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Caption: Last call. The Orangeville Brampton Railway is southbound into the curve just east of Cheltenham with a pile of photographers documenting the final journey. Immediately to my right, the joints on 1921 stamped rail clink together beneath the passing weight and calmly settle one last time. Management from GIO Rail, Trillium Railway's holding company, have applied their logo to the front of the "triple 3" with the Owen Sound spur's dates of operation... 1879 - 2021. The first train departed Orangeville December 2, 1879, and the final one 142 years, 15 days later.
The OBRY caboose left the property by truck about a month ago, now a private residence near Bala. The ballast hopper too is sold and will leave by truck. Note the phone taped to the MU cover... someone has documented some great views of the line.
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Nice to see so much coverage of the last run. I would point out, however, that the decal on the front of 333 was not entirely correct in that the 1879 reference applied only to the Credit Valley Railway section of the line. For most of its existence, the portion from Melville through Orangeville used the TG&B route exclusively. That line entered service in 1871, with the first train arriving in Orangeville on April 17 and regular service beginning a few months later — possibly September. As such, we can sadly note that the 150th anniversary of the inauguration of rail service to Orangeville was “celebrated” with the shutdown of the line.