Richmond station is a historic building located on rue Principale Nord in

Richmond Richmond most often refers to: * Richmond, Virginia, the capital of Virginia, United States * Richmond, London, a part of London * Richmond, North Yorkshire, a town in England * Richmond, British Columbia, a city in Canada * Richmond, California, ...

in the province of

Quebec Quebec ( ; )According to the Canadian government, ''Québec'' (with the acute accent) is the official name in Canadian French and ''Quebec'' (without the accent) is the province's official name in Canadian English is one of the thirtee ...

. The current building was constructed in 1912 by the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

(GTR) to replace the previous wood-frame structure which had been destroyed by fire. The brick building has granite lintels that give it a more refined look than the earlier stations. The two storey central block has two symmetrical single storeys on either end, which have had dormer windows added more recently.

History

The

St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad The St. Lawrence and Atlantic Railroad , known as St-Laurent et Atlantique Quebec in Canada, is a short-line railway operating between Portland, Maine, on the Atlantic Ocean, and Montreal, Quebec, on the St. Lawrence River. It crosses the Can ...

acquired land in 1848 for their

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

through Melbourne Township, which would open up the town of Richmond to business between

Portland Portland most commonly refers to: * Portland, Oregon, the largest city in the state of Oregon, in the Pacific Northwest region of the United States * Portland, Maine, the largest city in the state of Maine, in the New England region of the northeas ...

and

Montreal Montreal ( ; officially Montréal, ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, second-most populous city in Canada and List of towns in Quebec, most populous city in the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian ...

. At the same time the Quebec and Richmond Railway was constructing a line connecting to

Quebec City Quebec City ( or ; french: Ville de Québec), officially Québec (), is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Quebec. As of July 2021, the city had a population of 549,459, and the Communauté métrop ...

, making Richmond an important railway centre. Gare de Richmond Quebec 37

Those two railway companies became part of the newly formed Grand Trunk Railway in 1853, with the Richmond station located between the tracks at the junction of the lines. The Grand Trunk Railway was absorbed by

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

(CNR) in 1923, who continued to operate the Portland-Sherbrooke line as its Berlin Subdivision. Richmond remained an important repair and maintenance yard until the 1950s. Passenger service was continued by

Via Rail Via Rail Canada Inc. (), operating as Via Rail or Via, is a Canadian Crown corporation that is mandated to operate intercity passenger rail service in Canada. It receives an annual subsidy from Transport Canada to offset the cost of operating ...

until 1994. Following Canadian deregulation in 1989, short line operator

Genesee & Wyoming Genesee & Wyoming Inc. (G&W) is an American short line railroad holding company, that owns or maintains an interest in 122 railroads in the United States, Canada, Belgium, Netherlands, Poland, United Kingdom and formerly Australia. It operates ...

formed subsidiary St-Laurent & Atlantique Railroad (Quebec) (SLQ) to operate the portion of the

line from the US border at Norton through to Sainte-Rosalie, where it connects with the CNR main line. This company has facilities beside the station and a

rail yard A rail yard, railway yard, railroad yard (US) or simply yard, is a series of tracks in a rail network for storing, sorting, or loading and unloading rail vehicles and locomotives. Yards have many tracks in parallel for keeping rolling stock or u ...

that stretches along the east bank of the

Richelieu River The Richelieu River () is a river of Quebec, Canada, and a major right-bank tributary of the St. Lawrence River. It rises at Lake Champlain, from which it flows northward through Quebec and empties into the St. Lawrence. It was formerly kno ...

. Richmond station has been designated as a Heritage Railway Station of Canada since September 1991. The old station building was converted into ''La Vieille Gare de Richmond'' restaurant in the summer of 1999.

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Gare de Richmond, Quebec
La Vieille Gare de Richmond

Grand Trunk Railway stations in Quebec Railway stations in Canada opened in 1910 Designated heritage railway stations in Quebec Transport in Estrie Buildings and structures in Estrie Railway stations closed in 1994