Anyone who has ever used the Dundas Valley Conservation Area has likely passed the Dundas Valley Trail Centre, inside what appears to be a modest sized railway station in the middle of the conservation area. Although it is alongside the former Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo (TH&B) mainline, it is not a former TH&B station.
In the early 1970s the Ontario Railway Association (ORA) was looking for a place to permanently operate their collection of steam engines and passenger cars as a heritage railroad. At the time they operated steam excursions pulled by steam engines ex Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) #136 and #1057 in various places in southern Ontario, such as between Hamilton and Brantford on May 5, 1974 and a Welland-Hamilton-Brantford excursion on May 12.
At the same time the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority (HRCA) was looking to build a trail centre for the Dundas Valley Conservation Area, but was concerned about car traffic and at the same time wanted to make the trail centre unique. Impressed by the public interest in the May 1974 steam excursions, the HRCA concluded that a heritage railway operating between the TH&B's Hamilton station (now the Hamilton GO Centre) and the Dundas Valley would be a feasible option.
Negotiations between the HRCA, the ORA and the TH&B during 1975 came to an agreement that the HRCA would build a trail centre next to the tracks of the TH&B in the Dundas Valley that could double as a train station, to be used by the ORA in the operation of a 10.9 km heritage railroad on the tracks of the TH&B from Hamilton. It would be named the Dundas Valley Railroad.
Early options for the new station included moving the Canadian National Railways (CNR) Dundas station or moving the CNR station in Chesley which was offered to the HRCA for $1. However this latter idea was abandoned because the cost of moving the structure was too high. Instead it was decided to build a new structure from scratch. The station was designed by John Coates and was not built to any preexisting plans, but inspiration was taken from the CNR station in Grimsby.
The station was named Sulphur Springs, after the nearby mineral rich spring that has been a landmark in the Dundas Valley for centuries. Construction of the station began in the summer of 1976. On October 2 & 3 1976 another pair of steam excursions from Hamilton to Brantford was held to confirm the demand for the proposed Dundas Valley Railroad. The two trips on each day included a brief stop on the way at the still under construction station.
Unfortunately the Dundas Valley Railroad came to a halt when the CPR took over ownership of the TH&B on April 19, 1977 and revoked the permission to operate steam over their line. The opening of the trail centre was delayed from the planned June 18, 1977 until attempts to negotiate with CPR had been exhausted. The trail centre opened on Jan 7, 1978 with the official opening on June 3. Two former passenger cars were added to the station around 1980. The ORA would get their heritage railway eventually, starting the South Simcoe Railway in Tottenham, Ontario in the early 1990s.
On May 20, 1986 a landslide near Brantford closed the TH&B line through the Dundas Valley. The HRCA made a second attempt to run steam trains by trying to take over part of the line, but the CPR wanted $400,000 for the line and at an estimated start up cost of $1.5 M the plan was scrapped due to cost. The CPR would abandon the line on May 2, 1989 and the rails were removed that fall. The HRCA would buy the abandoned railway line and it would become the Hamilton Brantford rail trail in 1993.
Sulphur Springs was the victim of arson on November 20, 2005 but suffered only surface damage to the north side and the tower. The HRCA took advantage of the repair work to discuss expansions and renovations to the station by digging a new basement under the station, but these plans ultimately went nowhere due to insufficent funds. At around this time the passenger cars were moved east along the track to become display space.
Sulphur Springs station as seen from the northeast.
The east side of Sulphur Springs station and the station's tower.
The north side of Sulphur Springs station and the station's tower. This was the part of the station damaged in the 2005 fire.
The north side of Sulphur Springs station.
The sitting area on the west side of Sulphur Springs station.
Sulphur Springs station as seen from the southwest.
The south side of Sulphur Springs station with the sitting area.
The south side of Sulphur Springs station with what would have been the ticket window and the station's tower.
The station's semaphore signal.
Sulphur Springs station as seen from the southeast.
The station track heading to the west. This would have likely been meant to connect to the TH&B line to the west, making it possible for a steam engine to uncouple from one end of the train and then run around to couple onto the other end.
Interior views of the station. Unfortunately on the day I visited the station was locked, so these were all shot through the windows
This is an Ex-Canadian Pacific Railway business car. Built by the CPR at their Angus shops in Montreal in July 1929 as the Manitoba, it was renumbered to CPR #3 in April 1961, and retired in 1978.
This is an ex-Canadian National Railway self-propelled car, informally known as a doodlebug. Built by National Steel Car in Hamilton in April 1931 as CNR #15844, it was converted to cable car #59328 in Sept 1956.
The railway switch for the station track being installed in the winter of 1976/77. The under construction station is in the background. Photo from the Hamilton Conservation Authority
Official opening of the Trail Centre on June 3, 1978. Photo from the Hamilton Conservation Authority
Three photos of Sulphur Springs station that I took on September 30, 2001.
Canadian Trackside Guide 2025 Ottawa: Bytown Railway Society, 2025
Clegg, Anthony Self-propelled cars of the CNR Pickering,Ontario: Railfare DC Books, 2005
Helm, Norman. In The Shadow of Giants; The Story of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway/2 Toronto: Preston House Publishers, 1996
Laing, Brian D. "The Inside Line on Sulphur Springs Station" Centre Mall Magazine Fall 1987, pg 6
Spring, John. "The Day that Steam returned to the TH&B; The Story of the Ontario Rail Association Excursion trips Operated Over the TH&B" The Ontarian April 2025, pg 4-18
Hamilton Spectator
"90 years old and still steaming" May 2, 1974 pg 9
"Steamer service in valley proposal" Aug 2, 1974 pg 10
"Steam train link studied" Dec 3, 1975 pg 10
"In-town farm possible someday" Jan 27, 1976 pg 9
"Poor ticket sales threaten historical train operation" Sep 23, 1976 pg 9
Tammer, Marty "Steam returns to valley" Oct 4, 1976 pg 8
"Station to shelter ski buffs" Dec 17, 1976, pg 10
McNeill, Stan "Minor utopia in the making through Dundas valley" May 25, 1977 pg 79
Bonini, Alan "Valley Trails called a skier's delight" Jan 2, 1978, pg 11
"Sulphur Springs station restored" June 5, 1978, pg 9
Ross, James "Dundas Valley fine place for a long wilderness hike" Dec 29, 1984, pg B3
Nolan, Dan "HRCA wants to steam through valley" Jan 20, 1989, pg C1
"Valley steam trains nixed but bike trail a possibility" Nov 24, 1989 pg C3
Humphreys, Adrian "Full steam ahead; Rail bed fast becoming hiking and biking trail" Oct 14, 1992, pg B3
"Victoriana ablaze: Alarm saves replica rail station in Dundas" Nov 21, 2005, pg A3
Faulkner, Rob "Citylog" Feb 19, 2007, pg A10
