Windsor

Windsor and the Avon River Bridge - date unknown, probably late 1940s, 1950s.

Mile 31.60 from Windsor Junction on the Halifax Subdivision (Mile 47.32 from Halifax)

Mile 0 Subdivision Truro

Elevation: 29 feet above sea level

• Next Station West: Falmouth
• Next Station East (to Truro): Dimock's
• Next Station East (to Halifax): Pembertons

Facilities & Features

• Windsor Station
• Windsor Freight Shed
• Windsor Railyard
• Windsor Enginehouse
• Windsor Track Scale
• Windsor Water Tower
• Windsor Diesel Fueling
• Windsor Wharves
• Avon River Bridge

Description & History

Windsor was an important transportation junction for Nova Scotia's Mi'kmaq and the site of a significant Acadian settlement known as Piziquid. After the founding of Halifax and the Deportation of the Acadians, the name was changed to Windsor and the town remained an important transportation hub for the Minas Basin. The Nova Scotia Railway line from from Halifax arrived in 1857, making the town an important steamship connection for Halifax to Bay of Fundy shipping routes. The railway continued westward as the Windsor & Annapolis Railway in 1870, eventually connecting to Yarmouth as the Dominion Atlantic Railway in 1894. In 1901 the Midland Railway was built across Hants County, connecting Windsor with Truro. The central location of Windsor on the railway fostered the growth of numerous factories such as textile mills, fertilizer plants and furniture factories while wharves handled ocean traffic for gypsum and coal. A busy station and rail yard served these facilities along with some terminal services for DAR locomotives. Although railway industries gradually declined after the Second World war, Windsor remained a busy rail location until the end of the DAR. Passenger service finally ended in January 1990. The DAR's successor, the Windsor and Hantsport Railway used Windsor as its headquarters in 1995, until rail traffic ceased in 2011. Today Windsor's rail yard, station, shops and rolling stock remain in place, but mothballed and grown-over.

Commerce & Industry

• Canadian Gypsum/Fundy Gypsum Quarries
• Windsor Wear textile factory
• Colonial Fertilizer Company
• L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse
• B. Sexton Apple Warehouse
• Windsor Supply Company Lumberyard
• Windsor Foundry
• Windsor Plaster Company
• Eastern Lime Company

Gallery

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  Bird's Eve View of Windsor Nova Scotia 1878 showing the town of Windsor with Windsor Station centre and the Avon River Bridge in the lower right, 1878.

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  Western Counties Railway Locomotive No. 5, later DAR No. 17 at Windsor, probably during the Western Counties Railway takeover of The Windsor Branch 1877-1879.

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  The Windsor Enginehouse and the circular structure covering the turntable, with the Windsor Cotton Mill in background, circa 1884.

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  Windsor & Annapolis No. 10, later DAR No. 12 & train at the Windsor Station, circa 1891.

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  A passenger train running in the street at Windsor, sometime prior to July, 1905.

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  A freight train running in the street at Windsor.

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  Gypsum quarry spurs in the Windsor, Dimock's and Newport areas, from geological map, 1909.

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  Locomotive No. 380 with crew on the turntable at the Windsor Enginehouse, 1912.

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  Windsor Wharves with DAR gypsum cars and box cars in foreground and the L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse in background, pre-1914.

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  1918 Track Chart of Windsor

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  Eastern approach tracks to the Avon River Bridge from downtown Windsor, in 1918, sharpest curve on the DAR.

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  Windsor Railyard with Windsor Station and Freight Shed to left, the Windsor Wharves in background and DAR rolling stock including DAR van DAR435786, flatcar No. 425, and box car 69958, half of panoramic photo by H.H. Reid, early 1920s.

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  Windsor Railyard with Windsor Textiles in the background and full freight yard including DAR box car No. 1410, half of a panoramic view by H.H. Reid, early 1920s.

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  A passenger train approaches Windsor Station on the street trackage on Water Street, July 1, 1927. (60 years of Confederation.)

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  No. 859 and No. 872 at Windsor in May 1932.

