The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Company
Text from the plaque
When completed in 1905, the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway, or Portage Railway, provided a crucial 1.8 km link connecting steamboats on Peninsula Lake to Lake of Bays and opened up North Muskoka to tourism and increased development. The railway was part of a larger navigation company owned by George F. Marsh and later sold to C.O. Shaw, owner of the Anglo-Canadian Leather Company in Huntsville and Bigwin Inn that opened on Lake of Bays in 1920. A narrow-gauge train fondly named the "Portage Flyer" plied the steep grade between the lakes carrying mail, tanbark and tourists for 55 years. By 1959, a decline in steamship travel led to the end of what was once promoted as the "smallest commercially operated railway in the world."
Transcribed from the marker, not summarised.
Find the place
The District of Muskoka
The Township of Lake of Bays
At the boat launch on Lake of Bays close to the
intersection of South Portage Road (Road 9) and
Deerhurst Canal Road (Road 23)
N 45 19.066 W 79 04.308
Recorded October 2007. Check current access before visiting.