Winnipeg Railway Museum facts for kids
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| Established | 1994 |
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| Location | Union Station, 123 Main St, Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada |
| Type | Railway museum |
| Key holdings | Countess of Dufferin |
| Collection size | 6 locomotives, plus rolling stock |
| Founder | David Harris, Norman Leathers, Roger Letourneau |
| Public transit access | Winnipeg Transit |
| Nearest car park | Privately operated, surrounding station |
The Winnipeg Railway Museum was a special place where you could learn all about trains and their history in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada. It was located inside Union Station, a big train station in the city.
Volunteers from a group called the Midwestern Rail Association Inc. ran the museum. This group started in 1975 and worked hard to keep the history of railways alive.
Discovering the Museum's Collection
The museum's main goal was to show how railways helped Winnipeg and Manitoba grow. It had many cool things to see!
One of the most famous items was the Countess of Dufferin. This was the very first train engine to run on the Canadian prairies. Imagine how exciting that must have been!
You could also see many old train cars, including cabooses, which are the cars at the very end of a freight train. There was even a special machine called a Jordan spreader from 1911, used to clear snow or spread gravel on the tracks.
The museum also shared stories and items from the building of the Hudson Bay Railway. This railway was a huge project that connected Winnipeg all the way to Churchill, Manitoba, on Hudson Bay.
For those who love small trains, there was a detailed HO scale model train layout. It showed tiny trains moving through miniature landscapes. The museum even started working on restoring Winnipeg's last wooden streetcar (Car 356) in 2015, planning to display it.
The museum's exhibits were set up on old train platforms and tracks that were no longer used. You could see real train engines and cars parked there. There were also small buildings with the model train sets inside. The staircase you used to enter the museum was the same one passengers used when that part of the station was busy.
The Museum's Future
The Winnipeg Railway Museum closed its doors at the end of 2021. This was to allow for important renovations and upgrades.
As of August 2025, the museum is still working on these improvements. They have already fixed the roof, windows, skylights, and lighting. They are also raising money for more upgrades, like new walls and better electrical and fire safety systems. The volunteers hope to reopen the museum in November 2025.
There have been talks about moving the museum to a different location in Winnipeg. This is because the city might want to use the space at Union Station for a new rapid transit hub, which is a central station for fast public transport. Even though the rail association signed a new lease for the museum space in November 2022, the city still plans to use the area for rapid transit in the future. So, the museum's long-term home is still being decided.
Gallery
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Locomotive on display
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Train and equipment
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Railway equipment
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Winnipeg Hydro train
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City of Winnipeg Rail Car
See also
In Spanish: Museo del Ferrocarril de Winnipeg para niños
