Sources on this page
History
13 facts
| Date | Statement | Source | Status |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1897-08-13 | A rumor was quite common on the street this morning that the Canada Atlantic Railway Company was at the bottom of the purchase [of properties on Besserer street] rather than the C.P.R. For some time past it has been known that the C.A.R. desired to have their freight sheds and offices in connection with the Central Depot. This has been the intention of the company all along, but just where they would place the freight sheds was unknown. ... One of the officials of the C.A.R. informed a Journal reporter that such was the intention of the company at some time or other. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. The official denied a purchase by the company ('Stranger things than that have happened'); a rumour, not an event. | Ottawa Journal 1897-08-13(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-09-09 | In a few weeks the Canada Atlantic Railway freight sheds will be found at the rear of the present Central station. This is not a rumor but a fact, given to the Journal today by one of the chief officials of the line. ... The company have now decided to have piles driven over the entire space now covered with the overflow water from the canal basin. Upon this space will the new sheds be erected. The piles are all upon the ground and a portion of the work is already completed. Men will rush this part of the work through and the freight sheds immediately begun. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. | Ottawa Journal 1897-09-09(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-09-10 | The company also intend erecting some freight sheds on the east side of the canal basin. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. Announcement only. | Ottawa Citizen 1897-09-10(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-10-20 | Rapid progress is being made by the C.A.R. in the building of the freight sheds over the canal basin. Almost the entire surface of the basin is planked over in order to carry the tracks. Two sheds are being erected. The one nearest the canal being 300 feet long and the second one 200 feet. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. | Ottawa Journal 1897-10-20(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-10-21 | A Journal reporter counted twenty-two carpenters at work to-day on the C.A.R and O.,A. and P.S. freight sheds. The foundation for the sheds is finished and the frame work was started yesterday morning. The company intend to erect two sheds. One will be for in-freight and the other for out-freight. A line of tracks will run to each shed. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. | Ottawa Journal 1897-10-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-10-23 | The work in connection with the building of the new freight sheds of the C.A.R. and O.A. & P.S. railways is progressing rapidly. All the pile driving is complete and the frame work of the building is rapidly nearing completion. When the yard is planked it will be far superior to that on the one on Elgin street and will be more conveniently situated. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. | Ottawa Free Press 1897-10-23(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-11-18 | Work is being pushed on the new Canada Atlantic railway sheds which are nearing completion. The windows were being put in yesterday and the building will be ready for occupancy in a short time. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. Churcher's place column reads Ottawa East; the source says only 'the new Canada Atlantic railway sheds'. 'Yesterday' is relative to the issue date. | Ottawa Citizen 1897-11-18(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1897-12-07 | The Canada Atlantic freight sheds have been completed and a large gang of men are engaged today in moving from the old quarters on Elgin street to the Canal basin. Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds at the maintainer's direction; the source places the new Canada Atlantic (and OA&PS) freight sheds on the canal basin by the Central depot. | Ottawa Free Press 1897-12-07(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1898-06-29 | The Parry Sound company have an absolute right to use these lands for all the purposes of their railway, and they have a perfect right to use the surplus lands for freight purposes, under the provisions of their lease ... the place selected for our freight depot was determined upon and plans therefor completed more than a year before the N. Y. Co. ever thought of using our ground. ... Any person who chooses to look over the grounds will admit that the freight shed which I have erected is located in the best and only suitable position for the freight business of that station. Mr. Booth answering the charge that the Parry Sound company 'knifed' the Ottawa and New York by placing a freight shed on the canal reserve. | Ottawa Journal 1898-06-29(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1918-08-15 | Fire broke out at the G.T.R. freight sheds near the Central Station, starting with an explosion in a freight car, and completely destroyed the sheds along with 28 cars, 20 of them loaded, in under forty minutes. The loss was estimated at $90,000 to $100,000, practically all covered by insurance, made up of 28 cars burned ($18,200), contents of twenty cars ($20,000), the frame freight sheds, 800 by 40 feet ($15,000), contents of the sheds ($35,000) and sundry other losses (about $10,000). Three men were injured in the explosions: caretaker Andrew Doherty, badly burned around the face and hands; porter Felix Bellefeuille, cut and burned on the face; and porter Albert Renaud, slightly burned. About forty other cars on nearby sidings, including the Governor General's private car, were pulled to safety. The Governor General's car was one of those pulled to safety; the fire, fought by multiple fire stations with high water pressure, also damaged a nearby residence but was kept from spreading to adjacent coal sheds and houses. The follow-up 1918-08-17 Ottawa Citizen report notes all three injured men were recovering favorably. | Ottawa Citizen 1918-08-16(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1958-04-17≤ | From 17 April 1958 (the issue date), the paper announced: Over the weekend the C.N.R. "will move out of its 50-year-old local freight office and sheds on Besserer Street in the Union Station area" to a new freight terminus on Russell Road at Alta Vista Drive. The Citizen says the Besserer Street terminus "was built in 1909 by the old Canada Atlantic Railway, which was incorporated in the CNR in 1923", and that the old freight sheds were built in 1919 after the originals burned that year. The Federal District Commission recommended the old facilities be demolished for a 160-car metered parking lot. Filed on the Ottawa Freight Sheds on the assumption that the Besserer Street sheds are that entity (inference). The Citizen's attribution of a 1909 building to the Canada Atlantic is its own, though the company had been absorbed by the Grand Trunk in 1905. An announcement of a move to come. | Ottawa Citizen 1958-04-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Journal 1958-04-17(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1958-04-21 | The C.N.R. freight terminal on Besserer Street gave way to the new terminal at Riverside and Alta Vista Drives: "Transfer of freight and records from the old terminal in the Union Station area was completed 'without a hitch' over the weekend", and the first train of 43 mixed freight reached the new terminal shortly after 9 a.m., the keys being handed over by Alan K. Hay of the Federal District Commission. Under an F.D.C. proposal the old terminal would be demolished for a 160-car parking lot. Filed on the Ottawa Freight Sheds (see the 17 April fact). | Ottawa Journal 1958-04-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...),Ottawa Citizen 1958-04-21(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) | |
| 1966-08-08≤ | From 8 August 1966 (the issue date), the paper announced: "Removal of the railway express and freight sheds is slated to begin Aug. 15, with five miles of obsolete railway track to follow soon after." Filed on Ottawa Freight Sheds, the Besserer Street sheds near the old Union Station (inference: the item places the sheds only in the Union Station area). | Ottawa Citizen 1966-08-08(Transcribed by Colin J. Churcher in 'Local Railway...) |
Notes
At Canal Basin