Canadian Pacific Railway, Station at McAdam Junction([1899])
Saunders Road, McAdam Junction, NB, Canada
Commercial, Station [basement, 2 floors, attic]; stone; composite

Client: Canadian Pacific Railway Company
Architect: E. Maxwell

Description: McAdam Junction (renamed McAdam in 1941) took its name from the Hon. John Adams. Born in 1807 in Ireland, Mr. Adams emigrated to New Brunswick in 1817. He had a successful career in the lumbering business and was a member of NB Legislature, representing Charlotte County for many years. McAdam Junction, as the name indicates, stood at the intersection of a north-south railway line, connecting Edmunston and Saint-Stephen; and an international, west to east line, connecting Province of Quebec and Maine with Saint-John, New Brunswick. This latter line was used extensively in the winter to ship goods from the inland port of Montreal to the ice-free port of Saint-John, 85 miles east of McAdam Junction. At summertime, affluent vacationers and their families on their way to their Saint-Andrews summer residences, would stop and transfer trains at McAdam Station. Its population was then 3200, twice as many as today; up to 16 passenger trains a day passed through, and the waiting rooms were filled to overflowing for long periods of time. This strategic position and the importance of the clientele prompted the CPR to erect an especially imposing and noble building, offering complete transportation, telegraph, dining, and hotel facilities. This imposing, 225 feet long and 45 feet wide stone station and hotel building was inaugurated in 1900. Built by contractor Joseph McVay for $30,000, the stone building is another example of Edward Maxwell early train station designs in the Chateau style, all of them for the Canadian Pacific Railway under the direction of William C. Van Horne (210). It includes Frasier Canyon House (34), the Glacier Hotel (35), the Sicamous Junction station and hotel (39), the Vancouver Station and Office Building (40) and the New Westminster station (41), all in British Columbia. Maxwell also contributed designs for the Moose Jaw station (38) in Saskatchewan. The stone façade (the granite was quarried from local deposits) and steep roofs sheltered the station, dining and hotel facilities. At the west end of the ground floor, a very popular lunch counter served refreshments to travellers while trains were being serviced; the large dining room next door was available to those waiting for connecting trains. Maxwell, who owned a house in Saint-Andrews (139) may have eaten there more than once. On the second floor, the CPR operated a five-star hotel. Prison cells were even provided for prisoners changing trains! Massive, 12-feet long lintels above windows and giant keystones (cut from the very site the building stands on) bear witness to the owner’s and architect’s ambitions to make this station an unforgettable travel experience. At the rear of the station, a six-acre man-made lake, created to provide ice for the hotel and the fleet of passenger cars, is still visible. In 1910, additions to the either end of the building extended its length to 285 feet. The station was designated a National Historic Site in 1983; it was also featured on a Canada Post stamp. Passenger service has been phased out in 1993; in 1995, the wealthy Irving family of New Brunswick donated the building to the McAdam Historical Restoration Commission, in the presence of Prime Minister Frank McKenna and 600 McAdam locals. Since then, money was raised and donated to ensure the maintenance and use of the site, which attracts 25,000 visitors each year. In 2000, celebrations were held to commemorate the building’s 100th anniversary and signal the advances in restoration work, with the involvement of the Canada Millenium Partnership Program. See: Folster, David. “Why McAdam NB has such a big railway station.” Canadian Geographic Vol. 102, No. 2 (April/May 1982): p. 34-36.

Holdings: Station (basement, 2 floors, attic); stone; composite
8 Drawings: 8 ink on linen
8 Working drawings: foundations, floor plan, attic plan, elevations, sections, gas house