The Great Depression saw a slump in rail traffic, and by the mid-1930s, the new owners of the line, CN Rail, had begun to strip back service. The station agent at Hawkestone was removed and replaced with a caretaker in 1936. In 1963–64, CN made a number of abrupt cuts to service, cancelling all service to Shanty Bay and Oro Station, and putting the station building at Hawkestone up for sale. Hawkestone still appeared intermittently on CN train timetables for the next few years, but disappeared for the last time in 1968. The station building was demolished around 1969. Canada's Board of Transport Commissioners had contacted the Township of Oro in 1964 asking if it objected to the removal of Oro's station, but no reply from the township is on file, and the station was demolished in 1966. Carthew also disappeared from timetables in 1973.