York–Durham Heritage Railway

The York–Durham Heritage Railway is a heritage railway in both the York Region and the Durham Region of Ontario, Canada, north of Toronto.

York–Durham
Heritage Railway
York–Durham railway coach at Uxbridge station
LocaleOntario
TerminusStouffville GO Station
Uxbridge station
Commercial operations
Built byWilliam Gooderham[1]
T&NR(?)
Original gauge3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) (until 1883)
1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) (since 1882)
Preserved operations
Reporting markYDHR
Stations2
Length20 km (12 mi)
Preserved gauge1,435 mm (4 ft 8 1⁄2 in) standard gauge
Commercial history
Opened1868[1] as Toronto and Nipissing Railway
Preservation history
1996[1]Opened
HeadquartersUxbridge
Website
York-Durham Heritage Railway
Route map
Uxbridge
Goodwood (Demolished)
Durham ¦ York
Lincolnville Yard
Lincolnville
 only
Stouffville
Stouffville line to Toronto

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.

The railway runs on the tracks of the former Toronto and Nipissing Railway. Metrolinx owns and operates the line south from Stouffville GO Station as the Stouffville line.

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.

The railway runs on occasion between the Old Unionville Station and the Markham GO Station, as it did in June 2018.[2] Neither station serves this run with the former's platform fenced off from the tracks.

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.[3]

The YDHR is operated entirely by volunteers of the York–Durham Heritage Railway Association.

Railway History
Main article: Toronto and Nipissing Railway

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 4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) 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.

Rolling stock
The Budd cars were converted from Rail Diesel Cars to coaches in 2008

Locomotives

Passenger Cars

Non-passenger cars

See also

References
  1. Sentimental journey
  2. "York-Durham Heritage Railway". Unionville Festival. 2018. Retrieved July 24, 2018.
  3. http://www.realontario.ca/index.php/ontario-tourism-listing?pid=11668
  4. "Our History, & Future" (PDF). Unionville Festival. York-Durham Heritage Railway. 2014. Retrieved 22 June 2016.

Further reading

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