Long before the arrival of electrical railways, the first railway in Upper Canada was the Erie & Ontario Railway, locally known as the Chippawa-Queenston Railway.
The railway began service between Chippawa and Niagara Falls in 1839, with the line reaching Queenston in 1841. Horses were used to pull wood cars each with a 20 passenger capacity.
In 1852 the railway changed to steam power, and relocated its tracks closer to the Niagara River.
Today all the remains of Upper Canada’s first railway is a stone cairn at the corner of Stanley and Morrison in Niagara Falls.