A Faded Glory (Page 3)

And perhaps the most incredible reminder of the grandeur of rail travel during the golden age of rail in Canada. If you have ever travelled by rail into, out of or through Toronto, you have more than likely passed through Toronto’s Union Station. While the railways that operate out of Union Station have changed since its inception, it remains a proper Union station with five railways continuing to call at the city. But the station we have today is the third Union Station in Toronto. But its location has been connected to the railway since the first years of the railroad in Ontario. The stripRead More →

I have encountered certain subjects that have proven challenging to find a clear history throughout this project. Then there’s the London & Port Stanley Railroad Port Stanley Station, which has little information online about the history of the building. In contrast, there is plenty of history about the railway but little about the Port Stanley station. I would not be surprised if you have not heard of the London & Port Stanley Railway. The railway was among the first railways to form in the first railway boom of the 1850s. But it never had any significant publicity because it only ran from London to PortRead More →

While most people who visit St. Thomas will be immediately drawn to the beautiful Italianate station, it certainly gave the Canadian Southern Railway a strong presence in the community. As part of the deal with the town, Canadian Southern secured a 310-acre site which a single station did not need. Most of the site would become home to the only maintenance yard on the CASO network, and steam locomotives required far more maintenance than diesel-electric. Construction of the yards began in 1871 with construction on the mainline. While most of the yard would be filled with a vast maze of tracks for storing, staging, andRead More →

If you have ever driven into and out of St. Thomas on the western side of Railroad City, there is a good chance you’ve seen the hulking rail bridge soaring high above the valley and river below. For nearly a century now, the Kettle Creek Bridge has been a significant landmark in the region, and while today it no longer serves the railroad, it continues to be an icon of the once central railway hub. The current Kettle Creek Bridge is the third bridge to span the Kettle Creek valley. When Canadian Southern came through in 1871, the valley presented a significant obstacle. Sending aRead More →

Since the earliest day of the railway in Ontario, most controls lay with Canadian and British investors with some American investments. The biggest block for American rail in Canada was the requirement in the early days to have the lines built to Provincial Gauge to allow for Government money to support the construction and operation. But in 1873, the Federal Government took that requirement off the Railroad Act. This action and need for a native standard gauge railway saw the arrival of the only wholly American-owned railway, the Canadian Southern Railway, with CASO’s most excellent sounding reporting mark. Initially chartered in 1868 as the ErieRead More →

When looking for train stations in Woodstock, most people are quick to point you in the direction of the VIA station. While it certainly gets the most attention, a second station has sat on the other side of the downtown and remains in operation today. Thanks to the members of John Cowen’s Classic Railfan group on Facebook for filling in some of the gaps in this station’s history. When the Credit Valley Railway was chartered in the 1870s, its primary goal was to construct a line from Toronto to Orangeville. The completion of the Canadian Southern Railway line saw the backers of Credit Valley lookRead More →

The Woodstock station is one of the more unique stations I’ve found through this project. Among them is the VIA station that serves Woodstock. In addition to the shape and style of the station, it is also interesting that it was built by Grand Trunk but remained under the Great Western Name for the first decade in service and sits today as one of the few remaining Gothic Revival stations in Ontario. And it seems a bit out of place, outside of the downtown and not that close to anything. A rail line through Woodstock had been on the books since 1834 during the earliestRead More →

One such location that gave me a bit of trouble with research is the old Grand Trunk Railway station in Goderich. Sitting next to the rails it once served yet still within sight of the downtown; this old station remains a bit of mystery still today. When it comes to the history of the railroad in Goderich, it is a bit muddy. The railroad first came to Goderich in the form of an idea; economic forces joined with peers from Brantford and Buffalo to build a line that ran between the three locations in response to the lack of commitment from Great Western and GrandRead More →

Standing proudly at the edge of Ontario’s west coast, looking out over the beach, is a beautiful brick structure with an oversized patio and plenty of setting room. There’s no disguising that Goderich’s Beach Street Station is a former train station, as shown by the number of railway memorabilia and signage around the station. When the Guelph & Goderich Railway was completed, it terminated at the Goderich Harbour. The harbour has a long history with the railroad being expanded many times throughout history to accommodate larger lake ships and when Buffalo & Lake Huron showed up in the 1850s rail ferries. But these early railwaysRead More →

Sitting in the shadow of the Old Mill Leather Store sits a red building; it looks shabby, with peeling paint and shingles. Still, it stands as one of the few surviving stations of the Canadian Pacific branch line that operated for only a short 82 years, bringing freight and passengers between Guelph and Goderich as a direct competitor to the Grand Trunk and later Canadian National lines. The first railway to pass through Blyth came in 1876 with the Lake Huron & Brantford Railway; However, it would eventually fall to Grand Trunk. It offered little to the community until the 20th Century, the only railwayRead More →