Winnipeg Railway Museum
The Winnipeg Railway Museum is 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, operate the museum.
 | |
  Location within Manitoba | |
| Established | 1994 |
|---|---|
| Location | Union Station, 123 Main St, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Coordinates | 49°53′20″N 97°8′3″W |
| Type | Railway museum |
| Key holdings | Countess of Dufferin |
| Collection size | 6 locomotives, plus rolling stock |
| Founder | David Harris, Norman Leathers, Roger Letourneau |
| Director | Grae Hughes, Christopher Robinson, Douglas Moberg, Gordon Leathers, Harold Davies and Douglas Bell |
| President | Gary Stempnick |
| Public transit access | Winnipeg Transit |
| Nearest car park | Privately operated, surrounding station[1] |
| Website | wpgrailwaymuseum.com |
The museum is affiliated with CMA, CHIN and Virtual Museum of Canada.
Overview
The museum preserves rail history in Canada. The collection includes the Countess of Dufferin[2] (the first locomotive on the Canadian prairies), various vintage railcars,[2] cabooses, a Jordan spreader from 1911,[2] the history and artifacts of the building of the Hudson Bay Railway to Churchill, Manitoba,[3] technical displays, and an HO scale model layout.[3] In 2015, restoration began on Winnipeg's last wooden streetcar, Car 356, to be displayed at the Winnipeg Railway Museum.[4]
The museum exhibit hall is located on disused platforms and tracks, where parked exhibition locomotives, carts, and portable buildings with model-train sets are on display. The staircase leading to the museum from the Via Rail station is the same one used to get onto the platform when that section was active.
Long-term plans may involve moving the Winnipeg Railway Museum elsewhere in Winnipeg to make way for a rapid transit hub station.[5] The museum closed at the end of 2021 to prepare for necessary renovations.[6]
Gallery
Locomotive on display
Train and equipment
Railway equipment
Winnipeg Hydro train
City of Winnipeg Rail Car
References
- Access and public transportation, at viarail.ca
- Equipment, at wpgrailwaymuseum.com
- Display, at wpgrailwaymuseum.com
- Sheila North Wilson (June 10, 2015). "Winnipeg's final streetcar to get restoration treatment". Winnipeg.ctvnews.ca. Retrieved July 26, 2016.
- Kives, Bartley (10 June 2016). "Winnipeg Transit plans to convert Union Station into a downtown transportation node". CBC. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
- "Winnipeg Railway Museum makes deal to secure future at Union Station — for now". CBC. 9 November 2022. Retrieved 25 March 2023.
