The evolution of  Stratford's railway stations  

No. 1-1856-Regent Street

Stratford’s first railway station received its first train on Sept. 3, 1856. The station was on the south end of Regent Street and faced Queen Street. See Regent Street

It received the Prince of Wales when he stopped in Stratford in 1860 on his cross-Canada tour. He became King Edward VII in 1901.

This station remained in service until 1867. It  was torn down after the GTR built a new one on the Corner of  Nile Street and Railway Avenue, north of the present station, on Shakespeare Street. See Shakespeare Street

No. 3-1861-Nile Street

The building was located on the north side of Guelph Street just east of Nile Street, at the junction of the GTR and B&LH railways. The station was constructed in 1861 by the Buffalo & Lake Huron Railway, and served as a union terminal with the Grand Trunk Railway which assumed ownership of the building with the 1864 merger. This was the city’s first “union” station (see Nile Street).

The station was replaced by the second GTR station (see below) in 1870. It is unknown when the subject building was removed .The lands remain in railway use .

No. 4-1870-Guelph Street

In 1870, the GTR erected Stratford’s fourth station, at the intersection of Guelph and Downie streets. Like station No. 3, it was a union station, built to serve the increased traffic created when the GTR established major motive power repair facilities just west of Downie Street. This GTR station was in use for more than four decades. See Guelph Street

The building was a long one storey frame board and batten structure with a second storey that extended over the central portion of the building, covered by a hip roof. A bay window was located in front of the office component of the building The station contained passenger waiting rooms, ticket and operator office, and extensive baggage and freight handling areas. The building may also have contained a restaurant.

The building was removed in 1913 with the opening of the new station that year 

No. 5-1875-Falstaff Street

In 1875, the Port Dover and Lake Huron Railway (PD&LH) built Stratford’s fifth railway station. The building was located on the south side of Falstaff Street at Nile Street, at the terminus of the line’s original branch into the City 

 Its first train came to Stratford in 1876. It was little used as a station after the GTR took over the PH&LH company in 1922. In later years, the Cornish Coal Co. used the property as a coal yard. See Falstaff Street

No. 6 -1913-Shakespeare Street

The city’s “grand old” train station still serves. Built in 1913 at 101 Shakespeare Street it has retained most of its original design, which was based on Frank Lloyd Wright’s Prairie style. It was one of the most picturesque stations built by the GTR in western Ontario between the mid-1890s and the First World War. It was the visual crown to Stratford’s development as a railway centre, which included a huge GTR steam locomotive repair facility (see Shakespeare Street ).