Jan 3, 1889: the Grand Trunk Railway closes Brock Street station, located on the west side of what is now Spadina Avenue. The station was originally built by the Northern Railway of Canada in 1860 after it moved out of the GTR’s Union Station. 1/2

Jan 2, 1884: thirty-one people lose their lives in the most disastrous train wreck in Toronto's history. The wreck occurred at 6:57 AM, when two Grand Trunk trains met head-on in a blinding snowstorm, south of High Park near Grenadier Pond. 1/3

What's missing? CP Cape Race has been moved inside of Stall 15 of the Toronto Railway Museum for the winter. Visitors can now tour it inside the museum, where it's much warmer!

Welcome to the Public Domain, THE LITTLE ENGINE THAT COULD (1930) 🚂 💪 Choo Choo Choo! We all learned about perseverance & trying from this iconic train. She thought she could, and she did 🥹 Learn more ➡️ blog.archive.org/public-domai... #PublicDomainDay #CopyrightFree

Jan 1, 1855: the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron Railway officially opens the extension of its line from Allandale to Collingwood. The railway had originally opened from Toronto to Machell's Corners (now Aurora) in May of 1853, extending to Bradford by June of that year. 1/3

Dec 31, 1860: the Brockville and Ottawa Railway opens Canada's first railway tunnel, excavated underneath the town of Brockville, ON. The town sat on a high bluff and the B&O needed the 1730' (527 m) tunnel to reach the waterfront. Begun in 1854, it took six years to build. 1/3

Dec 30, 1938: Toronto Union Station's Ticket Lobby features an organ music recital to “cheer travellers on their way, and to greet incomers.” The Robert Simpson Co. department store and Heintzman Co. provided organists, alternating in two-hour shifts over the New Years weekend. 1/3

Dec 29, 1977: the TTC introduces the first Canadian Light Rail Vehicle to media assembled at the Hillcrest Shops. The CLRV had just been unloaded from a railway flat car on the CN service track, on the north side of CP's North Toronto Subdivision. 1/3

Thank you to everyone who contributed to our annual fund drive this year! You still have a few days left to donate to receive a 2025 Charitable Tax Receipt. torontorailwaymuseum.com/support

Dec 28, 1911: the City Improvement Committee presents city council with a plan to reduce traffic problems and beautify Toronto. At the heart of the plan was Federal Avenue, designed by Toronto architect John M. Lyle—later an associate architect of Toronto Union Station. 1/3

Dec 27, 1942: a troop train plows into the rear of CPR local passenger train No. 550 at Almonte, ON, 38 miles (61 km) west of Ottawa. Thirty-six people were killed and almost 200 injured in the sixth-worst railway disaster in Canadian history. 1/3

Dec 26, 1989: Norris R. (Buck) Crump, former President and Chairman of the Board of Canadian Pacific, dies in Calgary at the age of 85. Born in Revelstoke, BC, in 1904, Crump joined CP as a machinist's apprentice in 1920, earning a high school diploma at night school. 1/3

Dec 25, 2005: the former Grand Trunk Railway (later Canadian National) car ferry Lansdowne sinks at her moorings at Erie, Pennsylvania. The boat was built for the GTR in 1884 and moved rail cars between Windsor and Detroit after the GTR absorbed the Great Western Railway. 1/3

Dec 24, 1905: the so-called Mimico Division of the Toronto & York Radial Railway is extended from Long Branch to Port Credit. This line was chartered as the Toronto & Mimico Electric Railway & Light Company and opened from Sunnyside to the Humber River in 1890. 1/2

Dec 23, 1965: The Canadian National Railway assumes ownership of the London & Port Stanley Railway from City of London. The railway was incorporated in 1853 and used the London & Port Stanley name from 1856, first as a steam railway and after 1914 as an electric interurban line. 1/3

Dec 22, 2009: the former Toronto Terminals Railway Pyke Crane begins its move by truck from CN's Don Yard to Roundhouse Park. The process was handled by Laurie McCulloch Building Movers, the same firm that moved former CN No. 6213 from Exhibition Place several months earlier. 1/3

Dec 21, 1853: the Great Western Railway of Canada opens from Hamilton to London, ON. It had opened from Niagara Falls to Hamilton on November 1. In January, the line was extended west to Windsor. The GWR was only the second steam-powered public railway to open in Canada West. 1/3

Somedays things work out better than you’d hoped by the train not appearing where you wanted it to and having it be parked in a yard instead #Railfanning #TrainsAreCool #TheNorthlander #Drone

One of the Ontario Northland Railway's new Siemens passenger trainsets passed through Hamilton today on their way north. It's a pretty attractive train!

