Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

[crs1026]

^I don't have any first hand knowledge of this incident, and I won't comment on it - except to note that the news has travelled so far and fast through the railfan grapevine that in the absence of a TSB report, I would not trust anyone's description of it since "broken telephone" may have set in. (No disrespect meant to the posters quoted, all of whom I know personally and respect).

What is more relevant is - just because a rail line has potential as a tourist railway does not imply that the line is economically justifiable. Few tourist or museum railways can cover the full long term cost of maintaining a line their out of their ticket sales. Either somebody subsidises the track work and property costs, or there has to be freight revenue to support the line.

In the case of OBRY, the track maintenance required was considerable. Enabling a tourist railway is only a consideration once the freight side can sustain itself. Kill the freight, and the tourist line goes down with it.... but freight is the horse, not the cart.

- Paul

 

[kamira51]

The route through Brampton is disfunctional because a) potential connectivity to the Kitchener or Milton corridors is poor and b) the segment through Forks of Credit is not conducive to a speedy passenger rail service. So it should not be seen as the "better way", it's merely the only way that is (barely) intact. I would have no problem with any new routing

I don't expect that any new or existing routing is going to have sufficient business case value to justify funding. Orangeville is destined to be "off the grid" for a long time.

- Paul

Biggest issue will probably be the bridge crossing the river, who knows what work might need to be done, to make it work for passenger trains.

 

[lenaitch]

Biggest issue will probably be the bridge crossing the river, who knows what woek might need to be done, to make it work for passenger trains.

Seeing as the ROW cuts through a Provincial Park and is otherwise in a popular tourism area, I would imagine tweaking the alignment in the Forks area would be met with stiff opposition.

 

[ShonTron]

It appears that the last mile of the Owen Sound spur – from Streetsville Junction to Derry Road – will soon disappear.

The last customer for CPKC on the stub of the once-busy Bruce Division has shut down.

Railpictures.ca - Marcus W Stevens Photo: The lighting never played out well when CP switched the north end. This past Friday I received news that the last customer on what remains in service on the former Owen Sound subdivision has finally shut d

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[Allandale25]

 

[Allandale25]

Losing track of the OBRY

At the conclusion of Heritage week 2024, it is tempting to ask why the Town of Orangeville did not feature a retrospective on the (now abandoned) Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY), since it large…

citizen.on.ca

 

[Allandale25]

Cool picture here posted in November 2022 showing the former traffic on the line in 1981.

Railpictures.ca - Roger Heed photo, Dan Dell'Unto coll. Photo: CP GP35 5007 prowls Saugeen Junction with two Maine East Coast boxcars and a single 434000-series van in tow, coming off the Owen Sound Sub onto the Walkerton Sub for the trip west. The

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[Northern Light]

Cool picture here posted in November 2022 showing the former traffic on the line in 1981.

Railpictures.ca - Roger Heed photo, Dan Dell'Unto coll. Photo: CP GP35 5007 prowls Saugeen Junction with two Maine East Coast boxcars and a single 434000-series van in tow, coming off the Owen Sound Sub onto the Walkerton Sub for the trip west. The

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And the Little Yellow Caboose Always Came Last!

For those whose childhood did not inform the reference above:

The Little Red Caboose | PrairieView Press

prairieviewpress.com

 

[Allandale25]

And the Little Yellow Caboose Always Came Last!

For those whose childhood did not inform the reference above:

The Little Red Caboose | PrairieView Press

prairieviewpress.com

Thanks for posting that. I know a family with a kid who would enjoy that book and always happy to encourage kids to become future transit + train fans so I bought a copy.

 

[History fan]

In Mississauga, they have put markings on the OBRY tracks.

 

[History fan]

More pictures of OBRY

 

[Bojaxs]

In Mississauga, they have put markings on the OBRY tracks.

What do these markings mean? Are they preparing to rip the tracks up?

 

[History fan]

What do these markings mean? Are they preparing to rip the tracks up?

I don't know what the markings mean, but if I had to take a guess, I think this is preparation to rip the tracks out.

 

[lenaitch]

They look like either survey or locate marks for buried utility.

 

[Allandale25]

Rare shot here of the Owen Sound Sub from 1995.

Railpictures.ca - Peter Jobe photo, Dan Dell'Unto coll. Photo: VIA to Owen Sound? Close: in a rare occurrence, one of CP’s leased VIA F40PH-2 units found its way onto The Moonlight, and made a trip up the Owen Sound Sub north to Owen Sound! CP GP38

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