Not to be confused with the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Don Station, which is now at our museum.

Summary

When the Grand Trunk Railway opened between Montreal and Toronto in 1856, it had to rely on a temporary passenger station east of downtown before a permanent Union Station could be built on the Esplanade. It was located north of the tracks between Cherry Street and the Don River. It should be noted that the road network in this area was significantly altered ahead of the 2015 Pan Am Games, it would have been closest to the foot of the modern-day Rolling Mills Road. Early timetables refer to the station as “Toronto East” when differentiating it from the other temporary station west of downtown near Bathurst Street. While the Esplanade was still under construction, a horse-drawn omnibus (essentially a stagecoach meant for shorter distances) was used to connect passengers between the two stations in the meantime. No photographs of this station are known to exist, though a firsthand account described it as a “substantial structure of stone”. Adjacent railway buildings included a freight depot and an engine house, though the latter was almost immediately replaced by a covered roundhouse closer to downtown. On August 25th, 1856, the first train departed from this station on a round trip to Oshawa. The train was a one-off passenger excursion and regular service to Montreal would not commence until October 27th of the same year. A special train to Montreal to celebrate the opening of the Grand Trunk’s central division also left the Beachell Street station a couple of weeks later on November 11th. Passengers on board the eight-car train included Sir Edmund Head, Governor-General of Canada and Mayor John Beverly Robinson of Toronto.

After rails were laid across the Esplanade and opened to traffic on February 12th, 1857, a new temporary station was opened at Bay Street where the central and western divisions now met. When Toronto’s first Union Station opened in 1858, the temporary Toronto West station was demolished but the former Toronto West station was kept in service. At some point between 1857 and the 1865 timetable, the Toronto East station was renamed to Don Station. The station’s position at the bottom of the steep grade towards Danforth and Scarborough made it important for railway operations. Several industries also sprang up in the vicinity of the station. The Toronto Rolling Mills opened nearby in 1857 and supplied iron rails for the entire Grand Trunk system. A large freight yard was built opposite Don Station in 1884 in an attempt by the Grand Trunk to move its freight handling operations further from downtown Toronto. In addition to several new sidings for freight cars, an ice house, car repair shop, and a large cattle yard were built just west of the station. In 1887, the Grand Trunk began operating commuter trains to Danforth which frequently stopped at Don Station.

The Grand Trunk’s commuter trains to Danforth were discontinued at some point around the turn of the 20th Century. Soon afterward, the Grand Trunk embarked on a project to significantly modify the Don rail yard which would involve the demolition of Don Station. These modifications were completed at the end of the year 1902 which is when we believe the station was removed. Reportedly, the small amount of passenger traffic which originated at Don Station was subsequently consolidated at Riverdale Station to the east.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:	Served By:	Current State:	Date Built:	Date Demolished:
Front Street	Grand Trunk Railway (1856 – 1902)	Demolished	1856	1902