Alberta Railway Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1976 |
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| Location | 24215 34 Street Edmonton, Alberta, Canada |
| Type | Transportation Museum |
The Alberta Railway Museum (ARM) is a cool place in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada. It's like a big outdoor museum filled with old trains and railway buildings. You can see many different kinds of trains here, including big locomotives from the Canadian National Railways (CNR) and Northern Alberta Railways (NAR).
Contents
Discover the Museum's Story
The Alberta Railway Museum first opened its doors in 1976. It's built on an old railway line called the Canadian Northern Railway Coronado Subdivision. Most of the museum's work is done by amazing volunteers. They keep everything running smoothly, especially during the summer. The museum gets money from people buying memberships and tickets. They also get grants and funds from casinos to help keep the trains in great shape.
Explore the Train Collection
The museum has a huge collection of railway cars and locomotives. Many of these old trains are being fixed up. Some will look exactly like they did when they were new. Others will be restored to how they looked when they were last used.
Passenger Trains: Travel in Style
Imagine traveling by train long ago! The museum is building a collection to show what a real passenger train looked like.
Canadian National Passenger Train
These cars are the start of a planned Canadian National Railways (CNR) passenger train.
- 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 luggage car)
- Regina (A special passenger car)
- Pelee Island (Another special passenger car)
- Fort Brabant (A third special passenger car)
Northern Alberta Railways Passenger Train
This group of eight cars will show what a complete Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) passenger train looked like. It's the only one of its kind still around!
- 73 Locomotive (The engine that pulls the train)
- 1454 Mail Express (Car for mail and packages)
- 1460 Mail Express (Another mail and package car)
- 1220 Express (Car for fast deliveries)
- Rycroft (A passenger car)
- Westlock (Another passenger car)
- Dunvegan (A third passenger car)
Freight Trains: Moving Goods Across the Prairies
Freight trains carry all sorts of goods. The museum has cars that show what a typical "mixed freight" train looked like on the prairies.
Canadian National Prairie Mixed Freight Train
This group of cars shows a typical Canadian National Railways (CNR) mixed freight train.
- 1392 Locomotive (The powerful engine)
- 16015 Tender (1392B) (Car holding fuel and water for the locomotive)
- 46230 Refrigerator (Car for cold goods)
- 172755 Stock Car (Car for animals)
- 477871 Box Car (Car for general goods)
- 509893 Box Car (Another general goods car)
- 512719 Box Car (A third general goods car)
- 17913 Box Car (A fourth general goods car)
- 6570 Tank Car (Car for liquids)
- 16040 Tank Car (Another liquid car)
- 7379 Combine (A car that combines passenger and freight space)
- 78185 Caboose (The car at the very end of the train)
Work Trains: Keeping the Tracks Running
Railways need special trains to help build and fix tracks. These are called work trains.
Northern Alberta Railways Work Train
This collection shows a complete Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) work train. It's the only full set still in existence!
- 16511 Flat Car (Open car for carrying materials)
- 15015 Flat Car (Another flat car)
- 14040 Ballast Car (Car for carrying gravel for tracks)
- 14085 Ballast Car (Another ballast car)
- 16601 Flanger (Machine for clearing snow from tracks)
- 16522 Jordan Spreader (Machine for spreading gravel and clearing snow)
- 68301 Outfit Car (Car where workers lived)
- CP 409748 Outfit Car (Another outfit car)
- 51625 Tank Car (Car for water or fuel)
- 69695 Bunk Car (Car with beds for workers)
- 17050 Bunk Car (Another bunk car)
- 17900 Engineering Car (Car for railway engineers)
- 17009 Foreman and Tool Car (Car for the crew leader and tools)
- 17032 Cook Supply Car (Car for food supplies)
- 17062 Cook Car (Car where meals were cooked)
- 17092 Box Car (Car for general supplies)
- 13025 Caboose (The end car for the crew)
Auxiliary Trains: Ready for Anything
These special trains are like emergency response teams for the railway. They are used to help clear up accidents or put derailed trains back on the tracks.
The "Big Hook" and More
This collection includes a "Big Hook" crane and other equipment.
- 63017 Crane (A huge crane for lifting heavy objects)
- 57611 Idler (A flat car used with the crane)
- 50387 Crane / 54597 Idler (A more modern crane and its idler car)
- 51566 (401) Tender (Car for fuel/water for the crane)
- 28251 Flat Car (Open car for carrying equipment)
- 58285 Gondola (Open-top car for carrying materials)
- 18104 Bunk Car (Car with beds for the crew)
Special and Unique Trains
The museum also has other important locomotives and cars that are interesting for different reasons.
- CN 9000 EMD F3A locomotive (A powerful and famous type of engine)
- CN 7944 EMD NW2 locomotive (A smaller engine used for switching cars)
- CN 4618 GE C40-8CM locomotive (A modern, powerful engine, once BCOL 4618)
- Alberta & Great Waterways Railway 17106 combine passenger car (A car that mixed passengers and freight)
- CN 15029 Rule Instruction Car (Once a fancy sleeper car, now used for training)
- CN 55245 Snowplow (A big machine for clearing snow from the tracks, once owned by NAR)
- NAR 306 Coach Caboose (A special caboose that also carried passengers, once from Boston and Albany Railroad)
- CN 50800 load test car (A car used to test the strength of bridges and tracks)
See also
- List of heritage railways in Canada
- List of museums in Canada
