Pictures/information on the Gare Du Palais in Quebec City...

Everyone: I am looking for pictures/information on VIA Rail's Gare Du Palais station in Quebec City if anyone has them to post. Any history would be welcome...
I remember reading that this station has high-level platforms-how old are they?
I visited Quebec City in September 1985 and VIA was using the Ste-Foy station back then-with a pay-extra CTCUQ bus connection into the Walled City to the Chateau Frontenac.
What years was this station closed in favor of Ste-Foy?
I remember that trains also ran on the S shore of the St.Lawrence River and stopped at Levis also with a ferry connection.
Thanks to all in advance-MACTRAXX
P.S. Can this be connected to the Canadian Railfan section also?

In October 1976 Gare du Palais closed and VIA CN (as it was known then) moved all their train 13 miles out to suburban Ste. Foy. CP moved their trains to as small facility at Ste. Sacrement St. closer to downtown and the line to Gare du Palais was abandoned.

Over the next 9 years work began on restoring service to Gare du Palais. Most CN trains had used the CP line which approached the station from the west. All trains would now utilize the CN line across the northern suburbs and approach the restored station from the north. This required the track alignment to be turned 90 deg.

A fully enclosed “Train Garage” was built below the new Palais du Justice and Government office towers adjacent to the restored station. Trains now actually enter a building and roll-up overhead doors can be closed across the ends of the tracks. There are several tracks inside with high-level platforms.

Trains returned to beautifully restored Gare du Palais in November 1985. The Inter-city bus terminal is now also part of the complex.

MACTRAXX wrote:I remember that trains also ran on the S shore of the St.Lawrence River and stopped at Levis also with a ferry connection.

The CN line along the southshore of the St. Lawrence River and the station at Levis were abandoned in 1998. VIA trains to/from Gaspe and Halifax now stop at Charny for Quebec passengers (....there’s a shuttle) and use the freight by-pass line through Joffre Yard between West Jct. and St. Charles.

Levis had been very convenient as the ferry boat over to Quebec boarded right at the station.

Here's a couple of shots of Gare du Palais on our last trip to Quebec City.

Great info. Can anyone describe or map out what route the old tracks took into the station? It looks like that area has now been developed as I can't really picture it on Google Maps.

Also, were the old tracks to the west at ground level with a train shed?

chriskay wrote:Great info. Can anyone describe or map out what route the old tracks took into the station? It looks like that area has now been developed as I can't really picture it on Google Maps.

Also, were the old tracks to the west at ground level with a train shed?

The tracks to the west, almost 90 degs. to the alignment now, had platforms at ground level with canopies. Here's a link to a map of the station area and click the link on that page for more photos.

http://pages.globetrotter.net/burridge/ ... ALAIS_MAIN

Thanks for the good info,everyone!

It looks like I missed the re-opening of the Gare Du Palais by just a couple of months in late 1985 - it looks like it was a definite improvement over the Ste-Foy terminus.

Another question I have is: Did the Gare Du Palais have high platforms originally or were they built for the resumption of service in late 1985?

MACTRAXX

MACTRAXX wrote:Thanks for the good info,everyone!

It looks like I missed the re-opening of the Gare Du Palais by just a couple of months in late 1985 - it looks like it was a definite improvement over the Ste-Foy terminus.

Another question I have is: Did the Gare Du Palais have high platforms originally or were they built for the resumption of service in late 1985?

MACTRAXX

High level platforms were new in for the resumption of service. See the post above for a link to pictures of the original low level platforms.

I remember the re-opening in 1985 well. My wife and I were on holiday to Quebec City and decided, rather than travelling on the LRC than ran via the South Shore,
to travel on the Dayliner that ran via Trois Rivieres on the CP North Shore route. It was interesting as we were towed through the tunnel in Montreal by a pair of the dearly missed CN boxcabs. The south shore LRC was supposed to be the first train into the reopened, rehabed station, with tons of politicians and vips, with the train breaking a ribbon, etc. with all the pomp and circumstance that an event like that entails.
One problem developed was that the south shore train got about 45 minutes late much to their chargrin. The north shore dayliner was running about 20 minutes early. They made us wait at the one junction west of town (sorry the junction name escapes me) for almost an hour as I guess they didn't want our single RDC being the train to break the banner which probably would have caused some embarassment if it had been the first train officially back in the revamped station.

miklin wrote:They made us wait at the one junction west of town (sorry the junction name escapes me) for almost an hour as I guess they didn't want our single RDC being the train to break the banner which probably would have caused some embarassment if it had been the first train officially back in the revamped station.

That is hilarious.

On a related matter, can anyone tell me what the running time to Montreal of north shore vs. south shore difference was? Has there been any (serious) talk of reviving a north shore route in order to hit Trois-Rivières?