About SideTracked Caches
This cache belongs to the SideTracked series. It is not designed to take you to a magical place with a breath taking view. It is a quick stop for the traveler to see a piece of the history and heritage of this place. But, of course, anyone else can go and find it too. More Information can be found at the SideTracked Website
About Bay Roberts Station
Bay Roberts Railway Station
Bay Roberts Railway Station is an early 20th century, two-storey wooden railway building located on land near the former railway tracks.
This Station was built by the Reid Newfoundland Company when the Harbour Grace Line was changed to include this part of Conception Bay. In 1898 a reconfiguration of the branch line, known as the Carbonear Line was constructed from Brigus Junction to Tilton via Brigus, Clarke’s Beach, Bay Roberts and Spaniard’s Bay, and continued on to Carbonear.
The age of the Bay Roberts Railway Station makes it one of the first stations built for the new line.
The construction of the station enabled Bay Roberts to become an important business and commercial centre in Conception Bay North. The town was first founded as a fishing community, and the fishery formed the mainstay of the economy in the 19th and 20th centuries. But, the railway opened the way for transport of freight and passengers province-wide, and the community grew as a result. The station stands today as a rare surviving example of a railway building in a province where the railway no longer exists and related rail buildings have all but vanished from the landscape.
Bay Roberts Railway Station is an unusual example of railway station construction for the region. The wooden, two-storey station, more appropriately called a combination depot, was built by the Reid Newfoundland Company sometime between 1899 and 1908.
It had living quarters on the second floor and facilities for passengers, baggage, freight, and an agent’s office on the first floor. The architecture of the building is directly related to its function as a railway station. It has a protruding bay overlooking the tracks and an enclosed porch on the opposite facade that gave access to the ticket counter inside. The depot was staffed by an agent who lived with his family on the second floor. The building remains in its original form with a steeply pitched roof, wooden clapboard and gable-end windows.
The photo below shows the station in its original location, alongside the street. It has since been moved and the building and property incorporated into the recreation complex. The adjacent freight shed pictured was torn down soon after the line closure in 1982.
Cache is a micro. No need to go inside the fence line. BYOP.