People crowd in front of Roxanne Mountain's Inglewood General Store -- a former hotel.

About 50 km northwest of Toronto, Inglewood became a boom town in the 1870s when two railways met and crossed in the middle of the village. Now, 130 years later, Inglewood is still jumping with activity. The 120-year-old railway hotel has re-opened as a general store, lunch spot, deli, ice cream parlour, gift shop and spa.

One railway has been revived and offers train excursions between Orangeville and Brampton. The other railway roadbed was converted into the Caledon Trailway, a 35-km walking route from Terra Cotta to Palgrave.

For a late-autumn excursion into the hills, I recommend a trip to Inglewood and a stop at the Inglewood General Store in the old hotel building. Have lunch and learn about new and old attractions in this scenic region where the Oak Ridges Moraine butts against the Niagara Escarpment before stretching east to Rice Lake.

One of the attractions is meeting Roxanne Mountain proprietor of the store. Born in South America, she came to Canada in 1975 and married Alan Mountain, son of a sixth-generation Caledon farm family. In 1983, they moved to Caledon where Roxanne fell in love with Inglewood and re-opened an old general store.

After a few years, Roxanne learned the railway hotel was for sale. She bought the solid building in January 2003 and, using her husband's truck and a lot of volunteer labour, moved her store four doors down to its new location.

Since then she's expanded through the roomy old hotel building to create many sections that offer everything from hardware to smoked salmon in the style of an old-time village store. The second floor is rented to Cindy Storey who provides a wide variety of spa services.

Roxanne keeps her store open all year except for Christmas and New Year's. You'll probably meet Kendra Miller, Roxanne's store manager, who was born in Caledon and started working in the village store at age 12. The present store is a busy spot at lunch time when villagers and visitors crowd in for sandwiches, lasagna and the soup of the day. Regular sandwiches such as turkey, ham, roast beef, egg salad and salami are $4.85. Chicken schnitzel and smoked salmon are $5.99. Jean Newton,of nearby Caledon East, provides fruit pies baked in her own kitchen. Favourite Mennonite foods from Waterloo County are also available.

Inglewood history dates back to 1843 when Tom Corbett built a mill on the Credit River and called the place Riverdale. The name was briefly changed to Sligo Junction in the 1870s when not one but two railways arrived.

To bypass Toronto, the Hamilton and Northwestern stretched rails across country from Hamilton to Barrie and Collingwood. The Credit Valley Railroad, later absorbed by the CPR, built from Toronto to Owen Sound.The two crossed at Inglewood.

One of the railroads,the original Credit Valley, is still operating on a small scale, as far north as Orangeville. In a couple of weeks, I'll write about its weekend excursions.

For a folder and map about the hiking trail the Town of Caledon operates along the roadbed of the old Hamilton and Northwestern, call Caledon Parks Department at 905-584-2272. Ask for the Caledon Trailway brochure. For information about the general store, call 905-838-3251.