Rating : 3 star. Disappointed in Huntsville , 5-Apr-2004
Reviewer: Steve from Toronto, ON
The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway and Navigation Co. (HLofBR&NC) has some wonderful heritage. Today some of the original engines and rolling stock are part of the Muskoka Heritage Place tourist facility. http://www.portageflyer.org/````The museum/train station is a feint recreation of the original line, and has been re-located about 10 miles away from its historical location. The train shuttles only a short distance to its endpoint where the engine is disconnected and turned before running on a siding and reconnected. The engine again pulls rather than pushes the cars back unlike the original that ran in reverse for the return trip. There’s no boxcar present or in the consist(granted not much to look at) and a diesel engine was in use the day I visited in 2003.````Another engine(oil fired) is present at the museum but it was too heavy and was never used by the HLofBR&NC. The very original Porter 0-4-0 engines are not present.````On the plus side, the museum/train station has some great displays and artefacts from the era. The highlight is a ~5 minute circa 1910 colour home movie of the train leaving the North Portage landing. I found the train station/museum more interesting than the train, unfortunately there are no souvenirs for purchase. No video/DVD copies of the above mentioned home movie, no books, posters, postcards or souvenirs of any kind.````I left feeling the facility is more amusement park than a historical interest concerned about authenticity and preserving history.``

Please Note :
• All the fields are required. Please do not leave any field empty.
• All submitted reviews will be verified first by TrainWeb staff before they get posted.
• Your reviews will be posted within five to seven business days.