The third steam railway to be built in Ontario, then known as Upper Canada, came to Niagara-on-the-Lake in 1854. As with many railways of that era, it went through a period of various owners and financial instability. Towards the end of the nineteenth century, the steam railway, then run by the Canada Southern Railway and subsequently by the Michigan Central Railroad, became established on a firmer footing and some economic development ensued. Later a second railway, an electric railway, operated by the Niagara, St. Catharines and Toronto Railway, came to Town further expanding the Town's transportation network. During World War I, both railways played a strategic role in providing transportation to support military training activities. This is an account of the development of the railways, their heyday, some of the characters involved and how the Town changed from then to now. There are 148 pages of text and a total of over 150 photographs, maps and drawings.