Our season is now over at the shop for 2024, and we extend our thanks to everyone who came out for a visit this year. We received a lot of great feedback and will be looking at some new ideas for 2025. Our event schedule is currently being worked out and we will have the events posted soon. The Niagara Model Railway Show will be held on March 2nd at the Merritton Community Centre, as usual. Opening weekend is May 10/11, and we are very pleased to welcome the Toronto Hamilton & Buffalo Railway Historical Society back to the shop for their spring membership meeting on Sunday, May 25th. Regular operating hours will be Saturdays from 10am-2pm from May 10th to October 4th. If we were able to get more volunteers, we would like to be open Sundays as well, but it’s very difficult to manage that with our small group.

There’s a lot planned for next season, and we hope to see everyone again next year. But for now, we’ll see you at the train show.

RailDays 2024 has come to an end and we thank everyone who came to visit the site and take part in our special presentation on Saturday. It was great to be able to finally have the front office area back in operation for displays. We were able to have vendors and new displays at the event, and being in the office area, they were protected from the rain on the weekend. This work was made possible by a $115,000.00 Ontario Trillium Foundation grant, which saw the office roof replaced, along with environmental remediation inside. This improvement not only gives us a new display space, but also allows for a new meeting space for other groups. We thank the OTF for this grant. Thanks also to our dedicated volunteers that put so much work into the Museum site and our events throughout the year.

Thanks to Fort Erie Radio https://forterieradio.ca/niagara-railway-museum-on-the-right-track-honouring-fort-eries-railway-legacy/ and the Fort Erie Observer, for covering the event.

Day 2 of the long weekend proved to be quite progressive once again. Just 3 of us out today, but we’re in fair shape with just some smaller things to go for next weekend. Ken started with painting the signal to make it look decent for RailDays. Probably hasn’t seen paint since it was new! After that, Ken, Mike and Neil got the south door open and started switching around equipment. CN Flanger 56323 switched locations with JZ 62.118 & 62.129. As space is limited, we have to display equipment that allows for easy access, but also to be able to move around and store our non rail equipment in the shop. We also had a visitor, Linda Button, daughter of a fairly well known Railway photographer, the late Reg Button. It was nice to finally meet and show her around and where some of Reg’s pics were taken.

This weekend is a busy time as we gear up for RailDays on September 7 & 8. Today was all about getting the office area ready for guests and displays. The day started with a bit of rain, but Allan was out and managed to get the new door motor installed on the south door. This work was able to be done with help from Pat at Beam power & Utilities Ltd (www.beampower.ca). Pat brought the small bucket truck out for an hour, and it was very much appreciated. The motor still needs a bit of fine tuning, and wiring, but will soon be back in service.

Elsewhere, the rest of the crew was working mostly in the office area, cleaning, moving things out of the way and just generally getting the room ready. The office area will be used at RailDays for new Museum displays, a couple of model railway vendors, and some historical groups. Our small crew of 6 accomplished quite a bit today, and we even wore Nolan out. As mentioned, a lot of the work was just cleaning, but also Mike, Neil and Jim were working on fixing the shield on the signal, which was damaged when it was removed from the pole after being on display at the former Memory Junction Museum. Ken wired up a new control for the signal so it can now be used as a hands on exhibit. Needs a bit of tweaking, but it will be ready for RailDays. Last weekend, Bill Thompson also dropped off some Great gorge Route items, enlarged copies of brochures and postcards. Not sure how they will be displayed yet, but we will find a way. We also had a donation today of older maintenance and operating manuals, ranging from diesel locomotive manuals to different types of Stoker manuals for steam engines. The HO scale model of the CN Fort Erie scale has finally found a new home in the office display case.

Thanks to Ken, Neil, Mike, Jim, Nolan, Allen and Ken for looking after our visitors, and getting the work done. More finishing touches being done on Sunday, including painting the signal and setting up the tables.

It has been a very busy time for the Museum. Work has been progressing in a number of areas. All the safety railings along the work platform, drop table pit, and a newly fabricated railing along the stairs have all received a coat of yellow paint.

