Cranberry Portage Railway Station

Cranberry Portage Railway Station

(1929) is a substantial railway station built by Canadian National Railways in the town (now Local Urban

District) of Cranberry Portage in Manitoba's near North. Clad in stucco, the frame building is supported

by a very substantial poured-in-place concrete foundation. The municipal designation applies to the building.

Cranberry Portage Railway Station is a good example of a railway station that served

for many years as an essential connection point for a fairly remote community. It is also a good example

of a Canadian National "type three" design, with the second-floor station master's residence

and other interior features such as the ticket office and waiting room appointments unusually intact.

The station follows the typical post-1915 "third-class" design, with a two-storey main block

with a hipped roof, and the typical bay window to allow the station master a view up and down the track.

Extending northward from the main block, and parallel to the tracks, is a long rectangle formed by the

baggage room and a substantial two-room freight shed, which was added to the baggage area shortly after

construction. This was crucial, as before the road connection came to Cranberry Portage in 1952, the

station provided the major point of transport and shipping, not only for the town, but also for fur traders,

prospectors, and the mining communities at Copper Lake and Elbow Lake. The station has a high degree

of exterior integrity, and considerable interior integrity, especially in the main block.

Source: R.M.

of Kelsey By-law No. 12/2010, 16 May 2012.

Key

elements that define the exterior heritage character of the Cranberry Portage Railway Station include:

-

the plan, basically a long, narrow oblong, with a small wing projecting to the rear of the main block,

and a small bay window on the platform side

- the massing, with a two-storey block at the south end of

the long single-storey baggage and freight area

- the organization of each façade with its openings

-

the shallow-pitched hipped roofs on both the main and baggage blocks; the extension of the baggage block's

roof across the front of the main block at first-floor level to form an overhang over the platform, supported

by large wooden brackets

- the original rectangular wooden windows, the majority of them sashes with

six panes in the upper sash and two in the lower

- the original exterior wooden doors

- the stucco cladding

Key

elements that define the station's interior include:

- the overall plan, with the ticket office,

waiting room and station-master's residence (on the second floor) in the main two-storey block,

and baggage handling and storage areas in the long-single-storey wing

- the arrangement of rooms in the

main block

- the interior fittings including the staircase and such features as the original ticket window

with decorative brackets supporting the counter

- the varnished fir window and door casings, with simple

profiles; other original fir woodwork; the original interior wood doors; original hardware; some other

original fittings

- the wood floors