Summary

The first train station in Weston was built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1856 while its construction was progressing westward to Sarnia. It was located on Weston Road just south of Oak Street in what was then the northern reaches of the community, which likely would have been inconvenient for most residents of Weston at the time. East of the city, the Grand Trunk had exclusively built their stations from limestone, but to save on construction costs some were built from wood or brick to the west of the city. It’s unknown what material the first station at Weston would’ve had as no photos are known to exist of it, but otherwise it would’ve appeared nearly identical to other Grand Trunk stations of the time. The railway gradually became a major thoroughfare, first with the joining of the east and west segments of the Grand Trunk on either side of Toronto in 1857. Service to Sarnia became available in 1859 with connections to the United States in subsequent years.

The Grand Trunk was soon joined by the narrow-gauge Toronto, Grey & Bruce Railway in 1870. Initially, the Grand Trunk allowed them to share the same right-of-way from Toronto to just before Weston Station, where they would curve north on their own right-of-way. This was achieved through the use of a third rail to accommodate narrow and broad gauge trains simultaneously over the shared segment. It’s possible that the Toronto, Grey & Bruce intended to share the Grand Trunk station given the proximity, but whether this was the case isn’t known for certain. In any case, the shared segment became too clogged with rail traffic and the Toronto, Grey & Bruce established their own right-of-way parallel to the Grand Trunk in 1875, opening their own station closer to the middle of Weston shortly thereafter. By 1877, the Grand Trunk station saw a total of six passenger train departures per day.

Possibly due to its distance from Weston proper, the Grand Trunk replaced the original station with a new one approximately 1.2 kilometers southeast at John Street in 1884. The new station was a board-and-batten structure no larger than its predecessor, containing a waiting room, baggage room, the station agent’s office and little else in the way of amenities. Within just a couple of decades, the population growth of Weston would require more than the second station could provide. The Grand Trunk right-of-way through Weston was widened to two tracks by December 1905, and the next replacement station was likely constructed around the same time. Located in the same place as its predecessor, the new station was a rectangular board-and-batten structure with a dutch roof and gables at both sides. Its waiting room and baggage room were considerably larger than that of the previous station.

The Grand Trunk encountered financial difficulties during the early 20th century, culminating in its nationalization and subsequent absorption into Canadian National in 1923. The popularization of automobiles over the next several decades would contribute to a significant decline in passenger ridership, which was further intensified by the construction of Highway 401 through Weston between 1956 and 1959. The highway was built just 1.6 kilometers north of the station, and would ultimately run parallel to the railway for most of its length and serve many of the same communities. It’s unknown whether the station building was intentionally demolished or suffered a fire, but in any case it was gone by 1966. A small replacement shelter or repurposed boxcar was put in the same place to maintain the rapidly declining passenger service. Train frequency had dropped from 10 trains per day in 1961 to just four per day in 1974. In April of the same year, GO Transit established their Georgetown Line to supplant Canadian National’s commuter service through Weston. The Weston GO Station subsequently opened in the same location utilizing only a single track and platform.

The GO Transit facilities have gradually improved at Weston as ridership rebounded in subsequent decades. The first GO station was demolished in 2013 to make way for a larger facility further south at Lawrence Avenue, and the right-of-way through the previous station area was lowered beneath the surrounding roads. The new station opened in 2015 for GO Transit and the Union-Pearson Express, providing numerous improvements over its predecessor including an additional platform.

Condensed Station Info:

Location:	Served By:	Current State:	Date Built:	Date Demolished:
Weston Road and Oak Street (First) John Street (Second & Third)	Grand Trunk (1856 – 1923) Canadian National (1923 – 1960’s)	Demolished	1856 (First) 1884 (Second) 1905 (Third)	1884 (First) 1905 (Second) 1966 (Third)