TOURIST LINES AND MUSEUMS (Listed West to East)
BRITISH COLUMBIA Canadian Museum of Rail and Travel Work continues at the Canadian Museum of Rail and Travel in Cranbrook, BC on restoring CP FA2 4090 and FB2 4469.
Revelstoke Railway Museum: www.railwaymuseum.com The Fort Steele Heritage Town - Cranbrook, BC The Fort Steele Heritage Town, near Cranbrook, BC. have an operating steam locomotive that pulls passenger cars for daily excursions on their site. They are now in need of an additional, qualified steam locomotive engineer for this summer and are putting out a call for interest among our contacts and readers.
Kamloops Railway Historical Society: www.kamloopsheritagerailway.com CRHA - E&N Division West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) BCER 960 RESTORATION UPDATE: From Mike McGaw … We connected a substantial 21st century Diesel engine battery up to our early nineteen hundreds air compressors. All the clean-up, attention to details and of course fresh compressor oil paid off, they responded smoothly and "ran like clocks". The cab ceiling and inside walls are cleaning up well plus taking on primer and fresh paint ...the new "greenroom". Cab end window frames are cleaning up too, though a couple will require some serious epoxy filler attention. Plenty of side projects underway such as the reconditioning of the trolley pole bases and the removal of old Bondo from right side of cab. We're hoping to be able to pick up our new (ish) air reservoir before month end. Late news—Enermax Mountain Manufacturing has offered to donate the additional $1500 worth of work required for our tank now sitting in their lot Of Interest To Those Living In The Lower Mainland Of BC … ***ANNIVERSARY CELEBRATIONS FOR LOCOMOTIVE374 MAY 19th *** Plans are under way for the annual celebration of the locomotive’s entry into Vancouver May23, 1887. The celebrations will beheld as usual on the Sunday of the Victoria Day Weekend … this year it’s May 19th. The engine will be outside and steamed up. Cake, music and more will add to the festive occasion through out the day. Come to Yaletown and enjoy the festivities.
***DAY OUT WITH THOMAS TICKETS NOW SELLING *** Day Out With Thomas 2013 tickets are now on sale the annual visit to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. This year it is The GoGo Thomas Tour 2013 Tour. Dates will be June 1, 2 and June 8, 9, 2013. This year’s event will feature all your favorite Thomas activities plus some new things. Ticket prices for 2013 are $23 + GST and fees and are available via www.wcra.org ... Look for the BLUE Order Thomas Tickets Button. Again this year, for those wishing to stay overnight in conjunction with the Thomas event The Sandman Hotel Squamish is offering a special $89 rate (including Continental Breakfast). The Booking code will be published on the WCRA website shortly. VIA 6305 (ex-CN 6508) now resides at the West Coast Railway Association’s Squamish site after spending some time in Quebec (1994, Les Trains Touristique St-Laurent) then Ontario (1997, Waterloo-St, Jacobs Railway) before being shipped to B.C in early 2012, but this engine’s health is reported as not being very good. Unfortunately the F-9B 6604 was retired back in the late 80’s and is no longer with us. CP 8000 The restoration crew are continuing at their task. For those wishing to follow the restoration, CP8000 now has a Facebook page – facebook.com/cp8000. Kettle Valley Railway Society (KVSR) http://www.kettlevalleyrail.org/
Rocky Mountaineer - Vancouver, BC http://www.rockymountaineer.com/en_CA_ON/
Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Museum – Surrey, BC. British Columbia Chapter of the National Railway Historical Society
http://caboosecoffee.blogspot.ca/ ALBERTA Royal Canadian Pacific Luxury Train http://www.royalcanadianpacific.com/schedule.html Alberta Railway Museum – Edmonton, AB http://www.albertarailwaymuseum.com/ Alberta Railway Museum – Bieseker, AB The museum has two MLW switchers: Ex-CP RS-23 8017 (ex- Saskferco - Belle Plain, Saskatchewan), and Ex-CN S13u 8704 (donated by CANAC). Alberta Central Railway Museum - Wetaskiwin, AB http://www.abcentralrailway.com/ The Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions – Stettler, AB Rocky Mountain Railway Society: CN GMD1u 1179 was recently delivered to APRA. Apparently in a very complex arrangement with CN the APRA Museum traded CN their 4520 for it this year. Former CN GMd1u 1179 has B-B Flexi-coil trucks, and the museum is interested to acquire any GMD1u A-1-A trucks if any are available? (via Peter Cox). Alberta 2005 Centennial Railway Museum Society) Galt Historic Railway Park http://www.galtrailway.com/home/ SASKATCHEWAN 
You can follow the Southern Prairie Railway on Facebook for upcoming events and the reactions from the many riders they had this year. http://www.facebook.com/southernprairierailway?fref=ts
PRAIRIE GRAIN VIGNETTE: This National Film Board (NFB) film shows how the CPR moved, loaded and emptied grain cars in Canada in 1955. Some really good CPR Steam train and 40-foot box car scenes from the 1950's and in colour! http://www.nfb.ca/film/grain_handling_in_canada MANITOBA Winnipeg Railway Museum: www.wpgrailwaymuseum.com PRAIRIE DOG CENTRAL ONTARIO
Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society:
News updates can be found here: www.waterloocentralrailway.com/news. Niagara Railway Museum Check out their Flanger Repairs The Bytown Railway Society – Ottawa, ON http://www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca/about.htm Chatham Railway Museum http://www.chathamrailroadmuseum.ca/ Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society http://www.portageflyer.org/ Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway are g http://www.railpictures.net/photo/436504
It's never easy to photograph narrow-gauge equipment at mid-day without getting obliterating shadows on the underframe parts of the locomotive, so when Steven the brakeman and Wayne Shaw arrived at work three and a half hours early this day to prepare for the first runs of the season. They wasted no time getting the little diesel warmed up so they could pull the train out of the shed and into the light. While Steven tended to the oiling of the coach journal boxes Wayne took advantage of the only time during the operating season that there'd be at least some light on the sideframes and shot some pictures, as the only other shots of this engine on the database are one very cloudy old shot of it during it's tenure at Pinafore Park in St. Thomas plus one butt-forward shot of it leading the Portage Flyer back to home base from Fairy Lake back in 2010.
