Summary

Milton Station was built by the Hamilton & Northwestern Railway in 1878. It was located on the east side of Bronte Street on the south side of the tracks, just beyond a curve to the southwest. There are no known photos of this station as it looked before the 20th century, though it likely followed a standard design used elsewhere on the H&NW. Its ownership by the H&NW was short-lived, as it was merged with the Northern Railway of Canada the following year forming the Northern & North Western Railway. This lasted about a decade until the Grand Trunk Railway acquired the N&NW in 1888. It continued to use the original station for just over ten more years.

In 1903, the Grand Trunk replaced the H&NW station with a new one. Rather than do away with the original station, it was moved back and converted into a freight shed which involved significantly enlarging the structure and rendering it unrecognizable. The new station once again followed a standard design, this time of the Grand Trunk. Stations of this type were especially common in less populated areas in Ontario. As it had been up to this point, the line that Milton’s station was situated on would remain little more than a quiet branch line. In 1904 only two trains stopped at Milton each day, one from Hamilton to Allandale and another in the opposite direction. Little would change until after Canadian National took over from the financially-ailing Grand Trunk in 1923. Oil-electric self propelled cars began making an appearance on branch lines across the country, including this one. They were significantly less costly to operate than steam engines, as branch lines often didn’t produce enough passenger or freight traffic to compensate for the running costs. Despite their benefits, these rail cars were never produced in great numbers. Passenger service to Milton ended in 1960 and few years later, the CN line was grade separated and re-aligned away from the former station site to be turned into a major freight corridor. The original alignment remained a spur line for a couple of decades before it, too, was abandoned.

The station sat abandoned for a number of years before being moved to Chris Hadfield Park where it has been restored and readapted as an information center. You can still find the old alignment through what is now Livingston Park, including a rail bridge over the creek next to Mill Pond.

  • A July 1905 photo of Milton station shortly after it replaced the earlier H&NW station. Courtesy of Library and Archives Canada.
  • A 1914 photo of Milton station showing well-wishers saying their goodbyes to Canadian soldiers departing to fight in World War One. Unfortunately, many will never return. Courtesy of the Milton Historical Society.
  • A 1927 fire insurance map of Milton showing the station, as well as surrounding structures and the track layout. Courtesy of the McMaster University Library.
  • The station’s Grand Trunk-era order boards had been removed by the time this photo was taken in 1964. Courtesy of the Al Paterson collection.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:Served By:Current State:Date Built:Date Demolished:
Bronte Street and
Main Street		H&NW (1878 – 1879)
N&NW (1879 – 1888)
GTR (1888 – 1923)
CNR (1923 – 1960)		Demolished (First)
Moved and Repurposed (Second)		1879 (First)
1903 (Second)		1970’s (First)
N/A (Second)