Historic McAdam Station Restoration

[NS VIA FAN]

I recently took a trip to McAdam New Brunswick and had an opportunity for a guided tour to see the progress in the historic station restoration project there.

McAdam is located 6 miles from the US Border and was an important junction on Canadian Pacific’s line across Maine to Saint John…..390 miles east of Montreal and 370 miles north of Boston. Passengers arriving here on the “Gull” (Boston-Halifax) or “Atlantic Limited” (Montreal-Saint John) changed trains to continue on to the summer resorts at St. Andrews, St. Stephen or for the valley trains up to Woodstock and Edmundston.

The station is now a National Historic Site and is being fully restored. It is a large “Chateau” style building that included besides the usual station facilities, a Dining Room, Lunch Counter (it was a Meal Stop……serving 1500 meals a day) Canada Customs House and a second floor CPR Hotel.

Most of the main floor areas have been restored and are open to the public. The Dining Room and Lunch Counter are now available for Banquets and Receptions.

An interesting part of the tour was access to the second floor hotel, closed since the ‘50s and in poor condition. One room has been set up as it might have appeared once but long range plans call for a complete restoration and eventual operation as a Bed & Breakfast.

And the station also had a jail. Having a little too much on the train might find you being locked up here overnight by the CPR Constable then put back on the first train out in the morning!

 

[NS VIA FAN]

The last regularly scheduled passenger train to stop at McAdam was VIA’s “Atlantic” in December 1994…..It crossed through the USA on VIA’s route between Montreal and Halifax. Freights still pass by daily on the New Brunswick Southern/Eastern Maine Railway and connect with the Montreal, Maine & Atlantic Railway and Pan Am (xGuilford (B&M/MEC) Railway.

The US/Canada Border is 6 miles west of McAdam. Here’s the International Bridge (that’s Maine on the left side of the bridge and an hour earlier…..Eastern Time) and a view from the 1970’s just as the Atlantic Limited was crossing the bridge. I’m hanging out of the vestibule……still in Maine but the engines have now entered New Brunswick…….also a view looking back from the vestibule to the former Maine Central Station at Vanceboro which is just west of the bridge.

 

[Bob Dylan]

As usual great! Thanks, MORE!MORE!

 

[greatcats]

Thank you for this interesting report. I have never taken a train in that area, but drove through in late August, 2001 on a camping trip to Nova Scota and Prince Edward Island. I saw this station all boarded up and stopped and looked around and it was a sorry sight. It is good to see the building restored. On the return trip I passed through the area again and was waved through Customs. About a week later came September 11 and the world changed.

 

[rrdude]

Kuddos again NS! Gawd they did a good job on restoration, the lunch counter is fabulous.