FEATURED TOPIC:  Heritage Train

With video camera in hand, Our Town: Markham volunteer videographer Tracy MacKinnon hopped aboard a tourist train on the old railway line through Markham.  “It was quite exciting, just the feeling of riding in the front of the train and what sights you see as you pass through Markham, “Tracy recalled.

“We followed the crew around.  They showed how to operate the switches, and I shot them actually connecting the caboose to the engine.  It was kind of neat to see the engineer actually operate the train.  I was right beside him!”

The rail line was built in the1860s as the Toronto and Nipissing (T&N) Railway.  It was built to allow its owner, William Gooderham, a well-known distiller from Toronto, to carry his grain to his distillery and wood for export and resale.

Towns paid handsomely to have the railways routed through them.  Markham raised over $4,000 in one night!  The train’s routing through Unionville can be credited to the efforts of a local businessman.  “In the late 1860s, he convinced the township to spend $30,000 to have the train bend through Unionville,” Tracy noted. 

The coming of the railway triggered an economic boom, shifting the village’s business centres southward from the mills and making Unionville and Markham a hub for the transport of people, livestock and goods.  It would late become part of Grand Trunk and Canadian National.

On special days, riders can experience the nostalgic journey through Markham aboard The York-Durham Heritage Railway.  The tourist train features authentic cars from the 1920s through the 50s pulled by an old diesel locomotive. 

Tracy also explored Unionville Station, built in 1871.  “The ceiling is quite neat.  It’s old post and beam, and it’s all exposed,” she said. It has been restored and today functions as a community room.

The historic line is still in use today as part of the Go Transit system.  “The heritage train brought the people here in the 1800s and now it brings people to work.  It takes the commuters down to the biggest city in Canada,” said Tracy. 

Tracy loves the small-town feel of living in Markham and the history of the town.   “Everything is preserved.  The Main Street of Unionville is just beautiful.  It’s like you walked back 200 years ago, but we also have all the modern conveniences.  So on the weekend, we can ride the heritage train; and on Monday morning, I can hop on the Go train and be in downtown Toronto in 22 minutes.” 

All aboard!  The York-Durham Heritage Railway is just one part of Our Town:  Markham.