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Caption: A train of VIA Rail Budd RDC's (in three different liveries: VIA-CN, VIA, and CN) head westbound through snowy Clarkson, passing the old CN Clarkson Station, long out of use and falling into disrepair. There would be no station stop here for the Budds today, nor has there been for nearly a decade.
This small iteration of Clarkson Station was built by CN as a replacement for the previous GTR-built Clarkson Station that had burned down in 1962. But the new station would see only a few years of use, as regular passenger service here ended on Saturday May 20th 1967, the last day of CN's commuter train operations between Hamilton and Toronto (Mon-Sat CN trains #921 & #922 would be the final two to use the station, according to a 1965 timetable). Three days later, government startup commuter service operator GO Transit would start running trains on their Lakeshore corridor using the new Clarkson GO Station built to the west. As far as I have been able to find, CN's Clarkson Station building here met its eventual demise sometime between 1978 and 1984.
According to Wilfred Sergeant's "Building GO Transit" (2004) e-book, there were a number of decisions influencing this move. The CN station here was located in what once was the old "Clarkson's Corners" village and was constrained by established development and small local roads. However, land to the west along Southdown Road was vacant and presented the opportunity for better traffic flow via a grade separation, better traffic access off the main roads, and ample land for parking lots. CN's stations at Long Branch, Dixie Road, Lakeview and Lorne Park* would also suffer similar fates, either closed down and replaced with new GO stations in better locations, or consolidated with others nearby in order to achieve optimal station spacing for better train timing.
*Note, due to strong local community opposition, CN's Lorne Park station remained and had *one* GO train run scheduled to serve there each morning (GO #954 from Hamilton to Toronto, that would stop at Lorne Park instead of Clarkson at 7:58am each morning), until it was rescheduled to Clarkson after about a year.
Douglas J. Fear photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection.
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Wow Beautiful Photo of Clarkson
Great picture. I remember several commuters who were annoyed by the consolidation of stations by GO. My Dad always got on at Port Credit but another chap who worked in the same office got on at Cawthra Road, which I guess was Lakeview. He had to change his morning routine.
The Clarkson station was there and then it was gone. I should have paid closer attention.
The track in the foreground is the old lead and siding to the then BP Clarkson Yard, which is still very much in use as Suncor with two times/day switching and CN interchange at night. Right behind where the photographer is standing was the old team track. My Dad and I would take our recycling down where we would offload to boxcars. Both Yard lead and team track now gone. Thanks for the history! Another angle here: http://www.rrpicturearchives.net/showPicture.aspx?id=2862671
Wow! I know this spot well growing up in Clarkson. It’s sad the station was razed years ago when GO Transit was created. Nice to see at least the statin sign survived. Lots of changes here now with the third main track added and the yard ladder track removed. The old store fronts here are also being rebuilt.
Part of me is wondering if that building shown was actually the replacement Clarkson station, or a building/section house next to the actual replacement station. Photos during this time period showing the station are hard to find…
That was just an equipment storage building. @marcus those preserved store fronts and a house next to them have now been reno’d and empty for some time. Before I left the area and moved back again. Also, Doug Auld’s Butchers..equally as historic was leveled and condo’s will converge on the cold storage site. The old Post office at the tracks I believe is being preserved.
Here’s a photo of Clarkson station by Bill Thompson: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=13305
Brad, that was the previous Clarkson station that burned down in 1962. Another was apparently constructed by CN here, but only saw 5 years of use before GO started up from their own Clarkson station. This is the only shot I’ve managed to find of the replacement CN station so far, with its roof peak behind the building in the foreground: http://www.michaeltaylor.ca/Ontario/go-rdc.shtml