The weather was typical of this October — cool and wet, albeit not as cold as we're finding it this week — and the fall colours were barely discernable. But all aboard the Credit Valley Explorer were clearly enjoying the experimental two-hour run down to Inglewood.

Normally, the local tour train travels all the way to the north end of Brampton, at what used to be Snelgrove village, and on that Saturday, it had already made such a run between 11 a.m. and 2 p.m.

But that day, the train headed out again with what appeared to be a full load for what was billed as a fall afternoon colour tour. We boarded shortly after 3:20 and returned to Orangeville at 5:30. (And a check on the website creditvalleyexplorer .com yesterday showed that a similar run will take place this Saturday, with a few tickets still available.)

The "premium" tour was worth every penny, including "high tea" (a selection of beverages and tasty small sandwiches) when we were southbound and dessert on the return trip.

Anyone taking the Explorer will have to be impressed by at least three things: the quality of service, the information gleaned from a colourful brochure and the voice announcements, and the incredible scenery on what is appropriately promoted as "Southern Ontario's most scenic rail tour."

Equally impressive is the excellent condition of the rolling stock — three freshly painted coaches that were built for Canadian National Railways in the 1950s at about the same time Canadian Pacific was introducing the stainless steel Canadian for transcontinental trips and replacing its steam trains with Dayliners, self-propelled diesel coaches capable of doing 70 miles an hour on straight-aways and rounding curves a lot faster than traditional trains.

The three Explorer coaches all once ran between Montreal and Vancouver on the CNR's Super Continental. After the two national railways abandoned passenger service and Via Rail opted to use the CP equipment on CN lines for the sole surviving transcontinental, it sold many of the coaches to the British Columbia Railway, which briefly used them for its Royal Hudson steam train excursions between North Vancouver and Squamish, B.C.

The Explorer's operator, Cando Contracting Ltd., has bought or leased the equipment and kept the coaches in truly marvellous condition. The same can be said of the roadbed, which seems to be in excellent condition — probably much better than it was in the final years the line between Orangeville and Streetsville was owned by CP Rail.

In fact, the trip and the popularity of the Explorer tours should be enough to make our politicians at least consider the possibility of using the local railway as a demonstration of the potential of restoring passenger rail service on Southern Ontario's few surviving branch lines.

Insurance stands as the main reason short-line operators haven't tried to operate anything more than occasional tour trains, and the same barrier stands in the way of the Explorer making any trips into Toronto.

However, the incremental cost of insurance for daily trips between Orangeville and Toronto's Union Station would be minimal for either Via Rail or GO Transit, and one has to wonder what the response would be to a suggestion by Orangeville Council that the two agencies participate in a pilot project that would see the Explorer make weekday runs into Toronto.

Granted, such a project would likely require some track improvements to permit speeds above the current 30 m.p.h. limit for the Explorer. But even the existing parking lot and train station would suffice for such an experiment, which would offer commuters a transfer to and from the Georgetown GO train service and have the potential of an express run between Streetsville and the Kipling station on GO's Milton line.

Assuming that the 28-km trip to Brampton would take about 50 minutes, a connection with the 7:23 a.m. express GO train would mean that passengers who left Orangeville at 6:30 would make it to Union Station before 8 a.m.

Although that's already possible using the existing GO bus service, the trip by rail would be more attractive, particularly during the winter, without the congestion now found on Hurontario Street south of Mayfield Road and the delays involved in picking up and dispatching Brampton passengers.

If nothing else, such a pilot project would demonstrate whether Via and/or GO Transit ought to invest in modern versions of the Dayliner that would make such trips in far less time operating to and from Toronto from places like Collingwood, Alliston, Guelph and replace GO's double-decker trains in off-peak hours.

Who knows? Southern Ontario's commuters might find what's meant by the phrase, "romance of the rails."