The Victoria Railway is an historic 55.52 miles (89.35 km) long Canadian

Canada

Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...

 railway that operated in Central Ontario

Ontario

Ontario is a province of Canada, located in east-central Canada. It is Canada's most populous province and second largest in total area. It is home to the nation's most populous city, Toronto, and the nation's capital, Ottawa....

. Construction under Chief Engineer James Ross

James Ross (Canadian businessman)

James L. Ross , was a Scottish-born Canadian civil engineer and businessman, who developed his fortune in railway construction.-Early life:...

 began in 1874 from Lindsay, Ontario

Lindsay, Ontario

Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough...

 with authority to build through Victoria County

Victoria County, Ontario

The County of Victoria, or Victoria County, was a county in the Canadian province of Ontario. It was formed in 1854 as The United Counties of Peterborough and Victoria, and gained independence in 1863. In 2001, the county was dissolved and reformed as the city of Kawartha Lakes...

 to Haliburton, Ontario, to which it opened on . The line is best known as having been built by a large group of Iceland

Iceland

Iceland , described as the Republic of Iceland, is a Nordic and European island country in the North Atlantic Ocean, on the Mid-Atlantic Ridge. Iceland also refers to the main island of the country, which contains almost all the population and almost all the land area. The country has a population...

ic immigrants, who found the Kinmount

Kinmount, Ontario

Kinmount is a village with a population of approximately 500, located on the Burnt River in Ontario, Canada. The village is now part of the City of Kawartha Lakes. The village's hinterland covers large sections of both Haliburton and Peterborough counties for which it is a shopping and cultural...

 winters too rough, and so they all moved to Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli, Manitoba

Gimli is a a rural municipality located in the Interlake region of south-central Manitoba, Canada, on the western shore of Lake Winnipeg. It is about north of the provincial capital Winnipeg...

. The line became part of the Midland Railway of Canada

Midland Railway of Canada

The Midland Railway of Canada was a historical Canadian railway which ran from Port Hope, Ontario to Midland on Georgian Bay.-Early days:This railway was originally conceived as a rail link between Port Hope and Peterborough and the company was originally named The Peterborough and Port Hope...

 and then later part of the Canadian National Railways. The line was abandoned completely by the early 1990s.

Principal stations

• Lindsay, Ontario
  Lindsay, Ontario
  Lindsay is a community of 19,361 people on the Scugog River in the Kawartha Lakes region of south-eastern Ontario, Canada. It is approximately west of Peterborough...
  
  
• Cameron, Ontario
• Fenelon Falls, Ontario
  Fenelon Falls, Ontario
  Fenelon Falls is a village in Ontario, Canada, part of the city of Kawartha Lakes. Nicknamed the "Jewel of the Kawarthas," it has a population of 1,800 permanent inhabitants, which swells in the summer due to tourism and cottaging. Fenelon Falls is home to lock 34 on the Trent-Severn Waterway...
  
  
• Fell(s), Ontario
• Burnt River, Ontario
  Burnt River, Ontario
  Burnt River is a hamlet located in the middle of the former Township of Somerville, in the City of Kawartha Lakes, Ontario, Canada. The community is on the Burnt River.-History:...
  
  
• Watsons, Ontario
• Kinmount, Ontario
  Kinmount, Ontario
  Kinmount is a village with a population of approximately 500, located on the Burnt River in Ontario, Canada. The village is now part of the City of Kawartha Lakes. The village's hinterland covers large sections of both Haliburton and Peterborough counties for which it is a shopping and cultural...
  
  
• Howland Junction, Ontario
• Gelert, Ontario
• Lochlin, Ontario
• Donald, Ontario
• Haliburton, Ontario

Closure

The line became part of Canadian National Railways in 1923 with its acquisition of the former Grand Trunk Railway

Grand Trunk Railway

The Grand Trunk Railway was a railway system which operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario, as well as the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The railway was operated from headquarters in Montreal, Quebec; however, corporate...

 of Canada. Mixed freight/passenger train service ran until September, 1960. CN applied for abandonment in 1978. The Canadian Transport Commission approved the line's abandonment in 1981, and most of the line being taken up in 1983; a final short section was abandoned by the early 1990s. The entire length of the line is now the Haliburton County Rail Trail and the Victoria County Rail Trail public recreational trails

Rail trail

A rail trail is the conversion of a disused railway easement into a multi-use path, typically for walking, cycling and sometimes horse riding. The characteristics of former tracks—flat, long, frequently running through historical areas—are appealing for various development. The term sometimes also...

.