HLBR #3 on “Portage Flyer” duty: On the first day of operations for the 2013 season Wayne posed the engine clear of the water tank for photos before backing the train up so the coaches are even with the station platform.
Elgin County Railway Museum Toronto Railway Heritage Association
York Durham Heritage Railway Halton County Railway Museum Northern Ontario Railway Museum & Heritage Center - Capreol, ON http://www.northernontariorailroadmuseum.ca/ The Canada Science & Technology Museum - Ottawa, ON. http://www.imagescn.technomuses.ca/ http://www.imagescn.technomuses.ca/railways/index.cfm
The Palmerston Railway Heritage Association http://www.palmerstonrailwaymuseum.ca/ CLC CNR 2-6-0 #81 is on display nearby the museum
Niagara Railway Museum www.nfrm.caRailway Museum of Eastern Ontario (RMEO) The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario is running out of steam following town council's decision to reverse its $35,000 of funding support this year.
South Simcoe Railway http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca/ The Guelph Junction Railway Museum Brockville Railway Tunnel http://www.brockvillerailwaytunnel.com/ QUEBEC
EXPORAIL – CRHA http://exporail.org/en/welcome-to-exporail Here are Steven Barker’s latest batch of photographs of the restoration of A4 pacific 4489 Dominion of Canada , as you can see the locomotive and tender are now in their LNER Garter Blue livery , complete with top coat of varnish , the black has been applied to the front of the locomotive too , the tender now has it`s LNER lettering and metal trim in place. As you can see the staff at Shildon have done an excellent job there is not much left to do now , Steve will keep us posted.
On May 14th Steve sent his latest photographs of 4489 Dominion of Canada , now nearly nearly complete , there are only a few more jobs to be done , the silver trim on the valences , the cab seating and the re-attachment of the nameplates .
On the 17th of May, the cosmetic restoration of 4489 Dominion of Canada was complete, and the locomotive was moved outside for photographs. You can follow the cosmetic restoration of (ex-BR) LNER A4 Pacific 4489 “Dominion of Canada” here: http://www.nrm.org.uk/Mallard75
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iY7bbMgi65E Exporail will be open daily from 10:00 AM to 5:00 PM throughout the month of June. Complete 2013 Program available on our website www.exporail.org From June 15 - Postcards Tell a Story a new temporary exhibition trace the history of how postcards were used by railroads from 1900 to 1948 to promote tourism. More than 250 postcards from Exporail's collection will be on display.
The Railway Stations Exhibit highlights the important role played by these structures across the country. From Everywhere to You, an interesting journey into the fascinating world of railway yards and railway traffic control centres. Both exhibits are housed in the Hays Station.
The Dominion of Canada which has undergone cosmetic restoration at the National Railway Museum at York, England is now ready for display. This includes the installation of side valences, CPR bell and whistle and raised stainless steel lettering. It will take part in the great A4 reunion which will be held on July 3, 2013 at the NRM in York.
CPR C-424 4237 was started and performed switching duties for a few days in May, our operating diesels must be started and operated every two years to keep them functional!
Canadian Rail Magazine The May - June issue of Canadian Rail features stories about the Grand Trunk Pacific Railway to Prince Rupert and the Hudson bay Railway to Churchill. The Photo Gallery features a cavalcade of photos of both lines going back to the steam era! Canadian Rail is mailed to members and is available at better hobby shops across Canada.
Hull - Wakefield Steam Train - Gatineau, QC Orford Express Tourist Train – Sherbrooke, QC http://www.orfordexpress.com/en/home.htm
NEW BRUNSWICK Moncton Transportation Museum: The New Brunswick Railway Museum Hillsborough, NB http://www.nbrm.ca/en/index.shtml NOVA SCOTIA Nova Scotia Museum of Industry - Stellarton, NS http://museum.gov.ns.ca/moi/en/home/default.aspx Memory Lane Railway Museum - Middleton, NS http://memorylanerailwaymuseum.com/ Train Station Inn - Tatamagouche, NS Orangedale Railway Museum - Orangedale, NS http://www.novascotiarailwayheritage.com/orangedale.htm USA CALIFORNIA: The Orange Empire Railway Museum NEW YORK:
Bridge Line Historical Society - Delaware and Hudson RR CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE BRIDGE LINE HISTORICAL SOCIETY'S HOME PAGE NEW ENGLAND: The Railway Museum of New England
More information in the Railway Museum of New England Newsletter: http://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/line.pdf
ILLINOIS Monticello Railway Museum http://www.mrym.org/ MINNESOTA The Iron Horse Museum - Chicago City, NN http://www.ironhorsecentral.com/ PENNSYLVANIA Lake Shore Railway Historical Society http://www.grape-track.org/home Steamtown National Historic Site: http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm
OVERSEAS
Cornwall, England, United Kingdom
Check us out on facebook: http://www.facebook.com/helstonrailway
We open again for Brake Van rides at Easter from 29 March until 1 April and then
every Thursday, Sunday and Bank Holiday weekend until November.
©CRO May 2013 |
