First Steam Train 1853

On May 16, 1853, the Ontario Simcoe and Huron Union Railroad Company operated the first steam train from Toronto to Machell's Corners (Aurora). The train - consisting of four passenger and freight cars - was drawn by the steam engine "Toronto," the first locomotive built in what is now Ontario. The arrival of the railway accelerated the development of this community, which was incorporated as a village in 1863 and a town in 1888. With the opening of this section of the railway, a third of the proposed line was completed. Begun in 1851 and completed in 1855, the railway was built to connect Lakes Ontario and Huron from Toronto to Collingwood.