Kentville Freight Shed

The freight shed in Kentville began as a board and batten neoclassical structure built by the Windsor and Annapolis Railway on the south on the main line. It served as both station and freight shed in the first year of the line's operation until the Kentville Station was completed just across the tracks on the north side. The shed was is 30' x 24' with a basement,. It included two weight scales, one inside for small articles and one on the platform for weighing carts and heavier freight.^[1] By 1874, the freight shed had been extended and was described as 50' x 20', served by a team track and freight siding served the shed on the western side with a 260' x 12' platform.^[2]. The shed was expanded with eastward expansions several times, including a major 1890 rebuild as freight and express traffic boomed.^[3] A further expansion just before or during the First World War added a gothic window, possibly taken from the small Cornwallis Valley Railway station, formerly located behind the main Kentville Station. The entire freight shed was moved westward several hundred feet in the 1920s to make room for gardens facing the station. The shed served as the base for DAR Express Trucks used to deliver freight in the 1920s, 30s and 40s. The wooden shed was demolished and replaced on August 7, 1954 with a large aluminium sided freight shed directly across from the station with large truck ramps for CP piggyback and Smith Transport service.^[4] This shed served until nearly the end of rail operations in Kentville and was demolished in the fall of 1990.^[5]

Gallery

The first recorded photo of the Kentville Station taken in August 1869, also showing the Freight Shed and Car Shop.
The first freight shed on the far left, facing the Station July 27, 1871.
Bird's Eve View of Kentville Nova Scotia 1879‎‎: detail showing W&AR Kentville Station and Freight Shed, 1879.
The expanded shed circa 1890.
The shed in 1900. Note the small Kentville CVR Station to the right of the main station.
The Kentville Station and Freight Shed, with glimpses of the CVR Station behind, photographed by A.L. Hardy, circa 1905.
Kentville Freight Shed depicted on new mural on former Oyler/P.R. Ritcey warehouse, Kentville, July 15, 2013.
Kentville Station with parlour car Haligonian or Mayflower; Kentville Freight Shed and Car Shop, after 1904 addition.
Kentville Station and shed circa 1904-1914.
The Kentville Freight Shed with its new gothic window, across from the Kentville Station, with the Kentville Car Shop in distance, circa 1910.
DAR locomotive No. 32 at the Kentville Station with the Kentville Freight Shed, December 1915.
Troops from Aldershot at the Kentville Station with the Kentville Freight Shed, awaiting arrival of a special recruiting train, March 11, 1916.
Kentville Freight Shed with train crew and station staff, circa 1920s.
Panoramic view of Kentville with the Kentville Railyard, the Freight Shed, the BCFA apple warehouse, the Niagara Dust Company, the Freight Shed and the Kentville Station, 1922.
Kentville Freight Shed with DAR express trucks, drivers and staff, 1939.
DAR Express Trucks at the Kentville Freight Shed, 1941.
Kentville Railyard, July 1958, showing the new 1954 freight shed in the distance at the centre right.
Kentville Railyard looking east with the Kentville Station and the Kentville Freight Shed, 1967.
Station with the 1954 freight shed just visible through the trees to the left, July 20, 1967.
RDC 9059 at the Kentville Station with the Kentville Freight Shed, Era ~1970
West wall of the Freight Shed is visible in the distance to the right of the Diesel shop, formerly the car shop on August 17, 1977.
Albert "Shine" Manning at the Kentville Station with the new Kentville Freight Shed, between 1982 & 1990.