Built in 1905 by the Halifax and Southwestern Railway Company, this is a wood frame station with a large roof overhang all around which afforded protection for thousands of railway passengers through the years. The overhang is supported by heavy timber brackets with curved hypotenuses. Above, the roof was adorned with no less than eight dormers, three on each of the long sides and one on each end. They really add character to the building. Adjacent to the station is a small freight shed whose overall design follows that of the station, less the dormers.
This station would have been retired from service sometime between 1982 and 1993, when all service was suspended on the line. Since that time the town of Chester has taken over the station and repurposed it into their
. Restored to some extent on the inside, they have left it essentially as it was as a railway station, retaining all of its original character. Speaking of Character, this is the only railway station we've found with stained glass windows, a classy touch.
Halifax and Southwestern Railway
The Halifax and Southwestern Railway (H&SW) was created by William Mackenzie and Donald Mann in their quest to expand the
Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR). It began in 1901, when the two men approached the provincial government with a plan to complete a line along the south shore from Yarmouth to Halifax. The company was provincially incorporated as the Halifax & South Western Railway but the railway was better known as the Halifax and Southwestern and known locally as the "Southwestern."
The H&SW was pieced together from a number of smaller railways and charters. They included the Nova Scotia Central Railway (NSCR), the Liverpool and Milton Railway (L&MR) and the Halifax and Yarmouth Railway (H&YR). Also included was the charter for the Nova Scotia Southern Railway (NSSR) which had no trackage and the Middleton and Victoria Beach Railway (M&VBR) which had been started but was still incomplete.
The H&SW was merged into the CNoR. That lasted until 1918 when the CNoR fell to bankruptcy. The CNoR, along with the IRC and several other government-owned railways, became part of the newly formed
Canadian National Railways (CN). Under CN ownership and operations, the H&SW began to see major improvements.
In 1925 CN abandoned a portion of the former M&VBR line between Granville Centre and Port Wade. The mines had closed and it was no longer economical to continue providing rail service. Abandonment of the railway continued gradually and in small stages. Passenger service between Bridgewater and Middleton ended in 1959. Passenger service on the south shore survived 10 years longer.
By the 1980s, rail service throughout the province was in a steep decline. In 1982 CN abandoned a portion of the mainline from Liverpool to Yarmouth and the former NSCR line. By 1993 all service on the South Shore had ended.
Today very little exists of the former H&SW. All that remains of CN's once extensive mainline is a section running south from New Brunswick through the centre of the province to Halifax. CN continues to maintain a large terminal in Halifax for ocean-bound and intermodal shipping. The Halifax station, now a designated heritage structure, remains in use by VIA Rail, as well as for bus service and other commercial ventures.
From Canada Rail