nanaimo train station history
The Esquimalt and Nanaimo (E&N) Railway was incorporated on September 27, 1883 by Victoria coal baron Sir Robert Dunsmuir to support the coal and lumber industry and the Royal Navy base at Esquimalt.
Construction on the railway line began in April 1884, and in August 1886 Prime Minister Sir John A. MacDonald drove the last railway spike into the ground. The initial rail operation ran for 115 kilometers from Esquimalt to Nanaimo, hence the original name of the company. In 1888, the line was extended for the City of Victoria.
The Esquimalt and Nanaimo Railway Station (E&N Station) opened to the public on the current Selby Street site in 1886. During the 1880's, the completion of the station and the simultaneous expansion of the huge No. 1 Coal Mine precipitated an economic boom that nearly doubled the population of Nanaimo.
In 1920 the new E&N Station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway Company on the site of the original station and remained in continuous use until it was gutted by fire in 2007. The E&N Station, along with five other stations, rail and land from Comox to Cowichan and west to Port Alberni, is owned by the Island Corridor Foundation.
A community movement is underway to restore Nanaimo’s historical E&N Train Station. The recently formed Nanaimo Train Station Partnership is embarking on a community outreach initiative that includes both individual and corporate support.
See some histocial pictures of the E&N station by rolling over the thumbnails below to enlarge them.. |
