Sad news for fans of Ontario's electric railway history: the last building relating to the Lake Erie & Northern Railway (LE&N) in Simcoe has been demolished.
HO scale models by Roger Chrysler, and are now in my collection. This small brick building was used as a substation during the 1940s and 50s. Until very recently, it stood in the parking lot on the south side of Arygle St. on the east side of the Lynn River.
When Simcoe Station was built in 1916, it included a small substation within the station itself. This is the square section on the west side of the station that can be seen in old photos. During the 1940s, a small building on the property was converted into the substation.
This black and white photo was taken by Bob Sandusky in 1951.
Passenger service ended on April 23rd, 1955, and electric freight service ended on October 1st, 1961. The substation would have been taken over by Bell some time after this, and eventually became storage for the Alligator Tugboat Museum.
My shot of the parking lot on October 5th, 2021, when the substation was still standing.
There is now a gravel patch on the south side of the parking lot where the substation used to be.
Simcoe Station wasn't seen as worth saving either at the time of its demolition in 1978. The image of the substation being demolished is a screenshot from this Youtube video: https://youtu.be/kdADZhx_F08
I am currently working on my second book, "Grand River & Lake Erie Electric Railways: Volume 1". Stay tuned for updates!
