The South Parkdale railway station was a passenger rail station on the Grand Trunk Railway in

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 was located at

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 the former village of Parkdale. It was demolished in 1911 as part of a grade separation engineering project.

History

The original east-west rail line in the area was built in 1855 by the

Great Western Railway The Great Western Railway (GWR) was a British railway company that linked London with the southwest, west and West Midlands of England and most of Wales. It was founded in 1833, received its enabling Act of Parliament on 31 August 1835 and ran ...

(GWR). It connected Toronto to the east and Hamilton to the west, following the Lake Ontario shoreline, passing through the then-rural Parkdale area. By 1879, the population in the Parkdale area had grown and the GWR built the South Parkdale station. It was named "South Parkdale" to distinguish it from the existing Parkdale railway station at Dufferin Avenue and Queen Street, which was renamed "North Parkdale." In 1882, the GWR was absorbed into the Grand Trunk Railway which took over the line and the South Parkdale station became a GTR station. From the west, the rail line climbed from the level of lakeshore up to Parkdale and then down again to enter the center of Toronto. Early in the 1900s, the GTR decided to eliminate the climb by making a cut from east of Dufferin Avenue to west of Dowling Avenue, along the existing railway right-of-way. Bridges over the new cut were constructed at Dufferin, Dunn, Jameson and Dowling streets to preserve access to the lake shore and Exhibition grounds. West of Dowling Avenue, the new rail line bed was raised from the previous waterfront level to make an even elevation from the Humber River east to Sunnyside, providing subways at several points to provide grade-separated access to the waterfront from the north. The project levelled the rails from Strachan Avenue all the way west to the Humber. South Parkdale station was demolished in 1911 as part of the grade separation project. A temporary station was constructed west of Jameson Avenue to serve during the project. In 1912, this second station was closed, and the passenger rail services were moved to the new Sunnyside station further west at

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 ...

and Queen Street. Image:Jameson GTR crossing.jpg, Jameson Avenue, 1899, looking south across G.T.R tracks. Image:Jameson GTR Crossing North.jpg, Jameson Avenue, 1899, looking north across G.T.R tracks. Image:South Parkdale Station.jpg, Looking east from Jameson Avenue, 1910 to South Parkdale station. Image:GTR Rails Dowling West.jpg, G.T.R. rail lines, 1910, prior to grade separation, looking west from Dowling Avenue. ;Grade separation After the temporary station was opened, the South Parkdale station was closed and temporary tracks laid to detour around the digging to proceed at the location of the existing tracks. Image:Jameson-Wood-Bridge.jpg, Temporary bridge for Jameson Avenue during grade separation project. Image:South Parkdale Grade Separation.jpg, View of grade separation to south of Station.

References

External links

{{commons category-inline, South Parkdale railway station Demolished buildings and structures in Toronto Railway stations in Toronto Railway stations in Canada opened in 1879 Railway stations closed in 1911 Grand Trunk Railway stations in Ontario Buildings and structures demolished in 1911