06/04/2026
When Sara "Sadie" McDade retired from the McAdam Railway Station newsstand, the town threw her a party.
Held in the CPR Hotel, the evening brought together colleagues, community members, and CPR officials who lined up to speak in her honour. Telegrams arrived from across the country. The Evans family travelled from Timmins and Worcester, Massachusetts, and Dr. Daniel Evans presented his aunt with a bouquet of American Beauty roses. A toast was proposed and, by all accounts, enthusiastically received.
She had earned every bit of it. From 1920 to 1959, Sadie spent 39 years behind that counter, selling newspapers, Ganong chocolates, gum, to***co, and souvenirs to the hundreds of passengers who rolled through McAdam on up to sixteen trains a day. Travellers heading out on overnight rides could even rent a pillowcase from her before they boarded. She knew what people needed, and she was there every single day to provide it.
That counter is still here. Same wood panelling, same glass cases, holding the very kinds of things she once sold. Her portrait hangs on the wall in that same room, and if you've ever visited the station, you've walked right past her. In her last years, Sadie lived just upstairs in the Girls' Dormitory on the third floor, never far from the place she'd devoted her life to.
The station wasn't just her workplace. It was her home, and we're glad she stayed. 🚂
