Historic Images: Clearing Ice from Railways in the Don Valley

Every spring, railway facilities along the banks of rivers can be threatened by the breakup of ice, formation of ice dams and the subsequent overflowing of the river onto its banks. The Don River was no exception. From the Archives of the City of Toronto, we find the photograph above from 1918 showing the railways in the lower Don Valley submerged in water.  In the photographs below, we find  railroad crews clearing ice from the railway alongside the Don River after just such flood earlier in 1910.

Click here to read more about the history of the lower Don River.

Posting by Russ Milland; Photos from the City of Toronto Archives

Click on each image for a closer look!