Waterloo Central Railway
http://waterloocentralrailway.com/

The Niagara Railway Museum Inc. Has another open house display June 29, 30 & July 1, 10-4 all days, rain or shine. More information can be found at www.nfrm.ca

The Bytown Railway Society – Ottawa, ON

Chatham Railway Museum

Orangeville – Brampton Railway “Credit Valley Explorer”

I recently came across some information about the Orangeville Brampton Railway's Credit Valley Explorer tourist train. It seemed they have obtained a dome car for use on the service. This is exciting as very few tourist lines run done cars. I have provided a link to my news source, and have attached another picture of the dome car in Orangeville, ON. (Thanks to Alexander Glista)

Owen Sound Museum

Tourists and locals who visited the former CN train station recently said the city's decision to cut funding to the Marine & Rail Museum inside the station and move it and the tourist office out in order to lease the space, was a mistake. The train station was part of the annual Doors Open tour of heritage buildings and significant local places. By mid-afternoon more than 100 people had visited, many of whom asked at the tourist office if there was a petition they could sign calling for the museum to stay open. City council has authorized staff to seek proposals from potential tenants for the CN station. City council agreed last October to close the museum, move artifacts to other locations and relocate tourism staff to city hall. Some of the exhibits are intended to go to Grey Roots, the county museum outside the city, and to the Billy Bishop Museum, a letter on that museum's website says. There is no firm date to close the station. The earliest closing date would be “months away,” city economic development manager Steve Furness said. It depends on the proposals received. The city's preference is to keep the building occupied until a new tenant is found. He also said moving the tourism office to city hall is just one idea. The city-owned CP station, just across the harbour, has been for lease since 2011 and has received about $200,000 worth of refurbishment, $20,000 of it with city money. So far there've been no takers. Sandra Parks, the city heritage planning co-ordinator, said the CN station. (Thanks to Tempo Jr.)

Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society

The Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway got out their 948 GE 25-tonner #3 ready for the first Portage Flyer runs of the season. Steam took over on Canada Day, when school's out and the rider levels are high enough to pay the fuel costs.

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..

With one hand on the throttle and the other on the 5-chime pull, Tarun, an "Engineer for a Day" program participant brings the Flyer home on its last run of the day. After a pre-screening interview and studying the supplied training material he arrived on his scheduled day to greet the crew and write an examination like every other participant. When the exam was complete and its results discussed he was familiarized with old Number 2 as she sat simmering, building up steam. Once out on the rails he watched from the cab as the training engineer coupled the locomotive to the coached and, at the stroke of noon, pulled the first train of the day out of the station and down the line. After that run was complete he was allowed to run the loco light power down the line and back with the trainer at his side to make sure both were both comfortable, then backed up and coupled to the coaches like a pro. After that he took the throttle for the remaining three runs. The locomotive has been fitted with an additional valve to control the train brakes should any situation arise where the training engineer, who is also within arms reach of the throttle, feel it to be necessary. Got 200 bucks to spare? You could do it too! Check out the Muskoka Heritage.

Heavy thunderstorms kept the crowds away July 19th as the last Portage Flyer run and soaked the ground, rails and our brakeman. However nothing dampened the spirits of the "Engineer for a Day" David, or his family who were tucked safely away under the rear vestibule canopy. The rain let up halfway back on our return to Rotary Village Station as I deserted my Fireman's duties, hopping out and running ahead to take this shot. The humidity kept the steam from the draw up the hill hanging around longer than usual for a nice, moody effect.

Elgin County Railway Museum

Toronto Railway Heritage Association (and Museum).

York Durham Heritage Railway

Matt Erwood is the contact

The York-Durham Heritage Railway ran charters to the Town of Markham on June 1st for the Unionville Festival and on June 15th, for the Markham Music Festival. They shuttled passengers between Main Street Unionville (The original T&NR station) and Mount Joy GO Station all day long with stops at Markham GO in both directions. They brought down their heritage ALCO locomotives #3612, an RS-11 and #22, an MLW RS-3. Along with that they also brought their recently acquired silver "Boise Budd" coaches sporting their new YDHR liveries, former Guelph Junction Express and were once self propelled RDC cars built in the 1950's for the Boston & Maine Railroad. The YDHR operates regularly scheduled trips between Uxbridge and Stouffville on every une to October with a brand new dining experience and has a special railfan oriented day coming up in September.

