South Simcoe Railway

The South Simcoe Railway is a steam heritage railway in Tottenham, Ontario, north of Toronto. Operating excursions since 1993, it is the oldest operating steam heritage railway in Ontario and features the second oldest operating steam locomotive in Canada. Excursions last about 50 minutes over of track from Tottenham through the scenic Beeton Creek valley to Beeton and back. Although the trains stop in Beeton, passengers cannot disembark, as there is not a station there. The railway has plans to add a Beeton station, but as is common with many heritage railways, this sort of project is highly dependent on fundraising. The railway has two ex-Canadian Pacific steam locomotives, the best known being an 1883 4-4-0 A2m #136 (which many Canadians have seen, as it was used in the 1970s CBC Television series The National Dream). #136 helped build the transcontinental railroad, the Canadian Pacific, across Canada in the 1880s. The railway also owns a 1912 4-6-0 D10h, ex-CPR #1057, and two road-capable diesel locomotives, (ex-Canadian Pacific D-T-C #22 and ex-Norfolk Southern GE 70-ton diesel-electric #703). Rounding out the collection is a diesel-electric yard switcher, Ruston-Hornsby 165DE #10. The excursion train is made up of restored 1920s era coaches, previously owned by the Canadian Pacific Railway, Canadian National Railway, Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway and the Louisville & Nashville Railroad. The railway's equipment collection also includes rolling stock not used on the excursions, including a former Ontario Northland Railway business car #200, a combination passenger/baggage coach used as a museum, two wooden cabooses, one steel wide-vision ex-CPR caboose, a ballast car, various boxcars, flat cars, and steam generator cars. Regular excursions operate from the May long weekend through to the weekend after Thanksgiving. Excursions feature the Conductor's friendly commentary on the scenery, the history of the line, and the historical place of the railways in Canadian history. Special events during the year include the Easter Express, Hallowe'en Adventure and the Santa Claus Express at Christmastime, which have a holiday focus. The PBS series Shining Time Station was shot here and at Union Station.