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  Windsor tracks with Colonial Fertilizer plant in background and a MOW cars No. 859 and No. 872 on siding of the Midland/Truro Subdivision, circa mid 1930s.

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  DAR Inspection Car at Windsor, a 1938 Maclaughlin Buick with DAR Engine No. 1092 in background, circa early 1940s.

1941 Fire Insurance Map

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 1, overall plan with DAR mainline through Windsor and the Windsor Roundhouse", July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 11, showing the Windsor Baggage Station, Windsor Railyard, Windsor Wharves, Colonial Fertilizer and the Windsor Wear Textile Factory, July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 2, with the Windsor Station, Freight Shed, Windsor Railyard, the L.A. Armstrong and the B. Sexton Warehouses and the Windsor Wharves, July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 3, showing downtown tracks and parts of the Windsor Wharves on the Avon River, July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 4, showing spurs for the Windsor Supply Co. Lumberyard and the Eastern Lime Company, and road bridge over Avon River, July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 8, showing the spur for the Windsor Plaster Company and the Windsor Foundry, July 1941.

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  Fire Insurance Map for Windsor, Sheet 9, showing the DAR mainline at Wentworth Road and the Eastern Lime Company, July 1941.

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  Windsor Fire Insurance Map, Sheet 10, showing the Currys Corner Fruit Warehouse and the Pembertons station, July 1941.

Gallery

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  Train No. 95 leaving Windsor for Yarmouth in August 1949.

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  DAR locomotive No. 1092 in a derailment in Windsor at the spur for the Windsor Plaster Company, circa 1950.

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  Survey plan of Halifax Subdivision tracks, structures, alignment and right-of-way through Windsor, January 1955.

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  Topographic map from Falmouth to Ellershouse circa 1956.

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  Manned Level Crossing at Gerrish Street in Windsor ca, 1957.

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  Manned Level Crossing at Gerrish Street in Windsor ca, 1957.

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  No. 2501 leads a mixed train from Truro at Windsor, 1956-1958.

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  Mainline through Windsor back streets. Doran's Victoria hotel (rear) on left. Bus Station and Taxi Depot on right. Tracks cross Water St in distance (1958)

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  D.A.R. tracks crossing main street of Windsor on July 31, 1958.

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  SW1200 with Caboose passing through downtown Windsor 1966.

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  Windsor Station awaiting demolition as the Highway 101 overpass is being built, July 1970.

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  Windsor Station being demolished as tracks are ripped up for the Windsor Causeway realignment, July 1970.

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  Windsor Station being demolished through a controlled burn by the Windsor Fire Dept, new Highway 101 overpass in background, Sept. 1970.

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  The Avon River Causeway, the new Windsor Station and new DAR main line all under construction at Windsor September 1970.

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  RDC 9058 or 9059 passing through Windsor, with the new Windsor Station and Avon River Causeway nearing completion October 11, 1970.

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  The new Windsor Station with the old freight shed in the centre and the L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse, Aug. 7, 1973.

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  Train No. 1 at Windsor Station with the L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse to the left and the Avon River Causeway to the right, Aug 17, 1977.

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  Windsor, with CPR Locomotive 8132 and freight train on the Avon River Causeway and a Southern Railroad boxcar parked at the L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse, Oct. 17, 1979.

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  Windsor Station in July 1993.

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  Windsor Station looking west down the Avon River Causeway on August 30, 2011.

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  The L. A. Armstrong Apple Warehouse in Windsor is demolished, November 19, 2019. Windsor's remaining apple warehouse, Dufferin Place (the old B. Sexton Apple Warehouse), seen in background.

References & Footnotes

• Alexander MacNab, Windsor and Annapolis Railway, Report of Alexander MacNab Nov 1, 1873
• 1969 Memorandum of General Information

External Links

• Nova Scotia Archives, zoomable aerial view of Windsor and surrounding area

• Richard Manicom's photo story of Kentville freight Train No. 24 arriving in Windsor switching in the Windsor Railyard to make up the Truro mixed in 1974: Dominion Atlantic Railway Mixed Train Assembly Seen From the Cab Windsor Nova Scotia 1974