Caption: Abandoned and pulled up, engineering crews are in the middle of tearing up the old mainline to Owen Sound on what used to be Mile 35.37 of the former CPR Owen Sound Subdivision. The northern part of the line from Orangeville to Owen Sound didn't last as long as the southern part did with what little customers (and abandonment of the branches like the Teeswater, Walkerton Subs between Orangeville and Owen Sound) were left along the line and constant drift busting in the winter time with the plows, the north end succumbed to abandonment in late 1995 but the south end from Orangeville to Mile 2.4 at Streetsville still prospered till late 2021. So here we are in the year 2022 with rising oil prices and businesses trying to find alternative transportation methods to ship products by rail, the short sightedness along with the anti-rail mentality of the mayor and council will rear it's ugly head to the Town of Orangeville in the distant future.
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Sadly too many politicians can only see as far ahead as the next election.One can only hope some far sighted types run this fall.
Damage is done. Line is sold. Orangeville will have their section ripped out by next election.
A destructive and devastating image.
Shameful, and short sighted…. Just what Ontario needs…another bike path….thanks for posting
Wholesale abandonment took off after the Mulroney government passed new legislation in 1988. One of the most troubling examples for me was the destruction of the CASO Sub. In this case, Owen Sound could have supported one of the two lines in the same way Goderich did. We don’t know what the future might hold & how some of these lines may have been re-invigorated. Too bad we don’t at least have “rail-banking” options like they do in the USA.