By Staff
June 15th, 2023
BURLINGTON, ON
Freeman Station: a sterling example of what can be achieved when citizens decide they want to get something done.
There was a time when the city didn’t know what to do with the structure that was rotting away while stored on a small plot of land at the Fairview fire station. The city wasn’t able to sell the building for firewood despite running an advertisement in a local newspaper – it wasn’t the Gazette.
It was citizen initiative and some imaginative thinking that made it possible to save the station and keep it open to the public..
The Art Gallery didn’t want it on their property – there was an idea to turn it into a radio station and put the building somewhere near Spencer Smith Park.
A group of dedicated citizens found a way to put the building yards away from the fire station on part of an industrial site.
It sits there today and is a top draw for people who are railway buffs who come to Burlington to see a beautifully restored building with an impressive collection of railway memorabilia and quite a bit of rolling stock is as well.
Perhaps in the not too distant future there will be a steam engine on the site is as well.
When you visit allow time to tour the diorama that is housed in the basement.
When steam was the driving force engines like this pulled into Freeman station delivering coffins to Smith Funeral Home and taking fresh produce through to Montreal where some of it made its way to Europe.
Thanks again to the Gazette for sharing our story.
Yes the Freeman Station was “saved” from demolition in 2010 and has since been completely restored.
A group of volunteers joined together and fundraised (and sawed and hammered and painted) and on July 1, 2017 the Station was re-opened for the first time since it closed on Halloween 1988.
Come by this Saturday June 17 2023 from 10am – 3pm as we showcase some Classic Cars from the 40s&50s and older on site.
Free admission. Plenty of free parking.
Check out :
– model trains running along the Worlds Largest “Grand Trunk Railway” Layout in 1/24 G-Scale in the basement.
– The One-And-Only original 1951 yellow TH&B#1 Railway Inspection Car.
– Ring an original 1917 brass CN locomotive Bell
– Our 1913 CP Boxcar, and go inside our 1929 CN wooden Caboose.
– Memorial to troops who left our station in WWI & WWII and perished in battle.
Bring the kids. Bring your Dad & Grampa and if you’ve got an old car (pre-1970) bring it along too. We’re dog friendly too.