The Northern Railway of Canada was purchased in 1888 by the Grand Trunk Railway (GTR), which in turn undertook improvements such as building a stockyard at Shanty Bay, followed by a passenger station and stable in 1898. At Hawkestone, the Grand Trunk renovated the existing station in 1900 as well as constructing a large stockyard in 1905. In 1917, not long before the Grand Trunk's amalgamation into Canadian National Railways (CN Rail), one of its trains derailed in front of Hawkestone station. Soon after, the line came under Canadian National ownership and formed a component of its Newmarket Subdivision.