Train Station History An Historical Summary of the Stirling Grand Trunk/CN Railway Station by Lewis Zandbergen By the early 1860s the impact of the mechanical age was being felt even in small Ontario towns like Stirling, although railways had been a fact of life since the 1840s between commercial centres along the Lake Ontario-St. Lawrence River route. A railway line from Peterborough and then to Toronto was proposed near the end of the 1840s, but it was to be almost three decades before serious work was begun. By 1873 advertisements in local papers were asking for railway ties and the roadbed was being laid. Documents show the land for the Stirling station was purchased from Benjamin C. Bush and wife in July of 1873. It is believed work on the first station building was begun shortly thereafter but evidence supporting this theory is scant. A map in Belden's Hastings and Prince Edward Atlas of 1878 shows a street parallel with Church Street running west from North Street and through what is now the Stirling Primary School grounds and ending roughly even with the present station property. It is thought that the street, which was to have been named Rear Street, would have led to the station. Rear Street never materialized but it still appears on official maps of Stirling. The first station, of which no records exist other than in the report of its demise, burned to the ground on July 22, 1879. The fire was attributed to a spark from a passing locomotive; the building was quickly reduced to ashes. The reporting of this unfortunate accident indicates the present building, known as the "Van Horne Style," was constructed later in 1879. The existing station with its two-storey accommodation for the station master and his family is thought to be one of only three such structures the Grand Junction/Grand Trunk erected during the early days of Canadian rail history; many Canadian Pacific stations of similar design do exist, however. The line that ran through Stirling was known as the Grand Junction Railway until 1881 when it was taken over by the Midland Railway. On January 1, 1884 both railways were combined with the Grand Trunk Railway. At the turn of the century this building would have been a hive of activity. Trains would come and go, discharge passengers and freight, reload and then resume the journey to other whistle-stops or villages or head for Belleville or Peterborough. The station master would meet each train and there would be a commotion as passengers disembarked. To the north of the tracks cattle would be herded into box cars. Gigs, carriages, omnibuses and hotel hacks would vie with farm wagons for space. We do not know who the first station master was; many of the station masters did not even live at the station but boarded in town. In 1928 Earle Ormiston became station master. For a while he and his family lived in the station but they soon moved to town; Mrs. Ormiston had learned of a train derailment which demolished the north side of the building prior to their arrival and feared the same would happen again. Mr. Ormiston retired in 1948. The last station master was David Nunn; he and his family lived in the station. On the lower level the present station consists of the waiting room, a ticket office in which the station master would sell tickets, dispatch freight and watch for trains as they came into the station yards, a kitchen and the freight shed with its weigh scales. Upstairs there are bedrooms and a large parlour room. The building never had running water or a bathroom. The last passenger train to go through Stirling passed the station on January 31, 1962. It was the end of an era although freight trains would continue to stop in Stirling for another few years. Now that the rail lines are gone, the station remians the only tangible link with the past; rail travel through Stirling is nothing more than a memory. The Stirling-Rawdon Historical Society is continuing its research into the past of the station. In 2005 through the dedicated efforts of the Stirling Rotary Club, the station was moved several hundred yards east of its historic location and it was declared a historic site. It was placed on a new foundation and basement which will be the home of the Rotary Club as well as providing a meeting room, a kitchen and washroom facilities. Serious restoration through the spring, summer and fall of 2006 has transformed the exterior of the building to reflect its proud heritage; it once again shows its original colours and the finials at the gable ends have been replaced. The Rotary Club continues its work and in the near future the building will undergo interior restoration with the aim to portraying life at the station around 1900. This is how the Stirling station looked circa 1930. Note the station platform which ran around the building and the high platform for access to the freight shed. Just above the baggage carts are the windows of the waiting room. The bay window at the signal mast is where the station master would watch for trains entering the yards. The signal arms at the top of the mast were controlled with levers in the office. photo courtesy Pam Charlesworth