Kentville

Kentville, Nova Scotia

Kentville with its station, rail yard and shops in 1871 at the dawn of the railway era in the town.

• Halifax Subdivision (from Windsor Junction) Mile 56.16, (from Halifax) Mile 72.38. Next Station East: New Minas
• Subdivision Kentville, Mile 0. Next Station West: Coldbrook
• Subdivision Kingsport and Spur Track D Kingsport, Mile 0. Next Station North: Aldershot

Description & History

Kentville was the headquarters of railway activity in the Annapolis Valley for over a century. The Windsor and Annapolis Railway established their operational headquarters here in 1868. The amalgamation in 1894 of the Windsor and Annapolis Railway and the Western Counties Railway led to the formation of the Dominion Atlantic Railway which centred the operation of the new and larger railway network in Kentville. (Offical corporate headquarters for the Windsor and Annapolis and the DAR were located in London, England prior to 1911. After the 1911 lease to Canadian Pacific Railway, corporate headquarters was moved from London to Montreal, but day to day operational headquarters remained firmly in Kentville.) The DAR presence in Kentville grew to occupy a long stretch of the banks of the Cornwallis River in downtown Kentville with expanding railway yards, shops and a station complex which included the operational offices of the line. By 1912, it was estimated that over one third of the population of Kentville worked for the DAR or belonged to families of DAR employees. The railway transformed what had been a small crossroads settlement, known for stage coach inns and horse races, into the leading town of the Annapolis Valley. Kentville hosted not only the railway's extensive operation, but multiple industries such as food processing, a foundry, carriage works and even a small automobile manufacturer, as well as an extensive retail district with a grand railway hotel. In addition, Kentville was chosen as the location for the military base at Camp Aldershot and the Provincial Sanatorium because of the town's railway travel connections. The town's railway presence and prosperity peaked in the 1940s. A long and slow decline began in the 1950s as broader economic changes eroded the prosperity of the railway and the industrial and retail base of Kentville. Railway traffic and employment declined steadily, and then fell abruptly in the later 1980s. This was reflected in the railway facilities in Kentville which withered in the 1990s, beginning with the demolition of the landmark Kentville Station, followed by the gradual abandonment of the railyards and the final closure of the Kentville shops and the abandonment of the rail connection to Kentville in October 1993.

Facilities & Features

Kentville Station, Roundhouse, Coaling Tower, Cornwallis Inn, Bridges and More!

Please Click on the title for extensive listing of featured facilities.

Commerce & Industry

• Canada Foods Plant
• British Canadian Fruit Association Kentville warehouse
• P. R. Ritcey

Gallery

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  Kentville_Railyard in 1871, the earliest known image, looking west.

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  Kentville Circa 1872.

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  W&AR Kentville Engine House and Lightning circa 1872.

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  Bird's Eve View of Kentville Nova Scotia 1879‎‎

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  Kentville Yard and station looking west circa 1890s.

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  Excavation at Kentville with Windsor and Annapolis Railway flat car No. 84, probably leveling of the hill which became the Cornwallis Inn, circa 1890.

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  Kentville, circa 1896, with Kentville Railyard, Kentville Car Shop, Kentville Station and the Aberdeen Hotel.

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  Church Street, Kentville, circa 1900, with Kentville Station platforms to right and the T. L. Dodge hardware store to left.

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  Kentville circa 1900.

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  Kentville Station, Freight Shed, car Shop, River Street and the sanitarium in the distance, probably taken from steeple of the Presbyterian Church, corner of Aberdeen and Webster Streets, circa 1910.

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  Kentville Station east platform & Aberdeen Street, about 1905 with T. L. Dodge hardware store

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  The eastbound Flying Bluenose at Elderkin Creek nearing New Minas with Kentville in the background.

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  Track schematic for Kentville, circa 1920.

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  Topographic map from Berwick to Kentville circa 1956.

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  Topographic map from Kentville to Hortons Landing circa 1956.

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  Kentville Station 1967 & you can see a set of over head railway crossing lights.

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  Kentville looking east to the station, 1950s.

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  Kentville looking west to the roundhouse, 1950s.

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  Lake Annis station, arriving at Kentville to be used as a maintenance shed, November 18, 1962.

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  The Confederation Train parked at Aberdeen Street level crossing, Kentville with the P. R. Ritcey Company in centre, October 1967.

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  Kentville Railyard with north yard tracks to left and the mainline on right, plus the Kentville Roundhouse, the Kentville Coaling Tower, the Kentville Car Shop, the Kentville Repair Shop and the Kentville Station, 1977.

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  Kentville Railyard, with left to right: corner of Kentville Roundhouse, CPR Van 437345, DAR scrap line, snow plows, Car Shop, Coaling Tower, Repair Shop, Kentville Station and the Kentville Track Scale, May 26, 1977.

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  Air photo Kentville and DAR railyard, 1970s.

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  Track plan of Kentville Railyard and spurs, 1974.

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  Map of town of Kentville and and DAR railyard, 1980s.

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  Air photo of Kentville Railyard, June 21, 1987.

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  Kentville Railyard composite photo with the Kentville Coaling Tower, Kentville Car Shop and the Kentville Repair Shop, October 1990.

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  DAR mainline tracks at Kentville along West Main Street looking east, 1991.

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  DAR mainline tracks at Kentville at the end of West Main Street looking west, 1991.

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  Kentville looking east from West Main Street crossing with the Canada Foods Plant, the roundhouse, car shop and yard tracks, 1992.

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  Kentville sign board, as viewed from Coldbrook, July 1993.

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  Kentville Railyard site looking south, l to r: the British Canadian Fruit Association Kentville warehouse, W.J. Burrell's Machine Shop and the Kentville Roundhouse.May 10, 2006.

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  The Kings County Museum, 2008 with the locomotive wheel display recovered from the Kentville Railyard.

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, "Built Heritage", Zoomable air view of Kentville rail yards, car shops, and locomotive shop, circa 1896.
• Nova Scotia Archives, "Nova Scotia from the Air", Twenty zoomable views of Kentville showing rail yards and associated structures, 1931.
• Nova Scotia Archives, "Nova Scotia Information Service", Good zoomable air view of Kentville station, car shops, rail yard, and back road siding, circa 1960.
• Dominion Atlantic Railway at Wikipedia
• History of Railway Companies in Nova Scotia
• Kentville Roundhouse
• Ed Coleman, "Railway Notes: Wolfville vs Kentville", Kentville Advertiser, September 5, 2017