Don station

Don railway station was built in 1896 by the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) on the western bank of the Don River at the south side of Queen Street[2] in Toronto.

Don
Original station location at Queen Street in 1910
General information
LocationQueen Street East
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°39′27″N 79°21′16″W
Distance2 miles (3.2 km) to Union Station[1]
Other information
StatusBuilding relocated
History
Opened1896
Closed1967
Former services
Preceding station Canadian National Railway Following station
Toronto
Terminus
 Capreol – Toronto Oriole
toward Capreol
Preceding station Canadian Pacific Railway Following station
Toronto
toward Detroit
 Detroit – Montreal Leaside
toward Montreal Windsor

History

Permission was given to the CPR to build a branch line (Don Branch) from Leaside to downtown Toronto.[3] In 1892 the railway company completed construction of the line and the Don Station opened for business in February 1896.[4]

A collision in 1904 several blocks east of here at the Riverdale Station level crossing, between a Toronto Railway Company streetcar and a freight train, which killed three people and injured seventeen, showed the danger of such urban crossings.[5] This resulted in the station building being moved farther south, to allow the City of Toronto to build a higher bridge in 1911, which carried Queen Street over the railway tracks, river and roadways.[4]

The Canadian Northern Railway began using the Don Station in 1906, which sharing continued by the Canadian National Railway (CNR) after they absorbed the company. The pool train arrangement between CPR and CNR in 1933 resulted in the station's decline in importance, as most CPR trains then moved to the more direct CNR main line.[4]

The end came in 1967, when trains on the Toronto-Havelock route no longer stopped here,[4] and the building was moved to Todmorden Mills in 1969.[6] For some time it housed a railway heritage exhibit but eventually it was boarded up and closed to the public.

In 2008 the City of Toronto relocated it to Roundhouse Park,[6] where it was repainted and repaired and opened as a reception area for visitors to the Toronto Railway Museum.

References
  1. "CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY - ONTARIO AND QUEBEC LINE - MONTREAL TO TORONTO". Mileages. NiagaraRails. Retrieved February 1, 2015. 336.4 Don station; 338.4 Toronto, Union station
  2. Chris Bateman (6 June 2014). "5 Toronto railway stations we wish we still had". blogTO. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  3. Edward Brown (29 September 2010). "A Walk Along the Don Valley Railway". Retrieved February 1, 2015. In 1888, the CPR was granted permission to build a branch line from Leaside Junction to Bay Street.
  4. Derek Boles. "Don Station - 1896". Toronto Railway Historical Association. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  5. Mike Filey (27 March 2013). "Mike Filey Shares Historic Toronto Railway Images". Toronto Railway Historical Association. Retrieved February 1, 2015.
  6. "Todmorden Mills: Statement of Significance". Arts and Culture: The Museums. City of Toronto. Archived from the original on 2015-02-15. Retrieved February 1, 2015. The Don train station was moved to Todmorden Mills in 1969 in order to prevent its demolition; it was relocated to Roundhouse Park at 255 Bremner Boulevard in the fall of 2008.

Media related to Don Station at Wikimedia Commons

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