Northern Ontario Railroad Museum Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids
Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre

NORMHC Shot of Prescott Park, taken atop the "Sudbury Meteor" display.
Established	August 31, 1993
Location	Capreol in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.
Visitors	approx. 13,000 per year

The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre is a cool place in Capreol (which is part of Greater Sudbury) in Canada. It's a museum all about trains and the history of Northern Ontario! Their main goal is to save and show off old items that tell the story of how people lived and worked in Northern Ontario. This includes the history of logging, mining, and, of course, railroads.

Museum History
Prescott Park: Outdoor Fun
- Amazing Train Collection
Heritage Centre: Indoor Exhibits
- Giant Model Train Layout
- Train Driving Simulator
Gallery
See also

Museum History

The former CN superintendent's house serves as the main site for NORMHC.

NORMHC Heritage Centre, formerly the Capreol Fire Department. This is also where the NORMHC Model Railway display is located.

The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre started in 1993 as a non-profit group. At first, it was just a small display of train stuff inside an old train car (called a caboose) in Prescott Park.

In 1997, the museum got a bigger home! They took over an old house that used to belong to a railway boss. This house became the main museum building, and Prescott Park became the outdoor area.

In 2010, the museum began building a special "Garden of Life." This garden helps people learn about organ and tissue donation. It got a big boost from CN Rail in 2013 and is still cared for every year.

In 2012, the museum also got the old Capreol fire hall. This building was built in 1923 and has been many things over the years. It was once a police station, a jail, a court, and even town offices!

Prescott Park: Outdoor Fun

Prescott Park is named after Harold Prescott, a former mayor of Capreol. This park is where you'll find the museum's big outdoor trains and other railway vehicles. It also has a large model train setup that runs outside and a fun play area for kids.

The Garden of Life is also in Prescott Park. This garden is a special place that helps people learn about organ donation in Ontario.

Amazing Train Collection

The museum has an awesome collection of trains! You can see four big locomotives (the engines that pull the trains) and six other railway cars. They also have smaller mining cars, handcars, and speeders.

Here are some of the cool trains you can see:

Canadian National Railways #6077: A huge steam locomotive built in 1944.
Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway #219: Another steam locomotive, built way back in 1907.
INCO #101: An electric locomotive from 1919.
INCO #116: A powerful electric locomotive from 1948.

And here are some of the other railway cars:

Canadian National Railways Caboose #77526: An old caboose built in 1887!
Canadian National Railways Caboose #79231: A newer caboose from 1967.
Canadian National Railways Rules Instruction Car #15019 Stadacona: This car was built in 1912 and is now used as a "School Car" exhibit.
Canadian National Railways Warehouse-baggage Car #60049: A car used for carrying goods, built in 1953.
Canadian National Railways Snow Plow #55208: A big snow plow from 1924, used to clear tracks.
Canadian National Railways 30 Ton Crane #50392: A large crane used for railway work, built in 1957.
Vale Limited Hot Metal Car #5: A special car used to carry hot metal.
Vale Limited Slag Pot Car: Another special car used in mining.

Heritage Centre: Indoor Exhibits

The old Capreol fire hall, located near the main museum, is now the Heritage Centre. Here, you can see a 1956 Dodge Fargo, which was the town's first police vehicle. It was used as a "paddy wagon" to transport people. You can also see a 1929 Godferson Bickle fire engine.

The Heritage Centre also has the museum's library and offices. It features exhibits about the history of the town and the area around it. They also have new exhibits each year with different themes.

Giant Model Train Layout

Opened in May 2017, the Heritage Centre has an amazing model railroad layout. It's 1000 square feet, making it the biggest HO scale model train display in Northern Ontario! Volunteers from the museum and the Sudbury Model Railroaders Club spent two years building and decorating it by hand. It shows tiny versions of Capreol and other scenes from Northern Ontario, including the museum's own outdoor exhibits in miniature!

Train Driving Simulator

Also opened in May 2017, the Heritage Centre has a cool train simulator. It's included with your admission ticket! You can use the simulator to learn the basics of driving a train. The scenery in the simulator is based on an area in Northern Quebec. Soon, it will be updated to show the Capreol train yard and the area around the town. The simulator is set to "arcade mode" so it's easy for visitors to use. But, you can also try a full "engineer" mode, which is what real train employees use for training!