Halton County Railway Museum

Northern Ontario Railway Museum & Heritage Center - Capreol, ON

The Canada Science & Technology Museum - Ottawa, ON

The Palmerston Railway Heritage Association

Niagara Railway Museum Inc.

Niagara Railway Museum
www.nfrm.ca
http://www.nfrm.ca/blog/
Ken Jones – Director
In December 1923 wood boxcar #26471 was constructed for the Grand Trunk Railway, and later became CN boxcar #346671. 1936 saw the boxcar rebuilt into a flanger by CN and became #56452 before being retired in 1980. The car was acquired by the City of Welland Chamber of Commerce and placed near the old Niagara St. Catharine’s & Toronto Railway line, and became a tourist information booth at the corner of East Main St and Prince Charles Dr.

By the year 2000, the info booth was no longer open, and subsequently fell victim to arson. The car was deemed a total loss. With the significant damage, the car was destined for scrapping when Trillium Railway in Port Colborne stepped in and acquired the car. The body was stripped and the remaining frame moved to storage in Welland. Initial plans were to use the car for a shoving platform for back up moves in Thorold. However, a more suitable caboose was found and the flanger was left in the weeds.In 2011, the Museum was approached and asked if we would be interested in having the car for the museum. On September 29th, 2012, the flanger was loaded onto a float and made it’s final trip to the NRM shop at Fort Erie from Dain City near Welland.

The car currently resides inside the Museum shop, awaiting restoration. The future rebuild will not allow the car to be in an operable state, but will be able to be used to house a display on how the railways dealt with snow in Canada.  

GET NOTICED … With a “BANNER”! Contact us:
editor@canadianrailwayobservations.com

The Bytown Railway Society – Ottawa, ON
http://www.bytownrailwaysociety.ca/about.htm

Chatham Railway Museum
http://www.chathamrailroadmuseum.ca/

Orangeville – Brampton Railway “Credit Valley Explorer”
http://www.creditvalleyexplorer.com/faqs.php

Owen Sound Marine and Railway Museum
http://www.marinerail.com/
Tourists and locals who visited the former CN train station recently said the city's decision to cut funding to the Marine & Rail Museum inside the station and move it and the tourist office out in order to lease the space, was a mistake. The train station was part of the annual Doors Open tour of heritage buildings and significant local places. By mid-afternoon more than 100people had visited, many of whom asked at the tourist office if there was a petition they could sign calling for the museum to stay open. City council has authorized staff to seek proposals from potential tenants for the CN station. City council agreed last October to close the museum, move artifacts to other locations and relocate tourism staff to city hall. Some of the exhibits are intended to go to Grey Roots, the county museum outside the city, and to the Billy Bishop Museum, a letter on that museum's website says. There is no firm date to close the station. The earliest closing date would be “months away,” city economic development manager Steve Furness said. It depends on the proposals received. The city's preference is to keep the building occupied until a new tenant is found. He also said moving the tourism office to city hall is just one idea. The city-owned CP station, just across the harbour, has been for lease since 2011 and has received about $200,000worth of refurbishment, $20,000 of it with city money. So far there've been no takers. Sandra Parks, the city heritage planning co-ordinator, said the CN station. (Thanks to Tempo Jr.)

Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Society
http://www.portageflyer.org/

Wayne D. Shaw met Ray at a weekly local car show the previous day and asked him to stop by Huntsville, ON sometime, to take some shots of his sweet 1950 Meteor with the Portage Flyer. He kindly obliged so I stopped the train at the Forbes Hill Drive crossing and had Steven my Fireman run the fire a bit dirty, take my place, and blow the whistle to get some steam action happening. Yes the shot was posed on August 22nd, but it was a matter of necessity under the circumstances.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=448543&nseq=5

With a light load on this day (July 24th), the Porrtage Flyer nears the top of the 3% grade on a return trip from Fairy Lake at Muskoka Heritage Place in Huntsville, ON led by HLBR 0-4-0 #2.   Wayne D. Shaw photo)
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/445701

Views the crew of HLBR 0-4-0 #2:
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/445014
http://www.railpictures.net/photo/445229

Elgin County Railway Museum
www.ecrm5700.org

Toronto Railway Heritage Association (and Museum).
http://www.trha.ca/

In late-August the TRHA Redeployed their equipment in Roundhouse Park
Visit http://www.trha.ca/news.html  to learn more.  Lance Gleich shot CNR #6213 on the turntable in August. 

