South Simcoe Railway

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

1 General Information
2 Organization Volunteers
3 Restoration
4 See also
5 External links

[edit] General Information

The South Simcoe Railway is a steam heritage railway in Tottenham, Ontario (just north of Toronto). Operating excursions since 1993, it is the oldest operating steam heritage railway in Ontario.

Excursions last about one hour over 12 km of track from Tottenham through the scenic Beeton Creek valley to Beeton. 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, an 1883 4-4-0 #136 (which many Canadians have seen, as it was used in the television series The National Dream) and a 1912 4-6-0 #1057, although a diesel locomotive may be used (either ex-Canadian Pacific D-T-C #22 or ex-Norfolk Southern GE 70-ton diesel-electric #703).

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.

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.

[edit] Organization Volunteers

The South Simcoe Railway is an all-volunteer-operated heritage railway. Excursion trains are operated by volunteers who have taken their training regarding all aspects of railway operation, and qualified as flagmen, trainmen, conductors, firemen or locomotive engineers.

Maintenance and restoration activities are also carried out by volunteers. This includes track, right-of-way, site and property maintenance, locomotive maintenance and repair, and coach maintenance, cleaning and repair.

Operational and restoration activities are managed and supervised by volunteer foremen, department managers and the Board of Directors; in most cases, these managers and directors are also active volunteers who take on roles in the day-to-day operation of the Railway.

[edit] Restoration

As of 2006, the South Simcoe Railway only operates steam locomotive #1057. The older engine, #136, reached the end of the useful life on its boiler, and requires a boiler replacement. However, since the project was estimated at $400,000 CAN, the Railway has initiated a fund-raising campaign which has not yet reached its goal. The engine has been partially prepared for restoration, but now awaits the new boiler. Once the restoration project is completed, everything on #136 will be fixed and both locomotives are expected to run smoothly.