The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Co. built a portage railway to create a link between Peninsula Lake and Lake of Bays. The 42" gauge railway began operation in 1904. There was a 100 ft height difference between the lakes. The railway had many obstacles to overcome in order to link the two lakes, these obstacles included hairpin curves and grades as steep as 7 percent. The railway accomplished all this in only 1 1/8 miles and was billed as "The smallest commercial railway in the world". The railway operated for many years in the Huntsville area but finally ended operations in 1959. The railway was sold and moved to St. Thomas Ontario to be part of a tourist attraction.
In 1984, the railway headed back to Huntsville. The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society bought the railway and brought it back home with the intentions of operating a tourist train. In a partnership with The Muskoka Pioneer Village, the Railway society built a new rail line, station and train shed at The Muskoka Pioneer Village. Today the little train travels over the 3/4 mile railway taking tourists for a trip back in time.
In August 2000, I visited the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Museum. The Museum operated an 0-4-0 tank steam locomotive #2. the day started great but as you can probably tell from the pictures, the weather turned to rain. I still had a great time here, even in the rain. The train trip was very nice and the village was very interesting. I really enjoyed the sawmill and visiting the various buildings in the town. It was a real step back to the 1880's.
