Mr. C. O. Shaw acquired the operation from the Marsh estate, and saw an opportunity to expand the service, which included the hauling of freight, baggage, mail, building materials and tan bark, the latter used in leather processing at his Anglo Canadian Leather Company in Huntsville. The railway was billed the “smallest commercially operated railway in the world.” The train became known as the Portage Flyer.

In 1911 C. O. Shaw started construction of Bigwin Inn on Bigwin Island, Lake of Bays; however, not until 1920 did it open for business. Bigwin was a lavish, world-renowned resort frequented each summer by the rich and famous, including movie stars, government diplomats and United States senators.

The Depression of the 1930’s and the spread of roads and automobiles dealt a severe blow to Shaw’s transportation system from which it would never recover. The railway shut down at the end of the 1959 operating season.

The railway line and rolling stock were subsequently sold to Percy Broadbear and son Donald of London, Ontario, in the early 1960s, with which they developed the Pinafore Park Railway in St. Thomas.

In the spring of 1984, it was learned that this same equipment could be re-acquired. The series of events that took place afterwards inspired the author to document them in the book Rebirth of the Portage Flyer.