Wednesday 29th June 2011

Bob Thompson

This is a quirky location at 579 Dunsmuir Street. It is a true club and costs $10 per annum to join. However, I walked in unchallenged. The club is on a corner site and is on the first floor.

The first room I encountered was where the bands play and there was one on as I walked through to a sort of corridor with a corner bar at the end, see first photo, with band playing at the end.

One side of the bar faced on to a further room which was quieter and where food is served at certain times. Beyond that was the best room with its ornate bar back, see last photo.

The club was originally built for the Canadian Pacific Railway, whose Riverside station was a short distance away, now anyone can join.

As alluded to earlier, there is a lot of live music here and the club is the top venue for up and coming indie bands.

And the beer selection is a good as the music, although I had to look some of these beers up as I'd never come across them previously.

Available on my visit were Railway Club Big Kettle ESB (brewery unknown); Phillips Hop Circle IPA (6.5%) (Victoria, BC), Tree Brewing (Kelowna, BC) Cutthroat Pale Ale (5.0%) and their Thirsty Beaver Amber Ale (5.0%). From the Granville Island Lager in Vancouver were English Bay Pale Ale and. Also from Vancouver the R&B Brewing Co's Raven Cream Ale (4.8%) and Bohemian Lager (5.0%).

Also on offer was Okanagan Spring (Vernon, BC) 1516 Bohemian Lager and Rock Creek Cider from the Big Rock Brewery of Calgary, AB.

I had a couple of pints here as it was my last stop of the day and I was very tired. I noticed that they tapped a cask beer every Tuesday at 17.00, pity I was there on the wrong day!

Important Information:

The Railway Club, 579 Dunsmuir Street, Vancouver BC. V6B 1Y4. Tel: 604 681 1625

Open: Monday 16.00-02.00; Tuesday to Thursday 12.00-02.00; Friday 12.00-03.00;
Saturday 14.00-03.00; Sunday 16.00-24.00

As its location is Downtown, the Club is close to all forms of transport.