The Railway Club
by Sara Bucci
The Railway Club is Vancouver’s longest continuously occupied nightclub and comes with a very colourful past. The club is located at 579 Dunsmuir St., at the corner of Seymour St. and occupies the upper level of the Laursen Building which was built in 1926. The Laursen Building (which is registered as the Lawsen building in the City of Vancouver archives, but has been listed in all directories as far back as 1927 as the Laursen Building) was the location of many short lived business fronts. The Pacific Great Eastern Railway (listed as PGE Rly), to a tailor shop (Pacific Clothing Co., run by Mrs. EJ Vivian, and Mrs. EJ Croll), to the European Concert Café all occupied a number of commercial units in the building. However on New Year’s Eve, 1931 The Railwaymen’s Club was opened on the top color and has occupied this location ever since.
The club was a member’s only establishment, open solely to railway construction workers; these men worked for the Canadian Pacific Rail Station – the current location of a Seabus terminal – and were barred from entering the nearby Engineer’s Club which was solely open to railway engineers. In response, the construction workers opened a club of their own two blocks from their work, and called it the Railwaymen’s Club, now barring the engineers from entering. The club from here on out was run by various people in many different manners. One woman, Dagny Forslund was infamous for running the club as a gambling saloon from 1971-1980. Bob Williams and his family took over the location and ran it with the help of his family from 1980 - 2008. In this time a transformation occurred changing the Railwaymen’s Club, a smoky watering hole with members-only entrance well into the 1950’s, to a gritty musical hot spot which also led to a shortened name – the Railway Club.
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Notorious for taking risks on new acts and breaking in numerous bands to a Canadian audience, the bar has become much loved among the musical community and has become a staple of the local and out-of-town music scene, hosting the likes of The Barenaked Ladies, the Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, and Radiohead during its time. The dedication the music community feels towards this landmark has been appropriately translated into a song called ‘Our Station’ by Spirit of the West.
While little to nothing remains of the old Railwaymen’s Club, it has acquired a comfortable, patchwork vibe in its old age. The club currently consists of three rooms – two bars (one space is an old jeweller’s shop that was acquired in 1988, and the bar top and fixtures in the second room were bought from another bar which was going out of business – this room also houses the small kitchen and dining room) and the main theatre room which is furnished with tables, chairs, speakers, lighting, and a stage. Even without the old fixtures and dining room it is easy to imagine groups of railway workers stopping by for a pint during their lunch hours or after work, sitting together and smoking, while looking out the many windows from their second floor vantage point to the railways yards a couple blocks away.
The many signed pictures on the walls attest to the love this establishment has received from all kinds of people within the musical community, and the dark dining room has many interesting things to discover on the walls and ceiling. The brass statue of a lion plays a saxophone, a trumpet and French horn hang by the bar, with twinkling lights lining the ceiling. And while most if not all of the decorations from the original Railwaymen’s Club has been updated (albeit the update must have occurred quite some time ago as it is in no way a modern club), the space still pays homage to its roots, with a miniature electric train running around the ceiling, and a sign hanging over the small kitchen readings ‘Dining Cart’. Furthermore a faint whiff of smoke can be scented in the air from the many years past when day and night railwaymen and other guests could be found sitting at the bar enjoying a smoke and some conversation and music. The worn felt bar stools, polished wood bar, with a crowded bar-back and creaky wood stairs remind patrons of the club’s long history and harken back to its earlier days.
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The space below the Railway Club is currently occupied by a 7-Eleven, and previous to that a Sport Mart. This space (and the entire Laursen Building in general) as always been a commercial building housing various businesses, but the Railway Club is the longest continually occupying business the building has had. The history of the Railway Club is fairly quiet – it was very simply just a bar, with membership only entrance that was created as somewhat of a snub or in response to an equally as exclusive club, the Engineer’s Club. It has opened after prohibition was lifted from the city, and though there is a small mention of gambling in the 1950’s, there are no records of the building or business to be found in the city archives outside of the mention of the name, a picture, and one registered membership card. And so perhaps the most historically important fact is that the Railway Club is the city’s longest continually occupied club that was open solely to those individuals who were very important to the building and maintaining of the city due to their working on the railways. The railways being a driving force in Vancouver and indeed Canada at the time makes the study of this establishment, which catered to those individuals who were so essential but also somewhat underappreciated, a worthwhile endeavour. However it is impossible to forget or exclude the musical history that comes later in the club’s timeline. The sheer mass of musical talent that has been welcomed to this location, along with the dedication it takes to ensure that there is a fresh sound on the stage every single night of the week which cannot and should not be overlooked regardless of the fact that it has occurred later in the clubs history, during more modern times. The Railway Club has historical significance to more than one group of people, and it is what makes this legendary place great and is the reason it was honoured with a Places that Matter plaque in 2012.
