The railway era dawned in the area in 1853 with the opening of a line from Hamilton to Detroit, but it passed north of Burford, leaving the community languishing as horse-drawn traffic dwindled along its main roadway. A new boost of prosperity came when a rail line was opened from Brantford to Norwich and Tillsonburg in Oxford County in 1878, passing through Burford south of the fairgrounds. Initially the advantage was easier access to and from Brantford and Tillsonburg by rail for passengers, and Burford remained a quiet village, described in 1883 as "built up to a great degree by farmers who have realized enough to retire from business and take up their abode there. In summer time Burford Village is as pleasant a holiday resort as can be found in the Province, and the hotel provides most comfortable accommodation. There are no saloons or liquor stores; the village enjoys an Arcadian freedom from drunkenness and other offences against law and order." It was probably this which convinced British artist Robert Whale to make Burford his home when he brought his family to Canada. Eventually a milk processing factory and a canning factory located on the rail line at Burford, and freight traffic kept the line in operation for a century, but it was abandoned between Burford and Tillsonburg in 1987, and between Brantford and Burford in 2001. The tracks have since then been removed along the line, but the path of the railway right-of-way is still visible using Google Maps satellite view.