The station museum

A hundred year old building

The Rivière-Bleue Station has changed very little since it was built nearly a hundred years ago. After it was moved and enlarged, there were very few alterations to its exterior, aside from the addition of a veranda on the front.

Inside the station, however, there have been a few renovations. Mr. Lebel (1938-1943) installed a bathroom on the second floor and washrooms for passengers. Then, after World War II, the men’s waiting room became part of the private space so as to provide the station master’s family with more living space. The women’s waiting room became the only waiting room for everyone.

Most of the rooms still have their original hardwood floors, and the original British Columbian wood is still on the walls and ceilings of most of the rooms. The door handles, taps and height of the sink give the station the cachet of the early twentieth century.

The railway museum

The station was very busy night and day, and the station master both worked and lived there. In his office, the furniture, objects, photos and documents show what his everyday work was like.

The women’s waiting room is connected to the storage room, where there is now an exhibition on the history of the Transcontinental Railway, the importance of stations in village life and trackmen’s work; it brings the area’s railway past back to life.

See also:
The way things were – stories and pictures (in french)

Anecdotes from Rivière-Bleue

The exhibition in what used to be the freight room tells Rivière-Bleue’s story from 1850 to 1950, from the time of the first settlers, Morrison and Nadeau, to that of the great sawmills. Forestry and farming, church and school, nothing was lacking in Rivière-Bleue, a typical early twentieth century backcountry village. There was even bootlegging!