Pacific Central Station: Why do so many movies film here?

Here's why so many movies are filmed at this historic train station in Vancouver

The train station was set in big cities like Los Angeles, Boston, New York, San Francisco, and Seattle.

Vancouver's Pacific Central Station played a role both in the city's history and in numerous movies and TV shows, often as a train station in other major cities. FangXiaNuo / Getty Images

This train station has played a role both in Vancouver's history and in numerous movies and TV shows.

The Pacific Central Station, located at 1150 Station Street near Science World, was the western terminus station of the Canadian Northern Pacific Railway, completed in 1919, but it was not the first railway terminus in the area. It neighboured the Great Northern Railway terminus (Union Station) which was demolished in 1965.

While the Pacific Central Station continues to connect travellers to other Canadian provinces and the United States, the train station also has a historical connection to the surrounding neighbourhood, specifically Hogan's Alley.

Some of the first Black residents in Strathcona were railway porters who wanted to find accomodation close to work, and the Pacific Central Station employed many Black men from the neighbourhood.

At the time of the 1940s, employment discrimination limited opportunities for Black people to occupations such as barbering and cooking. Work as a rail porter, though it came with long hours, low pay, discriminatory treatment, and little to no job security, was one of the few employment opportunities available.

Over the years, the train station's appearance has mostly remained the same, with the exception of a neon sign reading "Pacific Central" being added in the 50's; a time when Vancouver twinkled with multitudes of neon lights.

The Pacific Central Station was designed in the beaux-arts style structure and featured a lunch counter, barbershop, and a ticket office that sold tickets for both rail and steamship passages.

Perhaps the station's historic appearance of a granite, brick, and andestite (a volcanic stone from a quarry on Haddington Island located off of the northeast coast of Vancouver Island) exterior and embellished, classic interiors with ceiling mouldings, skylights, a smooth stone frontage, and Doric columns at the entrance make it so attractive to film sets.

In Hollywood North, the train station was set in various megalopolis' such as Los Angeles, Boston, Portland, New York as Penn Station, New Jersey as Newark Penn Station, San Francisco, and Seattle.

These are all the movies and TV shows that filmed at this historic train station: