Re: (rshsdepot) RR hotel Nashville, TN

[Jay Underwood <jp.underwood_@_ns.sympatico.ca>]

That's  not entirely true. The first stations on the Nova Scotia Railway
(1854-58) appear to have been "designed" by chief engineer James Richardson
Forman, although they were wood-frame buildings that were little more than large
houses with space on the ground floor to accomodate passengers. It is possible
he borrowed from British desiogns, with which he was familiar prior to returning
to Nova Scotia to take up the NSR post.
The North Street station in Halifax NS (1878) that was damaged and later
abandoned after the explosion of December 6, 1917, is credited to chief engineer
Alexander McNab, but it looks to me like he ripped off Snook's design for New
York's first G Central Station, which he had visited shortly after it opened.
Sandford Fleming, as chief engineer of the Pictou branch of the same railroad
(1864-1867) designed the smaller wooden buildings that were used as stations
along the route, but these were not signficant buildings in any way.
It is my belief  this professional "theft" was induced by the government-owned
railway's desire to save money wherever possible. I suspect there were probably
many smaller railroads in the US that exercised the same "cost-effectiveness"!

Jay Underwood
Elmsdale NS

stationman wrote:

> Cheif engineers DO NOT design buildings. Architects do. Thats why achitects
> school for another four years like doctors.


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The Railroad Station Historical Society maintains a database of existing
railroad structures at: http://www.rrshs.org

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