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With the building of the railway to Maniwaki between 1890 and 1903, stations were built in the larger villages such as Chelsea, Wakefield, Low, Venosta, Kazabazua, and Gracefield. The Ottawa and Gatineau Valley Railway (O&GVR;) built one-and-a-half storey structures with steep-gabled roofs. These stations could accommodate the agents' living quarters and waiting rooms. The design did not provide for a freight section. Instead, for this purpose the company built a substantial separate building that stood directly beside the main building along the tracks. To economize, the company used the same architectural design, sometimes with minor alterations, depending on the need.
Two of these freight sheds survive: one next to the Venosta station, still located on the right-of-way, and the other moved from the Low station to a site next to the St-Jean store on Highway 105 in Low.
Waiting for train at Kirk‘s ferry Waiting for the train at Kirk's Ferry c. 1925

Other communities were provided with something less substantial, which in most cases did not include an agent. These stations would have a caretaker who opened and closed the station when required and looked after heating. Still others were provided with flag stations. These stations were buildings that provided nothing more than shelter (unheated) from the elements. These did not have a regularly scheduled stop, but did permit passengers to request a stop closer to their final destination. All they had to do was flag the train down or ask the conductor to stop the train there to let them off. Flags were provided in the stations, but often disappeared. Travellers then had to resort to using something they were carrying or had in their baggage or just waving frantically, hoping the engineer would understand that they wanted to get on.

When the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) leased the O&GVR in 1903 (by then the O&GVR was known as the Ottawa Northern and Western), it continued to use the stations that had been built by the O&GVR. Time takes its toll, however, and several stations had to be replaced for a variety of reasons. When this happened, the CPR used its standard designs, making minor alterations when needed to suit local conditions. Gracefield‘s station burned in 1926 and was replaced by a CPR-designed building that survived into the mid-1960s. Wakefield station was demolished in 1929 to provide more room for freight trackage across from Orme‘s Bakery (where the turntable is now). The station that now houses a restaurant was built to replace it.

Other villages that eventually had CPR-designed stations included Cascades, Blue Sea, Messines (originally called Burbidge), and Maniwaki. The Blue Sea, Messines, and Maniwaki stations were built after the CPR leased the line and finally completed construction between Gracefield and Maniwaki.

The CPR also used its own designs when replacing or adding new flag stations. The most frequently used structure consisted of a small room with a veranda. It was of a size that could be conveniently placed on a railway flatcar and moved to the chosen site, and then moved again as passenger demands changed. A few of them survive behind houses and barns, and are now used mainly as storage buildings.

With the abandonment of passenger service in January 1963 most of the Gatineau railway stations were no longer required. Some were torn down or sold, but a few of the larger ones remained in service until the mid-1960s for the handling of orders for freight and express services. The CPR then introduced a centralised customer service in Ottawa and most of the few remaining stations were soon torn down. In 1986, the line north of Wakefield was abandoned all together. Only two stations remain standing: Wakefield as a restaurant and Venosta as a private residence for the section foreman.

The Gatineau railway eased the rigours of travel and also provided the valley with some interesting station designs. The method of travel has come full circle, albeit with much greater speed, as roads have replaced the railway. Nonetheless, part of the Gatineau railway survives, giving us a picture of what it was once like to travel up the valley by train. The few remaining stations add to this and provide a hint of how important the railway was to the local economy and the small communities it served.

Ironsides

Flag station, siding for the mine, named for the Hull Iron Mine. A deposit of magnetic iron ore had been known since 1826 when the Hull Mining Company was formed to operate it.

Chelsea
Thomas Brigham and his nephew, T.B. Prentiss, both came from Chelsea, Vermont and it is believed that this inspired the name of the two Chelseas. Chelsea station was torn down in 1970 but used to be a busy, well-kept depot. Senator Connolly reminisces: "No one could forget the gardener at the station, Mr. Merrifield. 1 suppose the CPR paid him but the station garden was his own, a thing of beauty and he guarded it with his life. Not even Sir William Van Horne could have trespassed on its lawns without a warning from Mr. Merrifield."
Chelsea Station