Summary

Mount Albert station was built in 1906 by the Canadian Northern Railway while its construction was progressing south towards Toronto. It was a single-storey wood frame structure offering the most basic amenities, following a standard design that was used extensively across the Canadian Northern system. It contained a waiting room, baggage room and the station agent’s office in the middle facing the tracks with a large bay window for visibility. The first revenue train arrived at Mount Albert in November 1906, but this section of the line had been built separately from the rest of the Canadian Northern system located predominantly in the prairie provinces. Direct service to the west began in 1915 when the last 540 miles from Ruel to Port Arthur was complete. Just four passenger trains stopped at Mount Albert on a daily basis by 1918.

The presence of the Canadian Northern in Mount Albert was short lived. Due to their worsening financial situation, the railway was nationalized in 1918 and informally managed by the newly-formed Canadian National from 1919 onward. The two entities wouldn’t be officially merged until a few years later in 1923. Under CN, Mount Albert became a stop on train no. 3, the eastbound Toronto section of the Continental Limited which was then CN’s flagship transcontinental train. Its westbound counterpart used a different rail line on the opposite side of Lake Simcoe. The popularization of automobiles combined with the opening of Highway 12 in 1922 began to reduce passenger ridership in rural communities that had otherwise been primarily connected to the outside world by the railway. The station closed to passengers in the mid-1960’s, and after being repurposed by CN as an outbuilding for work crews it was moved in 1977 to the Cannington Community Center where it has been restored. New signs which read “Cannington” have been mounted to the exterior walls, which could potentially be the source of some confusion regarding the station’s origin.

A 1966 photo of Mount Albert station, by this point lacking a schedule board or baggage carts indicating that it’s been closed to passengers by this point. Courtesy of the Ingenium Digital Archives.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:Served By:Current State:Date Built:Date Demolished:
Princess Street near
Highway 48		Canadian Northern (1906 – 1919)
Canadian National (1919 – 1960’s)		Preserved1906N/A