Toronto Eastern Railway

The Toronto Eastern Railway is a noted "ghost railroad" in southern Ontario. It was originally part of an ambitious plan set up to provide high-speed electric "interurban" service throughout that district which first appeared in 1910; however, those plans fell afoul of World War I and, later, political manoeuvers.

The railway was incorporated on 4 April 1910 to build a" high speed" route from Toronto east to Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa. The company acquired by Canadian Northern Railway interests in 1911, who extended the proposal east of Oshawa to Bowmanville and Cobourg. Construction begun 1912, and by 1913 track was in place from Bowmanville to Whitby, when construction halted.

In September 1918 the Canadian Northern was nationalized and re-organized as part of the Canadian National Railways (CNR). On 26 December 1923 CNR merged the Toronto Eastern with its other electric holdings to form the new Canadian National Electric Railways.David Wyatt, [http://home.cc.umanitoba.ca/~wyatt/alltime/toronto-suburbs-on.html "Toronto and York Radial Interurban"] , "All-Time List of Canadian Transit Systems"] In 1923, existing tracks were reconstructed and new trackage constructed to allow trains to be run from Bowmanville to Whitby, and a few "test trains" were run. One of these carried the line's only passenger, an uninvited youth who snuck unto a train in Bowmanville and disembarked when the train reached Oshawa.

In 1924, the Provincial government refused to provide the additional funds necessary to turn the project into an operating railway. Although this was largely due to the political infighting of the time, it is fairly certain that the new railway was already obsolete, since the ownership of automobiles (oddly enough, many built in Oshawa) was becoming much more common at that time. The Bowmanville-to-Whitby section, already fully built and ready for use, was abandoned then, with the railway having never carried a paying passenger.

The rails were pulled up during WWII's steel shortages, as were any steel bridges or trestles. Remaining traces of the railway have disappeared during the relentless "suburbanization" of that area, with one odd exception. A visitor to Oshawa will note that Bond Street, the westbound section of Highway 2 through the city, abruptly shifts a short distance to the north, using what was originally planned to be Richmond Street right of way. As well, there still exists a long, narrow "vacant lot" running along what should have been Bond Street East for about 0.5 km. This land is actually owned by Ontario Hydro, the legal successor to the railway,and was meant to be used by Toronto Eastern Railway for its tracks.

A small portion of the railway is also used in Courtice, Ontario as the basis for a walking trail on Nash St. behind the Courtice Community Complex.