Description of Historic Place

The Port Alberni Train Station is a typical one-and-one-half storey early 20th century Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) station building with station agent family quarters on the second floor. The Tuscan brown exterior wood siding on the lower walls is accented with cream trim, and large wooden brackets support the overhang of the cedar-shingled roof. The exterior walls of the second storey are covered with cedar shingles. On the Kingsway Street side there is a seven-bay, concrete and brick, flat-roofed truck freight extension. The building is located in the Harbour Quay area of Port Alberni, British Columbia.

Heritage Value

The Port Alberni Train Station is valued as a key early entry and departure point in the city. It represents a connection with other Vancouver Island communities and is associated with travel by both rail and road between 1911 and 1970. It is also significant that this building continued to function in its original capacity after rail travel diminished and automobile traffic increased. Its current use for the tourist railroad reflects the historic value of rail travel within the community.

Built in 1911-1912 from drawings done by R.A. Bainbridge, the train station evokes the sense of importance that was associated with rail travel in Port Alberni in the first half of the twentieth century. The 1950s additions to the train station are significant as reflections of the changing nature of transport and business in the community, as truck freight traffic took the place of rail.

Because this building has played such an important role in the development of this community, the City of Port Alberni purchased the property and a group of volunteers restored the station to its original appearance in 1990.

Source: Alberni Valley Museum and Archives

Character-Defining Elements

The character-defining elements of the Port Alberni Train Station include:

Exterior:
- one-and-one-half storey Canadian Pacific Railroad (CPR) design
- wooden horizontal lap siding on lower storey and cedar shingles on exterior of second storey
- wooden bracing supporting roof overhang
- cedar-shingle hipped roof with dormers over second storey windows
- wooden exterior painted in traditional CPR colours: Tuscan brown with cream trim
- station telegraphers' bay window facing the railroad tracks
- two large freight doors on the track side
- 'Port Alberni' station signs on north and south ends of building
- physical relationship to the railway tracks and to the neighbouring streets

Truck Freight Extension (on east side of building):
- seven-bay merchandising freight bays
- five wooden roll-up overhead doors and two bricked-in bays on the north and south sides
- one wooden door and two bricked-in panels on the east side
- flat concrete roof with tar-and-gravel overlay