Sean Marshall

Off the rails

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Sean Marshall

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The tracks have been ripped out from the once-proud Orangeville-Brampton Railway

Despite calls for the preservation of the Orangeville-Brampton Railway since its discontinuation in December 2021, the removal of rails on the 150-year old line that once connected Toronto with Owen Sound, Teeswater, and points between began this week.

The Town of Orangeville aims to replace the tracks with a multi-use path through the municipality. The Region of Peel is likely to purchase most of the remaining section, with the right-of-way likely to become another recreational trail through Caledon and north Brampton. I will continue to document the railway’s demise and the route’s future.

In the meantime, the rusty rails await their removal.

Looking west at Centre Street, Orangeville, March 30, 2022
The hi-rail excavator sitting in the Orangeville yard, March 30, 2022. A pile of removed rails sits in front.
At Brampton, signals continue to protect the CN mainline despite the abandonment of the old CP route
A Sarnia-bound VIA Train crosses the Brampton diamond, March 25, 2022. Who knows how long it will be before the diamond is removed for good?
End of the line – video of track removal at Orangeville by Jeremy Williams

Comments

2 responses to “Off the rails”

  1. Stephen Saines Avatar
    Stephen Saines

    On one hand, that’s incredibly sad, even if inevitable.

    On the other, the RoW will render a badly needed cycle route to connect both the Elora to Cataract Trail and the Caledon Trailway to each other, and then down to Brampton by a very scenic route.

    As to how far south to Brampton will become trail remains to be seen. I suspect the diamond mentioned will remain for some time to keep the southern part connected to the CP, albeit it might come to pass that the lowest link to CP is abandoned too with a curve from CN replacing the it if demand exists locally for connection to the area just north of the CN tracks.

    Many thanks this article!

    Reply
  2. Max Avatar
    Max

    This wonderful old rail line should be used by short rail buses. These vehicles could provide quite efficient transport to downtown Toronto. This is done all over Europe on short and medium lines.
    Here – sad lack of interest, vision and ideas.

    Reply

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