A Tangle of Tracks
On July 16, 1890, at least two Canadian newspapers reported on an apparition witnessed by multiple people near what was then called Little York Station. A short piece appeared in The Montreal Star, and one with more details in The Winnipeg Tribune. Here’s the longer report:
In 1890, East Toronto and Little York were villages just outside of Toronto. Their borders are no longer clearly marked, but it’s easy to locate where they were, and an 1890 map (shown below) reveals how close they were to a hub/freight yard belonging to the Grand Trunk Railway. Unfortunately, I haven’t had much luck in zeroing in on that intersection with “the Scarboro and Yorktown line” mentioned in the article above.
Nonetheless, the shorter report in The Montreal Star offers a promising clue. It mostly summarizes what The Winnipeg Tribune says, but it adds that the crossing is a place “where many persons have been run over and killed.” I went searching for earlier reports of railroad-related deaths in that vicinity, and to be sure, I found several. They’re all linked to Little York station, which also went by the simpler name “York Station.”
Glance down at that old map, and you’ll see that the station house sat just north of a tangle of tracks. This area of congestion begins to explain why, in October of 1886, three people died when they left one train and, “getting out of the way of a following train, stepped in front of an engine on another track.” The next year, Robert McDonald “was killed by a train” after his foot was ensnared by a railroad frog. Later that year, an “engine killed an unknown man near Little York station.” In 1889, a railroad employee “named John Donahue was run over and instantly killed” at the very same station.
It’s entirely possible that there were additional fatalities at Little York Station, and I have a strong hunch that the multiple ghost sightings reported in the papers occurred not far from that treacherous hub.
Where Once Was Is Now
Like waves of gravy spreading over cheese curds and fries, East Toronto annexed Little York — and then Toronto annexed East Toronto — shortly after the turn of the century. The street names remain largely the same today, though, and the two long-lost villages linger in Little York Road and East Toronto Athletic Field. If you find the corner of Danforth Avenue and Main Street and follow Main down to the tracks, you’ll see that Little York Station has been replaced by the present Danforth Station. In other words, where the old station stood is easy to locate.
While current tracks follow some of the old lines, it appears that the deadly tangle of over a century ago has been unraveled. Trains continue to run there, and the rails are fenced off for good reason. Ghost hunters should avoid snooping along them and stick to the much safer, parallel walkways to the north and south. Whether you conduct a formal investigation or simply happen to wander by some evening, please jot down your observations in the comments below.
And should the Toronto Ghosts and Hauntings Research Society update their Self Guided Walking Tour of that beautiful city, I hope they consider adding this curious bit of history.
Discover more “Railroad Hauntings You Can Still Visit” at the page for
After the End of the Line: Railroad Hauntings in Literature and Lore.
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