Remnants

[RobertInOntario]

Some of the hiking trails in Algonquin Park in Ontario follow the old Ottawa, Arnprior and Parry Sound Railway route. You can still see railway ties in the earth on some of these trails. There are also ruins of old railway bridges, a few buildings & foundations -- these are from the late-19th century/early-20th century when rail would have been the only way into the Park & these facilities would have been flourishing.

Also, near Collingwood, Ont., (about 2 hours NW of Toronto) there is an old railway line that's converted to a biking/hiking trail. There's a cool old station still standing near this route -- it's turned into a museum now (still want to visit it sometime though).

There is another old railway line that is now mostly used by the Caledon Trailway, in Caledon, Ont. (about an hour NW of Toronto). This is another multi-use trail. To the south, it's a trail -- to the north, there is still track and a heritage steam railway operates on it (<!-- m --><a class="postlink" href="http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca">http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca</a><!-- m -->). About 50 metres or so from this trail there are 1-2 rotting, decomposing freight cars. I think one might have been a caboose. Being a hiker, I was once using this trail and walked over to have a look at these old cars, which must have been rotting there since the line closed in the late-1960s.

Interesting topic!