Work on the GE 25tonner is progressing. Allan and Rob have removed all the unused brackets and such that have been mounted to the Locomotive throughout it’s lifetime. In 2023, the motor on track ED19 (south shop track) started to fail, and by the end of the season, it was no longer working. This summer the motor was removed and sent in for service and was not able to be repaired. Thankfully we were able to secure a replacement for it. Nolan has been working on cleaning some of the grease and oil off the trucks/wheels on CN Flanger 56323 and Ken has started painting the trucks to match the rest of the car. The current plan is to finish off the roof and cupola repairs in the off season.

Our volunteers are currently working hard to get things ready for our next and final event at the shop, RailDays on September 7 & 8, 10am to 4pm both days (rain or shine). September 7th will see a special presentation as we acknowledge the OTF grant that allowed us to put a new roof on the office of the shop, and create a new display space for some of our artifacts and displays. This room will have some vendors and sales tables, and a LEGO train display in place for RailDays. The former HO layout from Niagara Central Hobbies in St. Catharines will also be on display. The NRM is always looking for new members to help out with our many projects. Please contact us to see how you can get involved.

There has been a lot happening, too much to list here, but much of this work can be found on the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. Facebook page.

There’s been quite a bit happening, as usual, with the start of phase 2 of the environmental work in the office area started and progressing. This work includes the professional removal of the old peeling paint on the walls and ceiling. The side room is done and the rest of the office should be done at the end of April. We hope to have this area open for our visitors in some capacity by the middle of the season.

The GE 25tonner has been receiving quite a bit of work with Rob doing a lot of body work, fixing dents and covering up some openings and cut outs in the body. Allan has been assisting with that work, along with doing some work in the future work shop downstairs.

The air cleaner on the GE was removed and will be replaced with a smaller unit. Rob has still been working on the windows, waiting for new window rubber to arrive. All of the dents have been removed from the cab, the rear step straightened and repaired, and the cab grab irons straightened. Rob managed to get the door locks working as well. The GE will definitely look a lot different in 2024, and the work being performed will keep it operating for years to come. The new window rubber will also be used on the number boards on CN 9173, which is also moving forward to a new paint job.

Part of having the office area open for display again, will be allowing people to see the items from the former Niagara Central Hobbies (the Hobby Shop) in St. Catharines. This includes the HO train layout and trolley coffee bar. On April 13th, the layout was uncovered and had a train operating on the lower loop for the first time in about 5yrs.

With the unusually mild winter, there has been a lot of work happening during the off season. At the end of 2023, the office portion of the shop received a new roof thanks to an Ontario Trillium Foundation grant. This will allow us to once again use this as a public space for meetings and displays. Phase 1 was the roof, phase 2 will be the clean up of the old paint and such. We will be working on this area as the 2024 season goes on. It’s nice to finally have this area dry.

Other work has continued on many projects. Allan has spent a lot of time installing the new safety railings along the work platform and around the drop table pit. he has continued to improve the safety of the facility and equipment for our volunteers and guests.

Rob has also been busy, taking a bit of a break from CN 9173 to work on the GE 25tonner. 9173 is coming along quite well, and will be ready for painting in 2024. We are currently waiting for new rubber gasket material to make and install new number boards. This material will also be used to replace the old, cracked rubber around the windows on the 25tonner. At some point, the locomotive hit something which shifted the cab out of place. Rob and Allan have fixed a lot of that damage, with Rob continuing on the body work, smoothing out the dents, and cleaning the old paint off, and giving the cab a coat of primer. The doors have gotten the locks repaired and can now be used. Window work is still ongoing, and the body work and primer paint will continue on the hood.

Elsewhere has just been a lot of cleaning, for the most part. Work has been fairly regular on Saturdays, and even on Sundays now, so there is a lot of progress being made on things. The Spring Niagara Model Railway Show in March went very well, and was a good start to our 2024 season.

We have another busy year ahead of us in 2024. We look forward to showing all the progress we have made in the off season, and to share what we have planned. For Christmas, we did a test run of decorating JZ 62.118 with lights, just to see how it would work out for a potential future winter event. it went quite well, and we hope to be able to do this again during the holidays.

