[PHOTO] Charlottetown CNR Station

The Charlottetown Canadian National Railroad station at 14 Weymouth Street, a Romanesque building built with Prince Edward Island sandstone, was once the hub of the Prince Edward Island Railway.

The original Charlottetown Railway Station was a wooden building located close to where the current station now stands. The wooden structure was one of six terminal stations across Prince Edward Island. These terminal stations had covered platforms, which created not only a fire hazard, but a great deal of smoke within the building each time an engine passed through the engine shed. The Station was 25 by 40 feet with a covered track and a 200-foot long platform.

By 1900, there was a need to construct a new railway station. A great deal of controversy ensued as a new site for the Station was being selected. According to newspapers of the day, city residents favored a site at the foot of Great George Street but ultimately it was decided to build the new building near the original wooden Station, in the east bog, on the edge of town. A pond had to be filled in before construction could begin on the new building. Controversy continued as the building was constructed. Allegations of political corruption and poor workmanship were reported. Finally, when the building was completed, project costs had exceeded 13 000 dollars.

Despite the problems with the project, the beautiful, Island sandstone building was opened on 8 July 1907. The contractor was EA Wallberg of Montreal and the Engineer who supervised the site was W. Frank Boggis. The building was Richardsonian Romanesque influenced, with its heavy Island sandstone construction, Nova Scotia Freestone trim and large, arched, deeply set windows. The building had three floors with the first containing a ticket sales area, as well as general and separate waiting rooms. The second floor housed offices and the third floor was dedicated to union meetings and storage.

The railway played an integral role in the transportation needs of Islanders throughout the 19th and a large portion of the 20th century. It was also one of the largest employers on the Island. However, due to declining passenger traffic in the 1960’s, the railway passenger service ceased, with only the freight service remaining. The railway’s freight service was finally terminated on 31 December 1989. Soon after, all railway tracks were removed and the land was turned over to the Province. The rail beds were eventually converted to a large trail system running throughout the entire Province known as the Confederation Trail. The former Charlottetown CNR Station is unique in Prince Edward Island and stands as a reminder of a bygone era. The building is a landmark and supports the Weymouth Street and Water Street streetscape.

Renovated in the 1990s, the building now houses the province's Workers Compensation Board.



On the Weymouth Street side of the building, neat iron arches support the overhang.

[BLOG] Some Monday links

• BlogTO and Steve Munro both comment on the proposal to introduce time-based transfers to the TTC.


• Crooked Timber links to an Alan Moore interview that touches upon the rivalry with Grant Morrison.


• The Dragon's Tales notes a paper suggesting that the Mars Express probe underestimated the rate of Mars' atmospheric loss.


• Language Log takes another look at the paper claiming Facebook would go away and notes the potential for ambiguity in Chinese sentences.


• Lawyers, Guns and Money observes the success of China in adopting solar power.


• Marginal Revolution's Tyler Cowen argues that, between good weather and plenty of attractions, Los Angeles is a great city for walkers.


• The News APPS Blog is one blog of many to note on the Ukrainian government's Orwellian dispatching of text messages to protesters.


• The Planetary Society's Emily Lakdawalla notes the sad issues of China's Yutu moon rover, perhaps doomed to an early failure.


• Savage Minds reports on two anthropologists who have written interesting things about the writing process.


• Supernova Condensate observes, in relation to blogging, the important difference between a pseudonym (an alternate identity) and anonymity (no identity).


• Towleroad notes a Nigerian woman who has disowned her allegedly gay cat.


• Window on Eurasia reports the arguments of a Russian clergyman that the Patriarch of the Russian Orthodox Church has been promoting gay clerics on the grounds that they can be easily manipulated by threats of blackmail.

[NEWS] Some Monday links

• The South China Morning Post argues that too many Chinese are emigrating, resulting in drains of wealth and talent from a country that needs both.


• The Financial Times' Wolfgang Munchau doesn't think that François Hollande's new emphasis on the Franco-German alliance and economic reform will be productive for the Eurozone.


• Vice makes the convincing argument that Nigeria's anti-gay laws are just one way the Nigerian government is distracting Nigerians from its incompetence.


• The Asahi Shinbun notes that the newly-appointed head of Japan's NHK public broadcaster, Katsuto Momii, has made terrible statements about comfort women and Japan's Second World War record.


• io9 notes that the death toll of the First World War has been undercounted, many countries not counting people who died away from the battlefield as victims.


• ZDNet reports that confusing Google product information has been outing transgender people.


• The haiku killer stalking an isolated Japanese village described in-depth by the Australian Broadcasting Company.


• The Inter Press Service profiles the desperation of Cambodians to leave their country to earn a better living, and the problems they encounter abroad.

[META] Some Blogroll Additions

It's that time of the year again.

• Caitlin Kelly's Broadside Blog deals with journalism and writing. A recent post of hers, "20 lessons New Yorkers learn", describes things that New Yorkers new and old have to learn to survive.


• Cody Delistraty's blog is concerned with matters of writing and culture. One post argues that, as a result of preservationism and conservatism in France, Paris has become something of a cultural backwater.


• Will Baird has a new blog devoted to exoplanets, The Dragon's Gaze. A recent post highlights a paper suggesting that it is possible to explain the formation of low-mass planets like Mars if the solar nebula was depleted at the time of formation while the big gas giants were in place.


• Michael Sacasas' The Frailest Thing examines the intersections of technology and culture. One recent post wonders how useful it is to talk about introversion versus extroversion in relation to online presences.


• Thought Catalog is an online magazine with an eclectic collection of articles. One, by Chris Malecki, tries to start a discussion about gender identity.


• Writing Through the Fog is Cheri Lucas Rowlands's lovely blog, combining thoughtful writing and beautiful photos. Her most recent post examining her creative process as when she writes for herself as opposed to other people is quite nice.

[DM] Some demography-related links for the New Year

I've a links post up at Demography Matters, sharing article and blog links on everything from Chinese investors in South Korea's Jeju island to evolving demographics of the American Jewish community to emigration in France and immigration in Poland to the non-catastrophe of vastly extended life expectancies.

Go, see.