[Image from Changing Vancouver: http://changingvancouver.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/the-railway-club-dunsmuir-and-seymour/
Bibliography – Books
Davis, Chuck
1976 The Vancouver Book. J.J.Douglas, North Vancouver.
Davis, Chuck
1997 The Greater Vancouver book: an urban encyclopedia. Linkman Press, Surrey.
Goodchild, Fred H.
1951 British Columbia: its history, people and industry. Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest.
Lipton, Charles
1978 The trade union movement of Canada: 1827-1959. NC Press, Toronto.
Roy, Patricia
1980 Vancouver: an illustrated history. J. Lorimer, Toronto.
Thornhill, John Bensley
1913 British Columbia in the Making. Constable, London.
Bibliography – Websites
Changing Vancouver
No date. The Railway Club – Dunsmuir and Seymour. Electronic document, http://changingvancouver.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/the-railway-club-dunsmuir-and-seymour/, accessed March 17, 2013.
Chapman, Aaron
2006 Straight – Know your history – The Railway Club. Electronic document, http://www.straight.com/know-your-history-railway-club, accessed March 5, 2013.
City of Vancouver Archives
No date. Archive listing – the Railwaymen’s Club (Vancouver, B.C.). Electronic document, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/railwaymens-club-vancouver-b-c, accessed March 15, 2013.
City of Vancouver Archives
No date. Railwaymen’s Club membership card. Electronic document, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/membership-card-2;rad, accessed March 17,2013.
Kalinina, Julia
2012 The Snipe News – The Railway Club. Electronic document, http://www.thesnipenews.com/vancouver/railway-club-history/, accessed March 17, 2013.
Rossi, Cheryl
2012 Vancouver Courier – Long-running Railway Club honoured. Electronic document, http://www.vancourier.com/Long+running+Railway+Club+honoured/7719517/story.html, accessed March 5, 2013.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation
No date Places that Matter plaque program. Electronic document, http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/special-projects/places-that-matter-plaque-project/, accessed March 20, 2013.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation
2012 Vancouver is Awesome – the Railway Club. Electronic document, http://vancouverisawesome.com/2012/12/05/vancouver-heritage-foundation-weekly-the-railway-club/, accessed March 5, 2013.
Davis, Chuck
1976 The Vancouver Book. J.J.Douglas, North Vancouver.
Davis, Chuck
1997 The Greater Vancouver book: an urban encyclopedia. Linkman Press, Surrey.
Goodchild, Fred H.
1951 British Columbia: its history, people and industry. Allen and Unwin, Crows Nest.
Lipton, Charles
1978 The trade union movement of Canada: 1827-1959. NC Press, Toronto.
Roy, Patricia
1980 Vancouver: an illustrated history. J. Lorimer, Toronto.
Thornhill, John Bensley
1913 British Columbia in the Making. Constable, London.
Bibliography – Websites
Changing Vancouver
No date. The Railway Club – Dunsmuir and Seymour. Electronic document, http://changingvancouver.wordpress.com/2012/09/01/the-railway-club-dunsmuir-and-seymour/, accessed March 17, 2013.
Chapman, Aaron
2006 Straight – Know your history – The Railway Club. Electronic document, http://www.straight.com/know-your-history-railway-club, accessed March 5, 2013.
City of Vancouver Archives
No date. Archive listing – the Railwaymen’s Club (Vancouver, B.C.). Electronic document, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/railwaymens-club-vancouver-b-c, accessed March 15, 2013.
City of Vancouver Archives
No date. Railwaymen’s Club membership card. Electronic document, http://searcharchives.vancouver.ca/membership-card-2;rad, accessed March 17,2013.
Kalinina, Julia
2012 The Snipe News – The Railway Club. Electronic document, http://www.thesnipenews.com/vancouver/railway-club-history/, accessed March 17, 2013.
Rossi, Cheryl
2012 Vancouver Courier – Long-running Railway Club honoured. Electronic document, http://www.vancourier.com/Long+running+Railway+Club+honoured/7719517/story.html, accessed March 5, 2013.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation
No date Places that Matter plaque program. Electronic document, http://www.vancouverheritagefoundation.org/special-projects/places-that-matter-plaque-project/, accessed March 20, 2013.
Vancouver Heritage Foundation
2012 Vancouver is Awesome – the Railway Club. Electronic document, http://vancouverisawesome.com/2012/12/05/vancouver-heritage-foundation-weekly-the-railway-club/, accessed March 5, 2013.