York Durham Heritage Railway
http://www.ydhr.ca/
(Contact: Matt Erwood)  

AUGUST 2013 YDHR POSTER
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/644703/York%20durham%20heritage%20%20railway.jpg

Halton County Railway Museum
http://www.hcry.org

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/

Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario (RMEO)
http://rmeo.org/

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.
"It's devastating," said Anne Shropshire, museum curator. "We wouldn't have asked if we didn't need it." Council reversed its decision on the funding after learning the museum would receive $68,000 over two years from the Ontario Trillium Foundation, but Shropshire emphasized the two requests do not overlap at all. The Trillium dollars are being split into two: $49,000 this year to cover a full-time staff member position that will allow the museum to update its policies and procedures documents while creating a volunteer retention and recruitment program for the future. Shropshire said the overall objective is to move the museum into a year around facility by partnering with other community organizations for events and building the museum's revenue stream.  "Hopefully the more revenue we generate the more we can grow," she said.

Should the museum be able to prove it operates year round it would be eligible to receive annual funding support from the Community Museums Operating Grant. "That's all part of sustainability," Shropshire said.
The remainder of the Trillium funds will go into membership for various trade shows and bus tour organizations such as the Ontario Motor Coach Association in hopes of being added to existing eastern Ontario tours. "It's kind of a three-year investment," Shropshire said.  Museum officials had hoped the $35,000 from the town would help to cover their operating costs (estimated at $2,000 a month) so that these funds could be directed toward other projects.

Currently, the museum relies on admission proceeds and donations for its budget, but an aging membership and tough economic times has left the museum craving a more reliable funding model. This year, the railway museum anticipates being in a break-even position, but this doesn't allow it to move forward or develop a new exhibit this year.   Of the 5,000 people who visited the museum in 2012 the museum estimates about 75 per cent of these are people from outside of the community that they are drawing to Smiths Falls..  "We are a community museum, but we are also an attraction in Smiths Falls," Shropshire said.  Donations to the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario are always welcome and can be given through a secure online system through the museum's website (www.rmeo.org) under the 'join us' tab.  (Posted by Stacey Roy)

South Simcoe Railway
http://www.southsimcoerailway.ca/

The Guelph Junction Railway Museum
http://www.ghra.ca/links.html

The Brockville Railway Tunnel
http://www.brockvillerailwaytunnel.com/

EXPORAIL – CRHA
http://exporail.org/en/welcome-to-exporail/

 Surly of  interest to our CNR diesel locomotive fans.  CNR  RS18 3684 being started up The first week of June after a  long rest of about eight  years without operating at Exporail.  She still looks pretty good right down to that all legitimate ALCO smoke! (Photos by Jean-Paul Viaud Exporail Curator).

Hull - Wakefield Steam Train - Gatineau, QC
http://www.ottawatourism.ca/en/visitors/what-to-do/tours-and-sightseeing/21-fast-facts-hcw-steam-train

The “Compagnie de chemin de fer de l’Outaouais” (CCFO)  has launched  a major campaign to reinstate the former Wakefield Steam Train, now known as the “Train à Vapeur de la Gatineau”. The CCFO is encouraging folks to go to its Facebook web site Train aVapeurdelaGatineau.ca and click “like” Signatures collected electronically as well as those gathered from a series of appearances at local events and shopping centres will be used to demonstrate to various levels of governments that an investment in getting the train started again has the support of the local populace. Operating between 1992 and 2011, over a portion of Canadian Pacific’s former Maniwaki Subdivision, when it was sidelined by major washouts as a result of a 1 in 200-years rain fall, the train uses equipment that was formerly operated by the Swedish National Railways. There are two locomotives, one a 2-8-0 dating from 1907; the other is a 1,000 horsepower Swedish EMD unit built in 1962. All rolling stock is ex-Swedish National Railways. The 909 is equipped with a CN steam locomotive whistle as well as an air
operated CN steam locomotive bell.Carrying close to 50,000 passengers per year on a 34-mile round trip along the scenic Gatineau River, the train generates annual economic activity of $8 million and employees 80 people on a full and part time basis. Significantly, during its 15 years of operation, the train returned approximately $22.5 million in tax revenue to the various levels of government involved in its operation. Further information isavailable by contacting Patrick L. Doyon, Project Leader, Train à Vapeur de la Gatineau, 819-595-6927 (bureau), 613-720-5766 (mobile).
http://steamtrainfriends.org/?q=en/node/1243

Orford Express Tourist Train – Sherbrooke, QC
http://www.orfordexpress.com/en/home.htm
 
