All Aboard The Portage Railway

In Ontario’s north Muskoka lakes region, for a period of 54 years, there existed a charming narrow gauge railway that was only a mile and a half in length.

Promoted as “The smallest commercially operated railway in the world”, the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway served as  a vital link between two steam boat routes carrying tourists and supplies to the Lake of Bays, plus tank bard and cut lumber to Peninsula Lake (and on to Huntsville).  The railway’s other unique claim to fame was that it was completely re-gauged during it’s lifetime to accommodate replacement of the locomotive fleet. 

This new book represents the culmination of years of painstaking research.  In 204 pages, it tells the story of the Portage Railway.  Its large format, 12 by nine inch landscape presentation features more than 300 photographs of which 85% are previously unpublished.  The photos and text are highlighted by twenty (20) double-gatefold 9” by 18.5” scale plans and drawings, plus eight detailed maps.