The York–Durham Heritage Railway is a

heritage railway A heritage railway or heritage railroad (US usage) is a railway operated as living history to re-create or preserve railway scenes of the past. Heritage railways are often old railway lines preserved in a state depicting a period (or periods) i ...

in both the

York Region The Regional Municipality of York, also called York Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada, between Lake Simcoe and Toronto. The region was established after the passing of then Bill 102, An Act to Establish The Regional M ...

and the

Durham Region The Regional Municipality of Durham (), informally referred to as Durham Region, is a regional municipality in Southern Ontario, Canada. Located east of Toronto and the Regional Municipality of York, Durham forms the east-end of the Greater T ...

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, north of

Toronto Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the anch ...

. The railway operates excursion trains from

Uxbridge Uxbridge () is a suburban town in west London and the administrative headquarters of the London Borough of Hillingdon. Situated west-northwest of Charing Cross, it is one of the major metropolitan centres identified in the London Plan. Uxb ...

. Trips have various travel times depending on the event or festival. The railway runs on the tracks of the former

Toronto and Nipissing Railway The Toronto and Nipissing Railway (T&N) was the first public narrow-gauge railway in North America. It chartered in 1868 to build from Toronto to Lake Nipissing in Ontario, Canada, via York, Ontario, and Victoria counties. At Nipissing it wo ...

Metrolinx Metrolinx is a Crown agency of the Government of Ontario that manages and integrates road and public transport in the Greater Toronto and Hamilton Area (GTHA), which comprises much of Ontario's Golden Horseshoe region. Headquartered at Union ...

owns and operates the line south from

Stouffville GO Station Stouffville GO Station is a railway station in the GO Transit network located in Stouffville, Ontario, Stouffville, Ontario, Canada. It was the northern terminus of the Stouffville line train service until the line was extended to Lincolnville (n ...

as the Stouffville line.

Operations

The York–Durham Heritage Railway operates non-stop from the Uxbridge Station on the

Uxbridge Subdivision. Trains are scheduled on weekends from June through mid-October, and are pulled by an

Alco The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

RS-11

diesel locomotive A diesel locomotive is a type of railway locomotive in which the prime mover is a diesel engine. Several types of diesel locomotives have been developed, differing mainly in the means by which mechanical power is conveyed to the driving whee ...

, #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 Uxbridge is a township in the Regional Municipality of Durham in south-central Ontario, Canada. Communities The main centre in the township is the namesake community of Uxbridge. Other settlements within the township include Altona, Coppin' ...

. 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 narrow-gauge line. The line was

converted Conversion or convert may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * "Conversion" (''Doctor Who'' audio), an episode of the audio drama ''Cyberman'' * "Conversion" (''Stargate Atlantis''), an episode of the television series * "The Conversion" ...

to shortly after being acquired by the

Midland Railway The Midland Railway (MR) was a railway company in the United Kingdom from 1844. The Midland was one of the largest railway companies in Britain in the early 20th century, and the largest employer in Derby, where it had its headquarters. It ama ...

in 1882. Following a series of mergers and acquisitions, the line became part of the

Canadian National Railway The Canadian National Railway Company (french: Compagnie des chemins de fer nationaux du Canada) is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States. CN i ...

(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 GO Transit is a regional public transit system serving the Greater Golden Horseshoe region of Ontario, Canada. With its hub at Union Station in Toronto, GO Transit's green-and-white trains and buses serve a population of more than seven mil ...

(now

) 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 Old Elm station.

Rolling stock

Locomotives

* 1951 MLW RS-3 #1310 * 1955 MLW RS-3 #22 * 1956

ALCO RS-11 The ALCO RS-11 is a class of diesel-electric locomotive rated at , that rode on two-axle trucks, having a B-B wheel arrangement. This model was built by both Alco (327 units) and Montreal Locomotive Works (99 units). Total production was 426 uni ...

#3612

Passenger Cars

* 1919

Pullman Company The Pullman Company, founded by George Pullman, was a manufacturer of railroad cars in the mid-to-late 19th century through the first half of the 20th century, during the boom of railroads in the United States. Through rapid late-19th century ...

Colonist A settler is a person who has migrated to an area and established a permanent residence there, often to colonize the area. A settler who migrates to an area previously uninhabited or sparsely inhabited may be described as a pioneer. Settle ...

sleeper #4960 * 1930

CCF CCF can refer to: Computing * Confidential Consortium Framework, a free and open source blockchain infrastructure framework developed by Microsoft * Customer Care Framework, a Microsoft product Finance * Credit conversion factor converts the am ...

Solarium/

Lounge car A lounge car (sometimes referred to as a buffet lounge, buffet car, club car or grill car) is a type of passenger car on a train, in which riders can purchase food and drinks. The car may feature large windows and comfortable seating to create a re ...

#15041, (ex- CNR) * 1950s

Coaches Coach may refer to: Guidance/instruction * Coach (sport), a director of athletes' training and activities * Coaching, the practice of guiding an individual through a process ** Acting coach, a teacher who trains performers Transportation * Coac ...

# 3233, 3209 (ex- CNR) * 1955 Budd coaches #101 - #106, converted from Rail Diesel Cars to coaches in 2008.

Non-passenger cars

* 1919

National Steel Car National Steel Car is the largest manufacturer of railway rolling stock in Canada, based in Hamilton, Ontario. The company was founded in 1912, and has been a top 3 rolling stock manufacturer in Canada for its lifetime. National Steel Car is a subs ...

boxcar A boxcar is the North American (AAR) term for a railroad car that is enclosed and generally used to carry freight. The boxcar, while not the simplest freight car design, is considered one of the most versatile since it can carry most ...

#406308 (ex- CNR) * 1950

flatcar A flatcar (US) (also flat car, or flatbed) is a piece of rolling stock that consists of an open, flat deck mounted on a pair of trucks (US) or bogies (UK), one at each end containing four or six wheels. Occasionally, flat cars designed to carry ...

#662339 (ex- CNR) * 1953

caboose A caboose is a crewed North American railroad car coupled at the end of a freight train. Cabooses provide shelter for crew at the end of a train, who were formerly required in switching and shunting, keeping a lookout for load shifting, dam ...

#434908 (ex-

CPR Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore spont ...

) * 1957

Baggage car A passenger railroad car or passenger car (United States), also called a passenger carriage, passenger coach (United Kingdom and International Union of Railways), or passenger bogie (India) is a railroad car that is designed to carry passeng ...

#9636 *

hopper car A hopper car (US) or hopper wagon ( UIC) is a type of railroad freight car used to transport loose bulk commodities such as coal, ore, grain, and track ballast. Two main types of hopper car exist: covered hopper cars, which are equipped with ...

#165 (ex- Green Bay and Western Railway) * 3 track inspection cars

References

External links

York-Durham Heritage RailwayYDHR Facebook Page.YDHR YouTube Page.
{{DEFAULTSORT:York Durham Heritage Railway Heritage railways in Ontario Standard gauge railways in Canada 1868 establishments in Ontario