Alberta Railway Museum facts for kids

Quick facts for kids
Alberta Railway Museum

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Established	1976
Location	24215 34 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada
Type	Transportation Museum

The Alberta Railway Museum (ARM) is a cool place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada, where you can explore old trains! It's like a giant outdoor museum filled with railway cars and buildings from the past. You can see locomotives from famous Canadian train companies like Canadian National Railways (CNR) and Northern Alberta Railways (NAR).

Discovering the Past: How the Museum Started

The Alberta Railway Museum first opened its doors in 1976. It is located on a historic spot where the Canadian Northern Railway Coronado Subdivision used to be. Most of the work at the museum is done by amazing volunteers. They keep the museum running smoothly! The museum gets money from people buying memberships, paying to visit, and from special grants.

Exploring the Train Collection

The museum has a huge collection of railway equipment. Many of these old trains are being carefully fixed up and restored. Some cars are being made to look almost exactly as they did when they were brand new. Others are being restored to how they looked when they were last used.

CNR Passenger Trains

Imagine traveling across Canada by train! The museum is building a collection to show what a Canadian National Railways (CNR) passenger train looked like. These trains carried people from one city to another.

• CN 6514 and 6614 (Locomotives)
• 10648 Express Refrigerator (Car for keeping things cold)
• 11141 Through Baggage (Car for luggage)
• 7815 Mail Express (Car for mail and packages)
• 8730 Baggage (Another car for luggage)
• Regina (A special passenger car)
• Pelee Island (Another special passenger car)
• Fort Brabant (Another special passenger car)

CNR Prairie Mixed Freight Train

Freight trains carry goods and materials across the country. This collection shows a typical mixed freight train that would have traveled across the Canadian prairies. These trains carried all sorts of things!

• 1392 Locomotive (The engine that pulls the train)
• 16015 Tender (1392B) (Car that carries fuel and water for the locomotive)
• 46230 Refrigerator (Car for cold goods)
• 172755 Stock Car (Car for livestock)
• 477871 Box Car (Enclosed car for general goods)
• 509893 Box Car
• 512719 Box Car
• 17913 Box Car
• 6570 Tank Car (Car for liquids)
• 16040 Tank Car
• 7379 Combine (A car that combines passenger and freight space)
• 78185 Caboose (The car at the very end of a freight train)

Northern Alberta Railways Passenger Train

The museum also has a collection representing a complete passenger train from the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR). This is the only full NAR passenger train still in existence!

• 73 Locomotive
• 1454 Mail Express
• 1460 Mail Express
• 1220 Express
• Rycroft (A special passenger car)
• Westlock (Another special passenger car)
• Dunvegan (Another special passenger car)

NAR Work Train

Work trains were super important for building and fixing railway tracks. This collection shows a typical Northern Alberta Railways work train. It's the only complete set of its kind that still exists!

• 16511 Flat Car (Open car for carrying equipment)
• 15015 Flat Car
• 14040 Ballast Car (Car for carrying gravel used under tracks)
• 14085 Ballast Car
• 16601 Flanger (A car with blades to clear snow from tracks)
• 16522 Jordan Spreader (A large machine for spreading ballast or clearing snow)
• 68301 Outfit Car (A car where workers might live or store tools)
• CP 409748 Outfit Car
• 51625 Tank Car
• 69695 Bunk Car (A car with beds for workers)
• 17050 Bunk Car
• 17900 Engineering Car (For engineers and planning)
• 17009 Foreman and Tool Car (For the crew leader and tools)
• 17032 Cook Supply Car (For food supplies)
• 17062 Cook Car (Where meals were prepared)
• 17092 Box Car
• 13025 Caboose

Auxiliary and Wreck Trains

Sometimes, trains had accidents or needed big repairs. Auxiliary or wreck trains were used to help. This collection includes a "Big Hook" crane, which was used to lift heavy train parts.

• 63017 Crane (The "Big Hook")
• 57611 Idler (A car used to space out heavy equipment)
• 50387 Crane / 54597 Idler (A more modern crane)
• 51566 (401) Tender
• 28251 Flat Car
• 58285 Gondola (An open-top car for bulk materials)
• 18104 Bunk Car

Other Special Trains

The museum also has other interesting locomotives and cars that played important roles in railway history.

• CN 9000 EMD F3A locomotive
• CN 7944 EMD NW2 locomotive
• CN 4618 GE C40-8CM locomotive (This used to be BCOL 4618)
• Alberta & Great Waterways Railway 17106 combine passenger car
• CN 15029 Rule Instruction Car (This car used to be a sleeper car for the Canadian Government Railways)
• CN 55245 Snowplow (This snowplow used to belong to the Northern Alberta Railways)
• NAR 306 Coach Caboose (This caboose used to belong to the Boston and Albany Railroad)
• CN 50800 load test car

See Also

• List of heritage railways in Canada
• List of museums in Canada