenger and freight traffic slowly dwindled almost to zero and were eventually discontinued. The station was closed in 1982 and the railway yards torn out in 1990.
The station stands somewhat away from the present site of downtown Creston, about a half kilometre north, beside Highway 3. At present it appears to be used for storage by railway maintenance crews.
The Creston Station
The Canadian Pacific Railway built its line through the Creston Valley in 1898, and this station was built a few years later to handle the passengers, freight, and mail. The CPR was the lifeline of the community: everything came in or went out by train, and daily rituals followed the CPR's schedule.
Although this painting, and many photos, make the station appear isolated, it was very central: alongside the principal businesses; a few steps away from hotels and boarding houses; and near major freight shippers such as the packing sheds.
For years the train station was a meeting place: a place to say goodbye to friends and family, collect or send their packages, and greet them when they returned. Some people even met their future spouses at the train station. But all that changed with private cars and trucking companies.
The old station was torn down in 1949.
From the Creston Museum
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