Toronto S Railway Heritage

On May 16, 1853, the first passenger train steamed out of Toronto from a wooden depot that was located near the site of todayas Union Station. Over the next century, the railways had a profound impact on the geography and economic fortunes of Toronto and helped transform it from a provincial town into the commercial centre of Canada. To the dismay of many, the railways also swallowed up prime real estate on Torontoas waterfront and isolated its citizens from Lake Ontario, the cityas most scenic asset. The struggle between the promoters of unfettered railway development and crusaders for public access to the waterfront culminated during the 1920s with the building of the waterfront railway viaduct and Union Station. This magnificent Beaux-Arts railway terminal is the busiest transportation hub in Canada and is undergoing a $1.5 billion revitalization. Inside this book are over 200 rare images illustrating 80 years of Torontoas railway history.

For the first time, train buffs and history lovers will have a book that explores the heritage of Ontario’s railways, from its oldest stations to its highest bridges, glamorous hotels (and some not-so-glamorous ones), scenic and historic train rides, rail trails, and sagging old ghost towns.

Despite the "green" benefits of rail travel, Canada has lost much of its railway heritage. Across the country stations have been bulldozed and rails ripped up. Once the heart of communities large and small, stations and tracks have left little more than a gaping hole in Canada’s landscapes. This book revisits the times when railways were the country’s economic lifeline, and the station the social centre. Here was where we worked, played, listened to political speeches, or simply said goodbye to loved ones never knowing when they would return. The landscapes which grew around the station are also explored and include such forgotten features as station hotels, restaurants, gardens and the once common railway YMCA. Railway companies often hired the world’s leading architects to design grand station buildings which ranged in style from chateau-esque to art deco. Even small town stations and wayside shelters displayed an artistic flare and elegance. Although most have vanished, the book celebrates the survival of that heritage in stations which have been saved or indeed remain in use. The book will appeal to anyone who has links with our rail era, or who simply appreciates the value of Canada’s built heritage.

Explore western Canada’s rich railway history, travelling from the grand railway hotels and rustic stations to the creative engineering that created spiral bridges and soaring trestles. Relive this time through a trip on one of the many steam trains, visit a railway museum, or walk the trails where trains used to rumble.

Explore eastern Canada's railway heritage, including stations from the late 1850s, grand hotels, bridges, and roundhouses of this era.

Canada's rail lines were pivotal in establishing the icons that mark today's landscape: massive bridges, sentinel-like grain elevators, pattern-book wayside stations. Odd and unusual place names dot the lines, while countless ghost towns and stories abound like the "ghost train" of St. Louis and the tunnels of Moose Jaw.

Explore Ontario’s forgotten rail lines and experience the legacy and lore of this the vital railway era of Ontario’s history. At its peak between 1880 and the 1920s, Ontario was criss-crossed by more than 20,000 kilometres of rail trackage. Today, only a fraction remains. Yet trains once hauled everything from strawberries to grain, cans of milk and even eels. Villagers depended on trains to visit friends, attend weddings, to shop, and to go to school. They gathered on station platforms to await their mail or greet a long-lost relative. Holidayers packed their trunks and headed north for an extended summer day at their favorite resorts. Today, these are but a distant memory as most of Ontario’s once essential transportation links lie abandoned and largely forgotten. But perhaps not entirely – many rights of way have become rail trails, and now witness hikers, cyclists, equestrians, and snowmobilers. Others sadly, lie overgrown and barely visible. Yet regardless of how one follows these early routes, one will find preserved stations, historic bridges, and railway era buildings, all of which recall this bygone era.

A must for any Canadian railroad aficionado, this special bundle gathers six books in one for a can’t-miss retrospective of the nation’s railway history. Rails Over the Mountains Explore western Canada’s rich railway history, travelling from the grand railway hotels and rustic stations to relive a time when trains used to rumble in the West. Rails to the Atlantic Explore eastern Canada’s railway heritage, including stations from the late 1850s, grand hotels, bridges, and roundhouses. The Train Doesn't Stop Here Anymore Once the lifeblood of Canada, railways and heritage stations are a fading part of the patrimony of communities across the nation. Rails Across Ontario Train buffs and history lovers now have a book that explores the heritage of Ontario’s railways, from its oldest stations to its highest bridges, most glamorous hotels and historic train rides. Rails Across the Prairies Canada’s rail lines were pivotal in establishing the icons that mark today’s landscape: massive bridges, sentinel-like grain elevators, pattern-book wayside stations. In Search of the Grand Trunk Discover the legacy and lore of Ontario’s railway era by exploring the lost and abandoned rail lines that once were essential to the province’s well-being.