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When the train first rolled into Sutton in 1871, people's lives changed in more ways than one and continued to change for almost a century. This train reduced the feeling of isolation, opened up new job, education, and business opportunities, introduced them to a whole new set of leisure activities and boosted the economic growth of the region.

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Train schedule
2 November 1871

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In November of 1871, the South Eastern Counties Junction Railway's first passenger train pulls into the Sutton station. Having left Richford, VT, 20 minutes earlier (6:10a.m), it was on its way to Montreal where it would arrive at 9:50 a.m. This train would stop in several small villages such as Sutton Junction, West Brome and Cowansville. Traveler could now travel into Montreal and catch the same train in the early afternoon and be back in Sutton in time for dinner. This flash visit to Montreal would have previously been impossible considering that getting to Montreal would have taken anywhere from 12 to 14 hours at that time. This schedule for the South Eastern Counties Junction Railway Company was printed for the first time in the Nov. 2nd, 1871 edition of the ‘Waterloo Advertiser'.

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Crowd waiting for the train at the Sutton station
1900
Sutton, Québec, Canada

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The people of Sutton could now take advantage of this new means of transportation to do everything from running errands and visiting friends and family to getting to school or to the photography studio.

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Train on the South Eastern Railway track
1880
Sutton, Québec, Canada

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The people of Sutton could now travel not only to Montreal, but also to the neighbouring towns also serviced by the train. This photo of the South Eastern Railway track between Sutton and Knowlton is titled ‘Picnic in Knowlton'.

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Boarding pass
1915

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This ticket stub was found in an album having belonged to Mr. Paul Jackson Shepard of Sutton. Behind it one reads: "A ticket that took me home as far as Newport, at Easter Holiday". Mr. Shepard was a boarder in the Stanstead Wesleyan College from 1915 to 1920. To get to the College he caught the Sutton train bound for Newport where he then hopped on the train to Stanstead, which was only a few km from Newport.

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Student boarding the train
1955
Sutton, Québec, Canada

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This photo was pulled up from the 1955 student yearbook for the Sutton High School. The photo was captioned: "The sadness of leaving school". Many of the students from the neighboring towns took the train everyday in order to attend the Sutton High School.

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Ad
1885
Montréal, Québec, Canada

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Thanks to this fast and effective means of transportation a whole new world of leisure was now open to the people of Sutton. This ad taken out by the South Eastern Railway Company in January of 1885, invites travelers to take advantage of special outing to the Montreal Winter Carnival.

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Ad
1886
Mystic, Québec, Canada