Brush Street Station

[Dexlin]

I have some questions about the old Brush Street Station [[Franklin Street Station), an old passenger rail station that stood where the RenCen stands, today. There is one good Hall of Fame thread I looked up here, and mentions across the forum history, but I had some additional questions about this old terminal, and thought I'd pick your brains to see if you might now the answers.

- I've been able to find mention of a deadly fire that destroyed the first Brush Street Station at this site in 1866 [[though, I'm not sure when this station was built, either), but when was the second more "modern" station built? You know, the one that lasted until the RenCen was constructed? Was it built soon after the fire?

- When did Grand Trunk Western Railroad take over operations of the depot and lines to it? I guess this also brings the question of who were the original owners and operators of the first before GTW took over? I see that GTW was formed in 1928, so this station most likely existed decades before GTW was even a thought.

- Finally, while it's pretty clear from old pictures where the long-time station was located, where was the Brush Street Station stop located, exactly, in between the completion of the RenCen and the end of commuter rail service in 1983? The construction of the RenCen would have pushed the commuter stop at least a block to the east, so the stop had to be at least as far east along Franklin Street as Beaubien. How many platforms did the new stop have, and were there any canopies, or was this just an open area? Perhaps there are some old maps from the late 70's/early 80's showing this "new" Brush Street Stations.

1962:



1950's



Some more from various years prior:





BTW, what's the big white elevator and warehouse that loomed over the station?