Riverdale station (Toronto)

Riverdale Railway Station was located on De Grassi Street just north of Queen Street East[3] in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Constructed by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR) in 1896 as "Queen East Station", on what is now the Lakeshore East line, the station was renamed "Riverdale Station" in 1907.[2] The Canadian National Railway (CNR) took over the station in 1923, when they absorbed the Grand Trunk Railway.[4] CNR discontinued passenger train service at the station in 1932, later for commercial use and demolished the building in 1974.[5]

Riverdale
General information
LocationDe Grassi Street, Riverdale,
Toronto, Ontario
Canada
Coordinates43°39′39″N 79°20′46″W
Owned byGrand Trunk Railway
CNR
Operated byGrand Trunk Railway
CNR
Line(s)CN Kingston Subdivision
Distance1.7 miles (2.7 km) to Toronto Union Station[1]
Other information
StatusDemolished in 1974[2] and re-purpose as "Bruce Mackey Park" a city parkette
History
Opened1896
Closed1932

History

The station was originally built at grade, with a level crossing at Queen Street.[6] This level crossing was considered very dangerous and on November 17, 1904, a collision here between a Toronto Railway Company streetcar and a GTR freight train killed three people and injured seventeen.[7]

Construction began in 1925 on the Toronto Grade Separation project which was completed in 1930. The rebuilding of this eastern approach, beyond the Toronto Terminals Railway limit, eliminated the level crossing.[8] The station had to be moved northwest to accommodate construction of the Queen Street overpass.[2]

The last site of the station building is now part of City of Toronto's Bruce Mackey Park,[6] (formerly Wardell Parkette[9]) which runs along the westerly side of the railway tracks, between Queen and Dundas Streets.[10]

Plans to build a GO Station at this location have been discussed as part of Metrolinx's Yonge Relief Network Study.[11] The proposed SmartTrack plan, raised during the 2014 Toronto Mayoral Election, would also build a station here, where GO Transit's Stouffville commuter service crosses Queen Street.[12]

References
  1. "Grand Trunk Railway - Main Line". Mileages. NiagaraRails. Retrieved February 2, 2015. 332.3 Toronto, Riverdale station; 334.0 Toronto, Union station
  2. "Riverdale Railway Station". Toronto's Historical Plaques. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  3. Chris Bateman (June 6, 2014). "5 Toronto railway stations we wish we still had: Riverdale". blogTO. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  4. "The Start of Riverdale". riverdaler. 2014-03-21. Retrieved February 2, 2015. These railway tracks are now part of CN Rail after the Grand Trunk Railway ran into financial problems and was nationalized.
  5. https://www.trha.ca/trha/history/stations/riverdale-station/
  6. Jeff Low (February 7, 2012). "Then and Now: Riverdale Station". urbantoronto.ca. Retrieved February 2, 2015. At one time, there was a level rail crossing at Queen and Degrassi streets
  7. Mike Filey (2013-03-27). "Shares Historic Toronto Railway Images". Toronto Railway Historical Association. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  8. R.L.Kennedy (2009). "Toronto Terminals Railway: Waterfront Viaduct". Old Time Trains. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  9. Joe Halstead (2002-12-17). "Wardell Park Renaming Proposal" (PDF). Staff Report. City of Toronto. Retrieved February 2, 2015. That the name Wardell Parkette, located on Wardell Avenue be renamed the Bruce Mackey Park.
  10. "Bruce Mackey". Toronto's Historical Plaques. Retrieved February 2, 2015.
  11. "Yonge Relief Network Study" (PDF). Metrolinx. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 18, 2014. Retrieved February 2, 2015. Build a new GO station south of Pape and Gerrard at the former Riverdale Station (in present-day Bruce Mackey Park)
  12. Natalie Alcoba (November 14, 2014). "The dust from the election is settled. Now John Tory moves to make SmartTrack actually happen". National Post. Retrieved February 2, 2015. add stations along the way, at places like Gerrard, Queen, Liberty Village and St. Clair West.

Media related to Riverdale, Toronto railway station at Wikimedia Commons

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