Gananoque station explained

Gananoque
Style:Via Rail
Address:North Station Road
Gananoque, Ontario
Country:Canada
Coordinates:44.3689°N -76.1536°W
Structure:Shelter
Platform:1 side platform, 1 island platform
Tracks:2
Parking:Short term only
Opened:1915
Website:Gananoque train station
Other Services Header:Former services
Other Services Collapsible:yes
Other Services:
Stroke-Colour:
  1. C60C30
Stroke-Width:3
Marker:rail
Marker-Colour:
  1. 009D58
Zoom:12
Map Type:Canada Southern Ontario#Canada Ontario#Canada
Map Dot Label:Gananoque station

Gananoque railway station in Gananoque, Ontario, Canada is served by Via Rail trains running from Toronto to Ottawa. The station is an unstaffed, heated shelter.

History

Gananoque Junction was originally served by two railways: the Grand Trunk Montréal-Toronto mainline and the Thousand Islands Railway, an 8km (05miles) short line railway that led to the waterfront. A mainline station also once existed in Lansdowne but was torn down soon after CN abandoned service to the village, in 1966.[1]

The rail junction was relocated to the current station location in 1901 while timber shipments to Gananoque's docks were declining and tourism on the line was growing, with the Thousand Islands heavily promoted as a vacation destination by rail and steamship. Unlike most stations of its era, Gananoque Junction had no freight-handling facility and was solely a passenger station.[2]

The last passengers transferred from CN to the Thousand Island Railway at Gananoque Junction in 1962. The short line's tracks are now gone.

While the junction station remains in service, a huge water tank that towered over Gananoque Junction in the steam train era is now gone.[3] Locomotive #500 from the now-defunct short line operation is on display next to Gananoque town hall; the Arthur Child Heritage Museum occupies the site of the former Gananoque waterfront station.

Services

Gananoque station is only served by local trains on Via Rail's Toronto-Ottawa route. Most Toronto-Ottawa trains and all Toronto-Montreal trains pass through the station without stopping.

As of October 2023 the station is served by one to two trains per day toward Ottawa, and two trains per day toward Toronto.[4]

Notes and References

  1. Web site: Walking Tour of Lansdowne. Leeds & 1000 Islands Historical Society. 2014-05-28 . https://web.archive.org/web/20140220115748/http://www.ltihistoricalsociety.org/walkingtour.html . 2014-02-20 . dead .
  2. Web site: Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada, Railway Station Report: VIA Rail/Canadian National Railways Station, Gananoque Junction, Ontario. C.N.Ry. in Ontario.
  3. Web site: Gananoque. Ontario (.... - ....). Canadian Directory of Water Towers and Standpipes.
  4. Web site: Timetables. Via Rail Canada. 19 October 2023.