Dec 20, 1980: @VIA_Rail runs the first of four direct trains from Toronto to Halifax and return. They also ran on December 22, 26 and 28. The specially-scheduled eastbound trains, numbered 112, left Toronto at 10:55 AM and arrived in Halifax at 2:30 PM the next day. 1/3

Happy Holidays from all of us here at the Toronto Railway Museum. Please note our Winter Break hours: Dec 20-21, 12-5pm De 22-26, CLOSED Dec 27-31, 12-5pm* Jan 1, CLOSED Jan 2-4, 12-5pm * The museum will be open on Monday and Tuesday during Winter Break.

Dec 19, 1945: Architect John M. Lyle dies in Toronto at age 73. Born in Connor, Ireland in 1872, Lyle emigrated to Canada as a child. He attended the Hamilton School of Art and studied architecture at Yale University before enrolling in the École des Beaux-Arts in Paris. 1/3

Dec 18, 1960: Canadian National's Scarboro station is destroyed by fire, along with many Christmas parcels inside awaiting delivery. The frame structure nine miles (14 km) east of Union Station had been built by the Grand Trunk Railway in 1871 as Scarboro Junction. 1/3

Happy Holidays from our staff.  To share the holiday cheer we're inviting you to a Wish-Upon-A-Train crafting event! Drop in any day during our opening hours from December 20th-January 4th to decorate your own paper train ornament. Don't forget to write your wish on it too!

Dec 17, 1870: the Great Western Railway line from Hamilton is the first railway in Toronto to convert to standard gauge. Like most other Canadian Railways built in the 1850s and 1860s, the GWR had originally used a broad gauge of 5 feet, 6 inches (1676 mm) between the rails. 1/3

Some beautiful recently digitized plans for old Union Station (1892) cc @torailwaymuseum.bsky.social @library-archives.canada.ca recherche-collection-search.bac-lac.gc.ca/eng/home/rec...

Dec 16, 1965: Highway 401 opens between Highway 400 and the Hogg's Hollow bridge, west of Yonge Street. Begun in 1951, the 820 km highway between Windsor and the Quebec provincial boundary was finally completed in 1968. 1/2

This really is one of the greatest logos of all time and it’s precisely because it still FEELS modern and in-tune with the vibe of today. And, further, it’s been CN’s standard identity for so long it’s practically impossible to imagine anything else as the company’s identity. Simply iconic.

Dec 15, 1960: 30-year old designer Allan Fleming's stylized "CN" becomes the new corporate logo of the Canadian National Railway. The new logo replaced the traditional maple leaf monogram introduced in 1943 and the English-language initialism "CNR." 1/3

Dec 14, 1852: the British firm of Peto, Brassey, Betts and Jackson wins the contract to build the Grand Trunk Railway mainline between Montreal and Toronto. The contract was renegotiated in March 1853 and the line opened to traffic in October 1856. 1/3

The Toronto Railway Museum Shop at Don Station has great gifts for everyone in your family. We are open Wednesday-Sunday, 12pm-5pm.

Dec 13, 2000: GO Transit announces that for the first time it has carried forty million passengers in one year. A Scarborough commuter was chosen as GO's symbolic forty-millionth passenger of the year and was given a free twelve-month pass. 1/2

Gift cards are now available for the Toronto Railway Museum. These can be used for general admission, mini train rides, or gift shop purchases! Visit our website to purchase one today!

