Rosedale Station was built in 1892 by the Toronto Belt Line Railway, a private venture intending to encircle Toronto with a commuter line. The station was located just south of the Evergreen Brickworks, about where the ramp connecting the Don Valley Parkway to Bayview Avenue now exists. This was and still is a sparsely populated area, with the only nearby neighbourhoods existing above either side of the valley. The neighbourhood of Rosedale which the station was meant to serve was at a much higher elevation above the valley floor to the northwest. They were connected by a road called Park Drive which no longer exists, though part of it has since been turned into the Park Drive Reservation Trail. The station building was a large wood-frame structure that included accommodations for the station agent on its upper floor – a common design approach for passenger stations in rural areas where separate accommodations were less practical. A nearly identical design was also used for Lambton Station on the Belt Line’s Humber Loop. The Belt Line project encountered financial difficulties before finishing and it was taken over by the Grand Trunk Railway before operations began. Trains began stopping at Rosedale Station on July 30th, 1892, though the Belt Line suffered low ridership and service ended just two years later on November 17th, 1894. That said, some primary sources suggest that some kind of commuter service could have persisted between Toronto Union Station and Rosedale Station into the early 1900’s. The tracks were also left in place so the Grand Trunk could continue bringing freight cars in and out of the brickworks.
In early 1906, construction of the Canadian Northern Railway was pushing south through the Don Valley into Toronto. Originally intending to lay their track parallel to the existing Belt Line, a prolonged scuffle between crews belonging to the CNOR and GTR prompted city officials to force the Canadian Northern to connect with the Belt Line tracks at Rosedale and use them to access Union Station. In return, the Canadian Northern would pay rent to the Grand Trunk for the use of its tracks. As part of this deal, Rosedale Station would be served exclusively by Canadian Northern trains once service between Toronto and Parry Sound began on November 19th, 1906. Rosedale Station somewhat grew in importance when the Canadian Northern built its car and engine repair shops as well as freight and passenger yards nearby in 1908. Traffic to Rosedale Station also increased when the Canadian Northern opened its line to Trenton in October of 1911, branching off from the existing Canadian Northern line in the Don Valley close to where the Millwood Bridge is today.
Rosedale Station succumbed to a fire in 1917. The freight and passenger yards around it were removed in about 1920 when the remaining operations were moved to Leaside and Danforth. Despite no replacement ever being built, the location retained the Rosedale name on Canadian National’s timetables and more recently Metrolinx. A sign with “Rosedale” printed on it currently stands where the station used to be.
This heavily degraded photograph is the only known image of Rosedale Station, likely taken during the early 1900’s. 
A lifelong resident of the area identified by the photographer as “Mr. McArthur” stands on the concrete base that once supported Rosedale Station’s boiler in 1955. Courtesy of the Toronto Public Library Archives.
Condensed Station Info:
| Location: | Served By: | Current State: | Date Built: | Date Destroyed: |
| Park Drive | Toronto Belt Line (1892 – 1894) Canadian Northern (1906 – 1917) | Demolished | 1892 | 1917 |