Belt Line Railway (Toronto)

Toronto Belt Line Railway

The Moore Park station in 1909
Locale	Toronto, Ontario, Canada
Dates of operation	1892–1894
Track gauge	4 ft 8 1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge
Headquarters	Toronto, Ontario, Canada

The Toronto Belt Line Railway was built in Toronto, Ontario, Canada in the 1890s. It consisted of two commuter railway lines to promote and service new suburban neighbourhoods outside of the then city limits. Both lines were laid as loops. The longer Don Loop running north of the city limits, and the shorter Humber Loop ran west of the city limits. The railway was never profitable and it only ran for two years. Today, as part of a rails-to-trail project, the Beltline Trail lies on the right-of-way of the Don Loop.

The railway consisted of two separate loops both starting and ending at Union Station.

The larger Don loop went east on the tracks of the Grand Trunk Railway via The Esplanade to the Don River. It then turned north following the river passing the Don Valley Brick Works on its west side before journeying up a steep grade through the Moore Park Ravine (called "Spring Valley" in Belt Line brochures). It then turned west at the north edge of the Mount Pleasant Cemetery along Merton St. At Yonge Street it turned northwest travelling through Forest Hill until just north of Eglinton Avenue West. There, it turned west again before returning to Union Station via the Grand Trunk Railway (today's Barrie line) line west of Caledonia Road. A complete trip around the Don Loop was approximately 27 km (17 mi).

A second, smaller Humber loop headed west along the northwest rail corridor of the Grand Trunk Railway through Parkdale. It turned west just north of St. Clair Avenue and then turned south at Lambton Mills, just east of the Humber River. It ran south following the edge of the Humber River valley. It followed a route paralleled by the South Kingsway just west of High Park. It returned east along Lake Ontario via the tracks of the Toronto, Hamilton and Buffalo Railway. A complete trip around the Humber Loop from and returning to Union Station was approximately 24 km (15 mi).