Railway Club
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Railway Stage & Beer Café was Vancouver’s longest continually operating nightclub, occupying the same premises uninterrupted from 1931 to 2016,{{Cite web |url=https://vancouversun.com/news/local-news/vancouvers-historic-railway-club-closes |title=Vancouver's historic Railway Club closes |last=Mackie |first=John |date= 29 March 2016 |access-date=4 March 2024}} with a brief re-opening from the winter of 2022 until the spring of 2023.{{Cite news |last=Derdeyn |first=Suart |date=Jul 18, 2023 |title=Vancouver's Railway Club is closing down again |url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/music/vancouvers-railway-club-is-closing-down-again |access-date=11 March 2025 |work=Vancouver Sun}} Three rooms made up the second floor space at the corner of Seymour and Dunsmuir Street. The first was a small room that hosted music seven nights a week. The second was a pub-style space, and the third retained its 1930s look, with brass fittings and a large wooden bar.
History
The club opened in 1932 as "The 7 Railwayman's Club". In the 1930s, the Railway Club limited its membership to the railway workers who worked at the CPR Station (now the Seabus Terminal) down Seymour Street at the waterfront; it later opened up to the general public.
Over the years the 'Rail' hosted many upcoming and local bands as well as some big touring acts. This is where k.d. lang came to public attention,{{cite book|author=Keith McKellar|title=Neon Eulogy: Vancouver Cafe and Street|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=dh_jcmpp-w8C&pg=PA57|year=2001|publisher=Ekstasis Editions|isbn=978-1-896860-92-3|pages=57–}} and Spirit of the West got their start here as well.[https://theprovince.com/entertainment/music/revamped+railway+club+decorated+with+sign+cheeky+radiohead/13268660/story.html "Revamped Railway Club pays homage to disastrous Radiohead show"]. Scott Brown The Province, April 03, 2017 Other bands who have played the Railway include Los Lobos, The Rheostatics, The Tragically Hip, Blue Rodeo, Hard Rock Miners, Barenaked Ladies, Yummy Devils, Grapes of Wrath, Great Big Sea and thousands more.
The Railway Club was closed in 2016, but in April 2017 reopened under new ownership as the Railway Stage & Beer Cafe.[http://www.fyimusicnews.ca/articles/2017/01/31/railway-club-gets-back-track "The Railway Club Gets Back On Track"]. FYI Music News, Jan 31, 2017 by Kerry Doole[https://montrealgazette.com/entertainment/five+things+know+about+railway+stage+beer+caf%C3%A9/13295629/story.html "Five things to know about The Railway Stage and Beer Café"]. Stuart Derdeyn, Vancouver Sun 04.14.2017
After a brief re-opening in 2022, the venue closed again in 2023 and has remained closed since.{{Cite news |last=Derdeyn |first=Stuart |title=Vancouver's Railway Club is closing down again |url=https://vancouversun.com/entertainment/music/vancouvers-railway-club-is-closing-down-again |work=Vancouver Sun}}