General

Station Name: Burgessville
Subdivision: Otterville
Mileage: 7.55
Station Symbols: Z
Office Signals: ...
Train Order: ...
Sidings: Yard
Other Tracks: Yard
Location: Highway 59

Burgessville
(Oxford County, North Norwich Township)

Chronology

Date Event
1876-01-01 PD&LHR opens from Port Dover to Stratford[Stevens-1960, p. 464].
1876c 18'×34'×14' frame, shingle roof, timber foundation station built[GTR.MD.1907, p. 215].
1876c 7'×12'×12' frame, shingle roof, timber foundation "closet" built[GTR-1907, p. 215].
1878c 12'×16'×8' frame, shingle roof, timber foundation "hand car house" built[GTR-1907, p. 215].
1878c 12'×136' single pen, double chute "stock pen" built[GTR-1907, p. 215].
1886c 3" plank, timber foundation, 968 ft2 platform and 420 ft2 freight platform built[GTR-1907, p. 215].
1912-04-01 Southbound freight derails[The Globe (Toronto), Thursday, April 2, 1912, p. 15; The Simcoe Reformer, Thursday, April 4, 1912, p. 7].
1917c GTR constructs 18'×75'×12' frame combination station with domestic brick platform[NAC RG30 Vol. 10120 File 6340-29].
1920-06-27/1937-09-26 Day train order office[GTRS.OL.LSD.02/11, CNR.CR.SWOD.LSD.2/16, CNR.CR.SOD.LSD.21/64].
1930-10-01/1932-09-30 CNR records the following carloads to and from Burgessville as part of its Study of Unprofitable Lines.
  • Inbound: 36
    • Coal: Drumheller (Alberta) 2, U.S. Points 15
    • Coke: Hamilton 2
    • Livestock: Toronto 2, Guelph 1, London 1
    • Poles: Québec 2
    • Posts: Wiarton 2
    • Salt: Windsor 2
    • Barley: Goderich 1
    • Feed: Pt. Colborne 2
    • Spray Material: Burlington 1
    • Crushed Stone: Dundas 3
  • Outbound: 85
    • Wheat: Ingersoll 9, Woodstock 3, Simcoe 3, Toronto 5, Port Dover 2
    • Apples: Montréal 15, Toronto 1, Hamilton 1, Ottawa 1, Brandon 1
    • Livestock: Toronto, 22
    • Straw: Toronto 1, Trenton 19
    • Hay: Toronto 2
[NAC RG30 Vol. 10120 File 6340-29]
1934c

Burgessville 9.2 miles from C.P .R. Woodstock. Forwarded traffic apples and fruits 585 tons Montréal Export and Eastern Canada destinations, hay and straw 41 tons Toronto, livestock 362 tons destined Toronto. There is a small tonnage L.C.L. honey to Ontario destinations and Western Canada. There is one private siding serving Mr. J.G. Corless , who handles cement ex St. Marys , Port Colborne, coal ex Black Rock, Detroit, and grain and feed from Ontario Mills. In addition there are the following warehouses in operation located adjacent to our station:

United Farmers' Cooperative Grain, Feed and Coal, fertilizer
Burgessville Coal & Grain Co. Grain, Feed and Coal
Longworth, R.E. Hay and straw, lumber and wood
[NAC RG30 Vol. 10120 File 6340-29]
1938-04-24 Train order office closed[CNR.CR.SOD.LSD.65].
1941-09-28

Service to and from Burgessville as required to handle carload traffic.

[CNR.CR.SOD.LSD.73]
1964-10-25 Removed from time table[CNR.GLR.LA.32, p. 22].

Photographs

Date Image Notes
1910c
N&DA		 Postcard view (rotated and cropped) of south elevation of first station in GTR era.
1912-04
N&DA		 Aftermath of the April 1, 1912 wreck.
1912-04
N&DA		 Clean-up of the April 1, 1912 wreck.
1925c
N&DA		 South and west elevations of section station in the early CNR era.
1945-09-04 Image Not Available
NAPL A9208-022		 Aerial photograph of Burgessville.
1954c
Marion Austin photo/JPS collection		 It has been more than a dozen years since Burgessville has seen regular train service and within a decade the rails will be lifted south to Norwich. The station, once a train order office on the busy Port Dover/Tavistock Junction line, will serve its final days as a storage facility for the packing house across the tracks.
1969c
Al Paterson collection		 Burgessville's rail service is a distant memory and the former CNR station now functions as a storage facility for the nearby packing house. Bushel lids are stacked outside the former waiting room windows.

Drawings

Date Reference Railway Subject Description
1954c J.P. Smith CNR Second depot.