Dec 12, 1975: 8 TTC passengers die and 21 are injured when a GO Transit train hits their bus at a level crossing in Scarborough. The bus had stalled on the crossing at St. Clair Avenue East and Laurel Avenue. With its back doors jammed open, it couldn't move. 1/3

Dec 11, 1995: the CN Tower unveils plans for a new development at the base of Toronto's most popular tourist attraction. The $100 to $150 million project was to include a 600-seat IMAX theatre, restaurants, shops and a parking garage. 1/3

We have all four of Raymond Biesinger's Canadian train prints in stock - including the Ontario Northlander. They're the perfect gift for a train lover in your family.

Dec 10, 2008: the historic Don Station moves from Todmorden Mills to its new permanent home at the Toronto Railway Museum in Roundhouse Park. It is the only surviving 19th century railway station in Toronto, the last of dozens that once existed within the present city limits. 1/3

Holiday cards, ornaments, gifts for the train lover in your family? We've got you covered at the Toronto Railway Museum Shop at Don Station. We're open Wednesday-Sunday 12-5pm.

Nov 21, 1967: seven months after beginning commuter train operations, GO Transit puts its self-propelled coaches into service. The cars completed two round trips before being withdrawn due to mechanical problems. They would eventually begin regular service on December 9. 1/3

Dec 8, 1995: the last day of regular PCC streetcar service on the Toronto Transit Commission. Car No. 4611 departed at 8:34 PM from the Main Street terminal on the 506 Carlton route, arriving at Roncesvalles Car House at 9:30 PM. 1/3

Tomorrow! Join Dumaresq de Pencier from the Canadian Automotive Museum on as he narrates a 1925 coast-to-coast tour by Ford of Canada. The trip included driving on more than 1,300 km by rail, offering a unique look into Canadian rail operations. ow.ly/toCI50Xv7j6

Dec 7, 1829: William Weller begins regular stagecoach service between York and Kingston, 160 miles (257 km) to the east. The trip cost $6. Steamboat fares were much cheaper but the boats didn't operate in the winter. The stagecoach trip took three days under ideal conditions. 1/3

After a long break (since July!), Tales of Toronto returns with a reprint of a piece I wrote about the opening of the Yonge subway line in 1954. Jump aboard - maybe there will be some cake waiting for you at the end of your ride! #TOhistory #TTC jamiebradburnwriting.wordpress.com/2025/12/07/t...

Officially licensed TTC ornaments and magnets are now available in the TRM Shop at Don Station. Streetcars, buses, and subway cars all make great stocking stuffers this holiday season. These items are produced locally by Light + Paper. Magnets are $12 and ornaments $18.

Dec 6, 1977: contractor Teperman & Sons demolishes the former CN Parkdale station after it was severely damaged in an arson fire that October. The station had been moved from its original location to Sunnyside in February 1977 by a group that hoped to preserve it. 1/2

Operations in the roundhouse’s active era relied on large amounts of water, and gauges like this example were essential for monitoring and controlling the building’s water pressure. This one likely monitored the fire sprinkler system. Check out this object and more at the Toronto Railway Museum.

Do you subscribe to our monthly newsletter? It's the best way to stay up-to-date with the Toronto Railway Museum. Sign up any time using the form on our website or the links on our social media channels. mailchi.mp/trha/decembe...

Dec 5, 2020: GO Transit opens its new Union Station Bus Terminal at the northeast corner of Bay Street and Lake Shore Boulevard, at the foot of the new 49-storey south tower of the CIBC Square complex, built by developers Ivanhoé Cambridge and Hines. 1/3

Dec 3, 1855: the Great Western Railway opens its line between Hamilton and Toronto. This was the third railway to enter Toronto, after the Ontario, Simcoe & Huron in May 1853 and the Grand Trunk in October 1855. 1/3

My Dad, John F. Mellow, died today. Like a lot of Gen X kids with Boomer dads, we had a complicated relationship. I’ll miss him. I’m a tempest coated in chrome-numbness right now. Grateful to my family. 💛 🚂 If you like railways, he wrote a book in his retirement you may enjoy. #canadianhistory