Summary

Station was built by the Credit Valley Railway in 1879 while its construction was progressing north towards Orangeville. It was a rectangular board-and-batten structure with a simple pitched roof and minimal amenities, following a standard design used extensively by the Credit Valley in other communities. The station was located on Station Street at the inconvenient distance of approximately 1.1 kilometers east of central Cheltenham, which was already directly served by the Hamilton & North-Western Railway. Station Street still retains its name in spite of the apparent lack of a train station in the vicinity. The Canadian Pacific Railway gained control of the Credit Valley through one of its proxies, the Ontario & Quebec Railway, in 1883. Cheltenham Station saw a total of four passenger trains per day that year, remaining relatively consistent into the early 20th century.

As automobiles started to appear during the early 1900’s, branch line passenger ridership was one of the first things to feel the effects. Several old stagecoach routes in the area were turned into provincial highways in the 1920’s, allowing for a higher amount of car traffic at faster speeds than before. At some point the wooden platform was removed entirely to cut maintenance costs, providing the dwindling passengers with a rather undignified experience. The success of Budd Rail Diesel Cars, which Canadian Pacific had dubbed “Dayliners” and introduced on this line in 1956, resulted in a brief rebound in passenger service to seven trains per day by 1961. However, the station would be treated as a flag stop, meaning trains would need to be flagged down in the event a passenger was waiting. This was a common practice at the time meant to reduce unnecessary stops. Ridership continued to drop in spite of these efforts, and service to Cheltenham ended altogether in 1970 resulting in the removal of the station shortly thereafter.

Canadian Pacific continued to use the rail line for freight service until 2000, when it was bought by the Town of Orangeville to ensure this service would continue to the town’s industries. Operations were contracted out to Manitoba-based shortline operator Cando Rail. A tourist passenger excursion was established shortly after called the Credit Valley Explorer, bringing visitors from Orangeville to Snelgrove and back. Trillium Railway took over the contract in 2018, and the Credit Valley Explorer ceased to operate in February of that year. Freight service was terminated in December 2021 and the line was subsequently torn up with plans to turn it into another recreational trail.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:	Served By:	Current State:	Date Built:	Date Demolished:
Station Road	Credit Valley (1879 – 1883) Canadian Pacific (1883 – 1970)	Demolished	1879	1970