Photos by Paul Trudel:
http://gumpaul.quebectrain.com/Orford_Express2013/#

Merci a Daniel Dagenais Directeur des Opérations / OpsDirector 
Administration portuaire de Montréal.
The Navette Ferroviaire (an operation on the Massif Railway, officially begins in mid-July. A new schedule has been posted.
http://www.lemassif.com/fr/presse/1887/le-train-du-massif-de-charlevoix-reconnu-par-l-industrie-ferroviaire

A new tourist train, called “L’ Amiral”, will be launched with three special runs this year for the Societe du Chemin de Fer de la Gaspesie.  The operation will target a growing cruise ship market in Quebec. On both July 27th and August 15th, the consist will depart New Richmond, MP 68.9 of the former CN Cascapedia Subdivision at 10 a.m. The train will run about an hour east to Bonaventure at MP 89.2. The trip back west will depart Bonaventure at 3:30 p.m. The July trip will be in conjunction with the Bonaventure Western Festival and the August run will be in conjunction with the Acadian National Holiday.  September 22nd  will find the consist on route for a fall color run departing at 10 a.m. from the peninsula's namesake city of Gaspe at MP 104.2 of the former CN Chandler Subdivision for a 1 hour 15 minute trip west to the town of Perce at MP 65.1. The return trip will depart Perce at 3 p.m., with a targeted arrival
back in Gaspe of 4:30 p.m. A road shuttle will connect Perce station with the town, some 6 miles distant.

The L’Amiral train will consist of rebuilt former Agence Métropolitaine de Transport (ex-AMT, nee-GO TRANSIT) Hawker Siddley-built commuter coaches trailing former CP RS-18u’s. Hotel power will be provided by a former AMT generator car. In order to generate much needed revenue, two cars have been leased to the Riviére Romaine Railway in Havre St. Pierre for use on the mine's employee shuttle train until full tourist service is up and running. The route is the same one used by VIA Rail Canada's Montreal-Gaspe service, which has not ventured east of New Carlisle since December of 2011. The VIA service was cut short initially due to track conditions, but now due to the state of some of the bridges along the scenic line. Provincial government grants have helped get the tourist service off the ground. Additional provincial funds are being sought to complete repairs to the offending bridges so as to return VIA service back to a
region that has depended on the train for transportation for decades. The Admiral's web-site can be found at http://trainamiral.com/
Train Touristique de Charlevoix (TTC) RS18u 623 is shown at the QGRY  / CN interchange in Quebec City destined to the Quebec-Gatineau shop for repairs two months ago.  (François Gagné Audet photo)

Moncton Transportation Museum:

The New Brunswick Railway Museum Hillsborough, NB  
http://www.nbrm.ca/en/index.shtml

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
http://www.trainstation.ca/
Orangedale Railway Museum  - Orangedale, NS
http://www.novascotiarailwayheritage.com/orangedale.htm

USA  

CALIFORNIA:

The Orange Empire Railway Museum
(Photos courtesy Kenneth Wadden)   
Four photos

PENNSYLVANIA:

Lake Shore Railway Historical Society  http://www.grape-track.org/home

The Steamtown National Historic Site
http://www.nps.gov/stea/index.htm

On what would be its last Railfest(Steamtown, USA) to run in September 1st 2012  (not known at the time), CNR 2-8-2 Mikado 3254 puts on a huge smoke show for the annual Moscow,  Pennsylvania Runby. Unfortunately,  after this trip her fire was dropped for the last time. CNR 3254 was decommissioned  and store when the repair estimation to  keep her active was was unaffordable.  Photo by Jared Steele.
http://www.railpictures.net/viewphoto.php?id=445815&nseq=148

NEW YORK

Bridge Line Historical Society – Delaware And Hudson RR.
http://www.bridge-line.org/

Adirondack Scenic Railroad
http://www.adirondackrr.com/

NEW ENGLAND:

The Railway Museum of New England
http://www.rmne.org/

ILLINOIS

Monticello Railway Museum    http://www.mrym.org/

MINNESOTA

The Iron Horse Museum - Chicago City, MN
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ULsfcs2ePfA&list=PL9C1A6909A6989ED8 

TEXAS

Museum of the American Railroad   

Founded in 1982 the museum is devoted to the railway heritage of the USA. This is their latest project:  The corporation  purchased former CN F9A 9167 from NRE in Silvis, and it is becoming Santa Fe F7A #49 in full red and silver Warbonnet paint:   

© CRO September 2013