Portal to the Online Railway Photos of Canadian Archives
Thomas Charles Sorby, architect

Introduction

Thomas Charles Sorby (1836-1924) was a British born and trained architect who emigrated to Canada in 1883. He carried out many projects for the C.P.R. Using the online images from various archives, this article illustrates many of his railway works in various Canadian locations.

Field, B.C.

Buck, p. 59: «Van Horne also wanted the CPR to accommodate tourists at their destinations. To this end, a series of hotels were constructed in British Columbia beginning in 1886. The first were wooden buildings resembling Swiss chalets, designed by Thomas Sorby of Montréal. Examples were built at Field (Mount Stephen House), a divisional point at the bottom of the Big Hill; Glacier (Glacier House), near the Illecillewaet glacier on the west side of Rogers Pass, just before the Loops; and North Bend (Fraser Canyon House), another divisional point, with a spectacular view of the Fraser Canyon. Each building contained fifteen bedrooms, some of which were used by staff initially. In spite of their diminuative size, these hotels has spacious dinning-rooms, and at first were used to supplement the dining-car service.»

Glacier, B.C.

Glacier House Hotel had a decorative fountain imported from Montréal and a black bear appropriated by the staff.

North Bend, B.C.

All three of the above destinations proved to be very popular. Their facilities were therefore expanded, especially Mount Stephen House and Glacier House and, to a lesser extent, Fraser Canyon House.

Vancouver, B.C.

Buck, p. 59: «The CPR constructed larger hotels with some of the proceeds from the sale of town lots to immigrants. The first was the Hotel Vancouver completed in 1887...The Hotel Vancouver, an austere, six-storey brick and masonry structure, was designed by Thomas Sorby...»

Additional wings were subsequently added to meet the growing demand:

Buck, p. 115: «The capacity of the Hotel Vancouver proved inadequate over time, and there were complaints that some of the older rooms were uncomfortable. In consequence, a new building was designed by Walter Painter...to replace the old hotel...and was finished in 1916...» The old structure was demolished in 1949.
Finally we point out this sketch of the hotel. When compared to this section's top image of the actual building, there are some notable differences. Can't help wondering then if this might be a concept drawing that Sorby presented to the CPR.

Sorby also did some work for Harry Abbott on the C.P.R. terminal & offices at Burrard Inlet from 1886 to 1888.

The station "soon proved to be far too small for the volume of traffic" (Buck, p. 52: ) and was replaced in 1898 by the château-style station designed by the Maxwell brothers.

Winnipeg, Man.

Lavallée, p. 87: «One of the first major station structures to be constructed by the CPR was the brick station at Winnipeg, erected in 1882 or 1883. This photograph taken in 1884 shows a train ready to depart for the west, the end of track than being in the Kicking Horse Valley in British Columbia. This station was gutted in a fire on March 1st 1886, but was rebuilt in slightly different style utilizing those parts of the original walls that remained standing. The crossing in the foreground is Main Street, the building occupying the site later taken for the Royal Alexandra Hotel. The wooden building just beyond the station is the "C.P.Ry. Dining Station"»

The documents supporting Sorby's work on the station are dated 8 & 29 Sept. 1886. Thus it would appear that Sorby was involved with its reconstruction following the fire.

References

  1. Buck, G.H. (1997), From Summit to Sea: An Illustrated History of Railroads in British Columbia and Alberta, Fifth House Ltd., Calgary, ISBN 1-895618-94-0.
  2. Hill, R.G. (2016), Biographical Dictionary of ARCHITECTS IN CANADA 1800 - 1950, Sorby, Thomas Charles.
  3. Lavallée, O. (2007), Van Horne's Road: the Building of the Canadian Pacific Railway, Railfare Enterprises Limited, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 978-1-897252-36-9.
  4. Wikipedia (2017), Thomas Charles Sorby, last modified on 30 March 2017, at 19:32.

Last Updated April 24 2026, at 08:09:59 MDT ⚫ Visitor #