The railway was incorporated on 4 April 1910 to build a high-speed route from Toronto east to Pickering, Whitby, and Oshawa.
The company acquired by Canadian Northern Railway interests in 1911, who extended the proposal east of Oshawa to Bowmanville and Cobourg.
The Bowmanville to Whitby section, already fully built and ready for use, was abandoned then, with the railway having never carried a paying passenger.
After this a short section by Ritson Road was used by McCallum Transport to load cars from the General Motors "North Plant" in downtown Oshawa.
This land is actually owned by Ontario Hydro, the legal successor to the railway, and carries a medium-voltage overhead line.
The mayor of Whitby, Norman Bassett, gets ready to drive the first spike on the Toronto Eastern Railway on 31 October 1923. Rails would be laid eastward from this point in downtown Whitby to Bownmanville.
This image shows the eventual fate of the Toronto Eastern in 1927; a CNR train is dismantling the rails between Whitby and Oshawa.
Toronto Eastern Railway bridge abutments over Farewell Creek, Courtice Ontario
The berm of the railway shows up clearly in winter when snow improves the contrast. This section runs through Courtice towards Bowmanville.
The railway ran through Oshawa on a separate right of way that has mostly been reused for roads and other purposes. This short section is one of the only portions left in the city.
