Ontario once had very bizarre McDonald's locations but they're gone forever

Although most McDonald's locations in Ontario look nearly identical today — with their grey exteriors and red columns topped with the chain's famous golden arches — some outlets had their own distinct quirky character throughout the 1970s and 1990s. 

As franchise owners worked to set their locations apart from others, many experienced unusual features that have since disappeared, including attached train cabooses to host birthday parties, and even one with a gas station built beneath it. 

For those who grew up in Ontario during the late 20th century, the sight of a bright red caboose beside your local McDonald's was a staple of childhood. Franchise owners across the province, from Chatham to Stratford, Barrie to Owen Sound, and Orangeville to Mississauga, converted former railway cars into dining rooms and play areas, and birthday party rooms. 

A McDonald's caboose restaurant in Chatham, Ont., in 1985. Photo: Don McQueen/Old Ontario Series.

The fun additions were often rebranded as "Ronald's Birthday Caboose" or the Special Events Caboose" and were part of a wave of themed designs, which also included mansard roofs, that the brand experimented with as it set out to establish its identity.

A McDonald's in Chatham featured one of these railway cars in 1985, and another one was pictured in Stratford in 1994, after previously being stationed in Kitchener. Ottawa's St. Laurent Boulevard also had a McDonald's with a caboose attached during the 1980s. 

A McDonald's caboose restaurant in Stratford, Ont., in 1994. Photo: Don McQueen/Old Ontario Series.

Over time, McDonald's became the business with the largest number of retired railway cabooses at the time, and set the stage for many cherished childhood memories. If you grew up in the 1980s in Ontario, odds are you have a birthday or two associated with the unique locations. 

McDonald's caboose restaurant in Owen Sound. Photo: Don McQueen/Old Ontario Series. 

However, as the company skyrocketed into a global brand, these oddities slowly faded into the past, and beginning in the 1990s, cabooses were quietly removed or scrapped from McDonald's locations across Ontario. 

McDonald's caboose in Welland, Ont. Photo: Old Ontario Series. 

Not all of the brand's experiments with quirky locations were train-related. In Barrie during the 1980s, one location (pictured at the top of this article) was attached to a gas station, offering drivers on Highway 400 the opportunity to fill up their stomachs and cars at the same time.

Today, the site is part of an OnRoute service centre on Highway 400 North. 

Although these locations have faded into the past, their photos are reminders of a time when the brand embraced originality over uniformity. 

Do you have any memories about the McDonald's cabooses?