Reporting mark YDHR Locale Ontario | Length 20 km (12 mi) Phone +1 905-852-3696 | |
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Terminus Stouffville GO StationUxbridge station Built by William GooderhamT&NR(?) Original gauge 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) (until 1883)1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) (since 1882) Preserved gauge 1,435 mm (4 ft 8 ⁄2 in) Similar Lincolnville, Hwy 7 & 12 @ Couves Ln, Hwy 7A @ 6th Line, Simcoe St @ Queen St, Tenth Line / Main St Profiles | ||
The York–Durham Heritage Railway is a heritage railway in York Region and Durham Region, Ontario, north of Toronto.
Contents
The railway operates excursion trains over a 20 km (12 mi) route between the historic towns of Stouffville and Uxbridge. The round trip takes approximately 2 hours and 30 minutes.
Operations
The York-Durham Heritage Railway operates non-stop between the Uxbridge Station on the Metrolinx Uxbridge Subdivision and Stouffville GO Station. Between Lincolnville GO Station and Stouffville, trains operate over the same tracks as the GO Transit Stouffville line commuter rail service.
Trains are scheduled on weekends from June through mid-October, and are pulled by an Alco RS-11 diesel locomotive, #3612, which was built for the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway in 1956. Coaches include both vintage heavyweights built in the 1910s and 1920s, and lightweight cars from 1954.
The railway cars are stored at an open rail yard on Railway Street/King Street West in Uxbridge, Ontario. Several railway sheds are on the yard. The most significant is the Uxbridge Station, built in 1904.
The YDHR is operated entirely by volunteers of the York–Durham Heritage Railway Association.
Railway History
The Uxbridge Subdivision was built in 1871 as the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow-gauge line. The line was converted to standard gauge shortly after being acquired by the Midland Railway in 1882. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions, the line became part of the Canadian National Railway (CN) in 1923.
In the 1980s, CN began to abandon the line. Tracks north of Uxbridge were lifted, but the line south of Uxbridge was purchased by GO Transit (now Metrolinx) to preserve it for possible Uxbridge - Toronto commuter rail service. Until such a service is introduced, the York-Durham Railway is the sole operator north of Lincolnville station.