Thank you to all of our great volunteers who have done so much work during the off season to prepare us for 2024. We look forward to welcoming everyone back on Opening Weekend in May.

The Fall Niagara Model Railway Show is Sunday October 29th from 10am to 3pm at the Merritton Community Centre, 7 Park Ave in St. Catharines. The vendor tables are completely sold out, with 45 vendors from across Ontario, for our biggest show at this location. This event wraps up a record year for the museum and we hope to see everyone out on Sunday.

Voting is now open in the 2023 Readers Choice Awards. We are nominated in 4 categories in the Niagara Falls Review. Under entertainment, we are in: Day Trip Destinations, Family Activities, Local Tourist Attraction and Museum.
https://readerschoice.niagarafallsreview.ca/readerschoice/categories/entertainment?fbclid=IwAR3P2s81YvIrTaObYdQFMKKUdB4noSJYGe5UaO-J8xHeeqd1NGh1HO9J-zw

We are also in the St. Catharines Standard, Entertainment, Local Event for the Niagara Model Railway Show.
https://readerschoice.stcatharinesstandard.ca/readerschoice/categories/entertainment/subcategories/local-event

Please help us continue our winning ways by voting for us wherever possible. You will have to register, but you can always delete it afterwards. Please share these links and help spread the word.

As has been reported online and in other media, the Museum acquired and moved 2 steam locomotives to the shop on July 4th. Once again I am very far behind on updating this site, as most of our updates happen on our Facebook page.

The locomotives were acquired by John Holer, the owner of Marineland in Niagara Falls. They were built in 1955 & 1958 by Duro Dakovic Locomotive Technica for the Jugoslav State Railway. Both engines are 0-6-0T tank engines, based on an American design. They were both rebuilt and operated in Slovenia prior to being shipped to Canada in 1981. They were unloaded off a flatcar at the Park and moved to one of the warehouses on Stanley Ave, which is where they remained until July 4th. Many people knew they existed, but at the same time, weren’t really sure if they did or not. Some people saw them when they arrived, some were able to see them over the years, but for the most part, they were kept away from any viewers. In April 2023 we were contacted by the Holer Family about needing to dispose of these locomotives, and the did not want to see them go to scrap. We were asked if we would be able to take them or knew of a place that could. We were of course very excited to be asked and considered for their new home. The entire project had to kept completely under wraps with only a very few people from the Museum and the Park knowing what was happening. A lot of work went into the move, from our own volunteers working to get them ready, to James Petroczi coming down and building the panel tracks that allowed us to move them outside. Falcon Crane was called in for the lift, and we once again went with Pioneer Heavy Haul out of Welland to move them to Fort Erie. Both locomotives are in immaculate condition. They are complete, and would be ideal candidates for future restoration. For now however, we are happy just to have them on display. https://youtu.be/lRu46fE5ZNM?si=5VMaLjXjGfx9q0yJ

July 4th was moving day, and it was a very hot, and very long day for everyone, but the crew from Falcon Crane were out the longest. Dakota and Mark were excellent to work with, and they took great car lifting both locomotives. The same goes for Mel Jones and his crew from Pioneer. It took a little longer for loading as the blocking on the trailers had to be placed in just the right spots to protect the trailer decks, and to make sure no damage would be done to the locomotives.

During all of this work, we really have to give a huge amount of thanks to the Holer Family. It was Marie Holer that decided to donate them to us, and Peter Holer, their son, was instrumental in this entire move. Peter was at the warehouse to deal with the contractors looking at the job whenever we called him. He also helped us with prep work, brought over the big Cat D7 dozer to pull them outside, and brought over the forklift and telehandler to help move the track materials around for the panel track. This move would have been a lot more difficult without the amount of help Peter gave us. We are very thankful to the Management and Advisors at Marineland for making this happy, and the Holer Family for seeing it through.

Be sure to join us at RailDays on September 9 & 10 from 10am to 4pm both days (rain or shine). As of right now, it is planned to have all 3 steam locomotives outside together for the first time. We are still working on other displays for the event.