Summary
Bowmanville Station was built by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1913 as construction of their lakeshore line, now known as the Belleville Subdivision, was progressing between Toronto and Smiths Falls. This line was built as a diversion of their original mainline to the north which was established in 1884, with the goal of connecting with larger communities closer to the shore of Lake Ontario. This made Canadian Pacific the last of three railway companies to arrive in Bowmanville, but it was also the only one whose passenger station was built within walking distance of Bowmanville’s main street. It was located just west of the intersection of Scugog and Wellington Street – far closer than the existing Grand Trunk and Canadian Northern stations in town. The station building itself was a small rectangular building with brick walls and a hipped roof. The station itself was a single-storey rectangular structure with a hipped roof and brick walls. It followed a standard design which Canadian Pacific built in multiple other communities on its lakeshore line. The first Canadian Pacific train arrived at Bowmanville Station on June 29th, 1914, after which a total of eight passenger trains would stop there each day.
Passenger ridership significantly declined during the Great Depression. In 1933, these effects resulted in an agreement between Canadian Pacific and Canadian National to pool their passenger service together between Toronto, Ottawa, and Montreal. The majority of Canadian Pacific’s passenger trains were shifted over to the Canadian National route and service to Canadian Pacific’s station in Bowmanville drastically declined. By the end of the depression, only two passenger trains were stopping at Bowmanville Station per day. This would increase to four once passenger ridership rebounded to its wartime peak, but it would be very short lived. The mass adoption of automobiles and air travel during the postwar era would have a significant negative effect on passenger ridership across Canada. At the local level, this would only be exacerbated by the construction of Highway 401 through the south end of Bowmanville in 1960. Service had been reduced back to two trains per day by 1961, and the station was closed to passengers at some point between 1963 and 1966. The station building remained in use by Canadian Pacific for other purposes for at least another decade, then finally demolished around 1980.
Metrolinx has proposed an extension of its Lakeshore East line from Oshawa to Bowmanville in which it would utilize the Canadian Pacific right-of-way. In doing so it would bring direct passenger rail service back to Bowmanville for the first time in at least six decades.
An undated photograph of Bowmanville station, likely before World War Two. Courtesy of the Paterson-George Collection. 
A January 1966 photograph of Canadian Pacific 8918 with a freight train passing Bowmanville station, at right. The track curving off to the right went to the freight shed, which still exists. Photo by Doug Hately.
Condensed Station Info:
| Location: | Served By: | Current State: | Date Built: | Date Demolished: |
| Scugog Street and Wellington Street | Canadian Pacific Railway (1914 – 1965) | Demolished | 1913 | ~1980 |