Sunnyside railway station was formerly located at the intersection of King Street,

Queen Street West Queen Street is a major east-west thoroughfare in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Roncesvalles Avenue and King Street in the west to Victoria Park Avenue in the east. Queen Street was the cartographic baseline for the original east-w ...

and

Roncesvalles Avenue Roncesvalles Avenue is a north–south minor arterial street in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It begins at the intersection of Queen Street West, King Street West and the Queensway running north to Dundas Street West. At its southern starting point ...

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada. It operated passenger service from 1910 until 1971.

History

The

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rai ...

(GTR) had operated rail lines along the lakeshore of Toronto since 1850. The lines encountered a steep hill into the Parkdale area of Toronto, from the west. In the first decade of the 1900s, the GTR operated the

South Parkdale railway station The South Parkdale railway station was a passenger rail station on the Grand Trunk Railway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It was located at Jameson Avenue and Springhurst Avenue in the former village of Parkdale. It was demolished in 1911 as part o ...

at the intersection of

Jameson Avenue Jameson Avenue is a multi-lane arterial road in the Parkdale neighbourhood in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. It is a north-south roadway from Lake Shore Boulevard to Queen Street. Originally laid out in the 19th century as a two-lane residential s ...

and Springhurst Avenue. In 1910, the GTR embarked on a project to create a cut through the Parkdale neighbourhood, eliminating the grade. The railway decided to close the South Parkdale station and build a new one at the foot of

, in the area commonly known as ' Sunnyside'. The company built a temporary station, opening service in 1910. A permanent station was completed in 1912. It was situated at street level at the King and Queen Streets intersection. The ticket office and waiting area was at street level, and passengers would walk down staircases to track level. A separate bridge would pass over the tracks for passengers travelling east-bound. The grade elimination project also removed a level crossing of Queen Street to the Lakeshore Road. The following year a roadway bridge was built over the tracks immediately to the west of the station to connect the Sunnyside intersection with Lakeshore Road. The bridge was eventually demolished in the 1950s to build the

Gardiner Expressway The Frederick G. Gardiner Expressway, commonly known as the Gardiner Expressway or simply the Gardiner, is a partially at grade and elevated municipal expressway in Toronto, Ontario, Canada. Running close to the shore of Lake Ontario, it extends ...

project. The location was well-situated, with access to the popular

Sunnyside Amusement Park Sunnyside Amusement Park (also known as Sunnyside Beach Park) was a popular amusement park in Toronto, Ontario, Canada that ran from 1922 to 1955, demolished in 1955 to facilitate the building of the Metro Toronto Gardiner Expressway project. It w ...

located nearby and streetcar routes nearby. A coach station, the

Sunnyside Bus Terminal Sunnyside Bus Terminal was an interurban bus station located in Sunnyside in the west end of Toronto at the foot of Roncesvalles Avenue and its intersection with King Street and Queen Street West (and later The Queensway) in Toronto, Ontario, Ca ...

, was built across the street in 1936, providing access to motor coaches of the

Gray Coach Gray Coach was a Canadian inter-city bus line based in Toronto, Ontario, from 1927 to 1992. It was founded and initially owned by the Toronto Transportation Commission, until sold to Stagecoach in 1990. In 1992 the business was sold to Greyhoun ...

bus lines. The Edgewater Hotel was built next to the bus station on the north-west corner of the intersection in 1939. The rail lines and service was amalgamated into

Canadian National Railways The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I railroad, Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern United States, M ...

around 1920.

GO Transit GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven millio ...

began service in May 1967 and took over CN's Toronto to Hamilton route. While CN's Hamilton train had stopped at Sunnyside, GO's

Lakeshore West line Lakeshore West is one of the seven train lines of the GO Transit system in the Greater Toronto Area, Ontario, Canada. It extends from Union Station in Toronto to Hamilton, with occasional trips extending to St. Catharines and Niagara Falls. Hi ...

bypassed the station resulting in a significant drop in its use. CN closed the station in 1971 and its buildings were demolished in 1973.

Legacy

The site of the former station is now Beaty Boulevard Parkette, a small city park. The park is home to Katyń Monument commemorating the 1940

Katyn massacre The Katyn massacre, "Katyń crime"; russian: link=yes, Катынская резня ''Katynskaya reznya'', "Katyn massacre", or russian: link=no, Катынский расстрел, ''Katynsky rasstrel'', "Katyn execution" was a series of m ...

in Poland.

Current Situation

The former Sunnyside Station in Toronto is now a city park called Beaty Boulevard Parkette. The park is home to the Katyń Monument, which commemorates the 1940 Katyn massacre in Poland. The station was built by the

in 1910 and was situated at the intersection of King and Queen Streets. It was well-situated, with access to nearby streetcars and the Sunnyside Amusement Park. The station was later taken over by Canadian National Railways, but it was closed and demolished in 1971 after the introduction of GO Transit, which bypassed the station.

Gallery

Image:SunnysideStation Temporary.jpg, Temporary station in 1911. Image:Sunnyside_train_station_1915_Toronto.jpg, Permanent station. View from street level, 1915. Image:SunnysideStation construction.jpg, Permanent station under construction in 1912. Image:Sunnyside Station Construction 2.jpg, Permanent station under construction, 1912. File:Canadian Pacific RS18 8780 with Train 322, The Ontarian, arriving at Sunnyside station, Toronto, Ont. on July 2, 1966 (24200864353).jpg, Sunnyside in 1966.

References

External links