In 2022 the railway reported financial difficulties, and as of January 2024 has ceased all operations and filed for bankruptcy protection.

Trains were usually scheduled on weekends from June through mid-October, and were pulled by an Alco RS-11 diesel locomotive, #3612, which was built for the Duluth, Winnipeg & Pacific Railway in 1956.

[2] As of 2022, the YDHR was operated by nine full-time staff supplemented by 88 part-time and seasonal workers and volunteers of the York–Durham Heritage Railway Association.

[citation needed] The Uxbridge Subdivision was built in 1871 as the Toronto and Nipissing Railway, a 3 ft 6 in (1,067 mm) narrow-gauge line.

The line was converted to 4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm) standard gauge shortly after being acquired by the Midland Railway in 1882.