Summary

Brown Hill station was built in the small hamlet of Brown Hill in 1877 by the Lake Simcoe Junction Railway. The LSJR existed solely on paper, and was essentially an extension of the Toronto & Nipissing Railway. Much like the T&N, the LSJR began as a narrow-gauge railway meaning that there was a total space of 3 ft 6 inches between the rails instead of the standard 4 ft 8.5 inches. The station was a standard Toronto & Nipissing design, built from wood with a second floor that would likely have housed the station agent and their family. This was common practice in many rural stations. The station changed hands to the Midland Railway of Canada in 1882 and to the Grand Trunk Railway in 1884. Canadian National took over in 1923 for the bankrupt GTR. In 1928, the ex-LSJR was connected to the ex-Canadian Northern (now both part of the Canadian National Railway system) immediately south of Brown Hill. The ex-LSJR south of that point was abandoned, but passenger service continued between Brown Hill and Sutton. Eventually, this northern section was abandoned as well, likely around the 1960’s or 1970’s. This is probably when the station was demolished as well. Today, the line that Brown Hill station resided on is the Sutton – Zephyr Rail Trail, an unpaved recreational trail which follows the path of the old LSJR line.

An undated photo of Brown Hill station in the Grand Trunk era with some men standing on the platform. Courtesy of the Gary Mauthe Collection.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:Served By:Current State:Date Built:Date Demolished:
Regional Road 32T&N (1877 – 1882)
MRC (1882 – 1884)
GTR (1884 – 1923)
CNR (1923 – 1960’s)		Demolished18771960’s