The Nova Scotia Archives film footage is always fascinating to watch. The film, from about 3:49, depicts scenes from the Intercolonial Railway's North Street Station, including the trainshed where the glass roof collapsed killing many inside. Contrast the images in the film with this photo taken five years earlier inside the trainshed:
The train in the photo is the Dominion Atlantic Railway's Halifax-Yarmouth express
The Flying Bluenose. The photo is from the collection of the Canadian Museum of Science and Technology, photo number STR04089b.
A notable story of survival from North Street Station: DAR general manager George Graham was having breakfast with his family in the railway's business car "Nova Scotia" at the time of the explosion. Graham (and the car) survived the disaster; he made his way out of the wreckage, and walked through the devastation to Rockingham to find a working telegraph line, which he used to order the first relief trains from Kentville.
"Nova Scotia" also survived the demise of the DAR. It was part of a railway-themed restaurant in Orillia for many years. After the business went bankrupt the car was moved in 2012 to the Toronto Railway Museum but I'm not sure what, if any, plans the museum has to preserve the car (which was substantially altered for restaurant use).
There was a reported proposal to return the car to Nova Scotia, which apparently went nowhere. Unfortunate, as it could have been a significant element in the Explosion centennial. I spoke at length to a Herald reporter about the car in 2010 and referred him to other knowledgable sources but, as far as I know, they never produced a story about it. Another example of how indifferent we can be to the preservation of our own history.
The photo of DAR business car "Nova Scotia" was taken in Kentville in 1956. (From the Bud Laws collection on
Trainweb.org.)