Winnipeg Railway Museum
Winnipeg Railway Museum is located in Winnipeg
Winnipeg Railway Museum
Location within Manitoba
Established1994
LocationUnion Station, 123 Main St, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada
Coordinates49°53′20″N 97°8′3″W / 49.88889°N 97.13417°W / 49.88889; -97.13417
TypeRailway museum
Key holdingsCountess of Dufferin
Collection size6 locomotives, plus rolling stock
FounderDavid Harris, Norman Leathers, Roger Letourneau
DirectorGrae Hughes, Christopher Robinson, Douglas Moberg, Gordon Leathers, Harold Davies and Douglas Bell
PresidentGary Stempnick
Public transit accessWinnipeg Transit
Nearest car parkPrivately operated, surrounding station[1]
Websitewpgrailwaymuseum.com

The Winnipeg Railway Museum was a railway museum located on tracks 1 and 2 within the Via Rail-operated Union Station in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. Volunteers from the Midwestern Rail Association Inc., a non-profit organization founded in 1975, operated the museum.

The museum was affiliated with CMA, CHIN and Virtual Museum of Canada.

Overview

The mission of the museum was to explore the history of railways in Winnipeg and Manitoba.[2] The collection included the Countess of Dufferin[3] (the first locomotive on the Canadian prairies), various vintage railcars,[3] cabooses, a Jordan spreader from 1911,[3] the history and artifacts of the building of the Hudson Bay Railway to Churchill, Manitoba,[4] technical displays, and a HO scale model layout.[4] In 2015, restoration began on Winnipeg's last wooden streetcar (Car 356), to be displayed at the Winnipeg Railway Museum.[5]

The museum exhibit hall was located on disused platforms and tracks, where parked exhibition locomotives, carts, and portable buildings with model-train sets were on display. The staircase that led to the museum from the Via Rail station was the same one used for the platform when that section of the station was active.

Long-term plans may involve moving the Winnipeg Railway Museum elsewhere in Winnipeg to make way for a rapid transit hub station.[6] The museum closed at the end of 2021 to prepare for necessary renovations.[7] Its future remains unknown.

See also

References

  1. Access and public transportation, at viarail.ca
  2. "About Us". Winnipeg Railway Museum. Midwestern Rail Association Inc. Retrieved 16 June 2023.
  3. 1 2 3 Equipment, at wpgrailwaymuseum.com
  4. 1 2 Display, at wpgrailwaymuseum.com
  5. Sheila North Wilson (June 10, 2015). "Winnipeg's final streetcar to get restoration treatment". Winnipeg.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
  6. Kives, Bartley (10 June 2016). "Winnipeg Transit plans to convert Union Station into a downtown transportation node". CBC. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
  7. "Winnipeg Railway Museum makes deal to secure future at Union Station — for now". CBC. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.

49°53′19″N 97°08′00″W / 49.888515°N 97.133424°W / 49.888515; -97.133424

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