The final open house of the year is now behind us.  Despite torrential rain, and high winds on Saturday, the Open House turned out fairly well in the end.  There were some different displays for this event, including a G & N scale layout, more pictures and artifacts, and as always, the ONR Technical & Historical Society. Sunday was a much better day weather wise, and that was reflected with the amount of visitors. The comments were positive, and the NRM was able to show the amount of progress made over the past 2 years. The Museum?s steam locomotive was also fitted with her headlight for the event.

HEPC 46  with her headlight

There are still lots of things going on at the shop.  It is hoped that the remaining NRM equipment will arrive within the next 2 months, starting with the ex-CNR Flanger frame, which will be evaluated for restoration. The ex-CP Rail boxcars will hopefully follow.  Work is also progressing on the Plymouth MDT40t diesel, with just the compressor awaiting rebuild.  The Museum is open most saturdays, 10am-2pm or by appointment by calling the number on our contact page.

Saturday was a fairly productive day at the shop. Rick has started getting the proper air lines for the Plymouth cut and threaded, and also worked on one of our new (used) weedeaters.  Our Miller welder is also now at the shop and being worked on to get it into operating condition.  The big job out there Saturday was putting the dome back on HEPC 46. It took 4 of us, Rick, Ken Sr., Ken Jr. and Aaron to get it set back on top of the water tank, and bolted down.  It?s currently in grey primer, and will receive a coat of flat black in the next week or so.  New end beams and running boards are being looked into, but the are not cheap.  The end beams are 12?x16?x9?4?, and need to be made out of hardwood. Price seems to be in around the $400/piece range.  Even the running boards, 2?x10?x16? are close to $100 each.  We are still pricing these out, but ideally, we would like to try to get the end beams back in place before the end of the year.  When the new running boards are installed, we will be able to reinstall the air tank and other appliances.  The cab will be the last repair, and we are also currently looking into that rebuild as well.  The cab rebuild is not just the deteriorated steel, but also all the wood windows and doors, which we do have patterns of.  We just need to find someone who an do the work for us.  46 is slowly starting to look like her old self again.

Rick lifts the dome in preparation to swing it over 46.

Aaron and Rick look on as Ken tightens the bolts on the dome.

HEPC 46 with the steam dome reinstalled.

Lots going on at the Museum. The shop is open most Saturdays, between 10am-2pm, so if you?re in the area, feel free to stop by and see what we are doing.  Admission is by donation.

It?s been a busy few weeks at the Niagara Railway Museum. 2 displays in Fort Erie on the Canada Day weekend, one being our open house, the other was the Friendship Festival. Restoration continues around the shop, with new work being performed on the Plymouth MDT 40t diesel, and HEPC steam locomotive #46. Work sessions are held at various times during the week, and members are usually out there every Saturday.NRM?s ex-C&O Fairmont M14 ?Dale?, was finally moved to the shop this weekend.

The NRM would like to congratulate the Northern Ontario Railroad Museum & Heritage Centre in Capreol for their successful acquisition of ex Temiskaming & Northern Ontario. 4-6-0 #219 from Ontario Northland. They are now working on moving it to their site. For more information visit www.normhc.ca

The Halton County Radial Railway, near Milton, also received ex-London & Port Stanley Railway interurban car #4, which came from the now defunct Ossawippi Express dining cars in Orillia. HCRY now has 5 pieces of L&PS equipment. Car 8 is operational, while box?cab L2 is displayed at the front gate. Trailer 3 and caboose C-2 are stored out of service. Info on the museum is at www.hcry.org

The Beiseker Railway Museum in Beiseker Alberta finally got the ex-CPR station from Bassano Alberta moved to their site this week after a very lengthy delay. This will allow them to continue the development of their museum site. Visit them at www.alberta2005rail.com

And on a sad note, the NRM?s close friends in the Southern Niagara Model Railway Club in Thorold suffered a loss of part of thier HO scale layout due to an electrical fire 2 weekS ago we wish them the best in rebuilding more than 7 years worth of work that was lost. Contact us for more information on this group.

This coming long weekend is the second Open House at the Niagara Railway Museum Inc. The shop will be open Saturday to Monday, 9am-5pm daily. There will be artifacts, model train layouts, and other displays. The shop is open rain or shine, and is wheelchair accessible. the NRM is also taking part in the Fort Erie Friendship Festival for the first time. We will have a joint display with the Amusement Park Historical Association of Niagara. Come look for the white tent to check out both displays.

Please also be advised, the Gilmore Rd exit off the QEW is CLOSED. You may have to exit at Bowen Road (1 exit north, coming from Niagara), and turn left. Take Bowen to Thompson and turn right again. Take Thompson to Gilmore and turn left, and you’re back on track.

The first open house at the NRM for 2012 has now past.? We had great weather, and great displays, but the crowds were down.? For this event we had the entrance through the actual office of the shop, which will be the future artifact display area and main entrance.?The Southern Niagara Model Railway Club and Ontario Northland Railway Historical & Technical Society had thier displays and layout at the shop, and I thank them for taking part. We were unable to have any of the motorcars running for this event, but we are working on it for our next open house on the July Canada Day weekend.

Before our open house, I took a trip to Sandusky Ohio on the Victoria Day weekend, and went a little past to Bellevue Ohio to the Mad River & NKP Railroad Museum.? The Museum wasn’t open, but I was able to see much of the equipment.? There was one locomotive in particular I wanted to see, Canadian built Wabash F7a #671, one of only 2 Canadian build Wabash F units in existence, both of which are in the US.? 671 sits right beside the NS mainline, and is in decent condition, but the rust is starting to show.

In restoration news, the doors of one hood of HEPC E-7 have been removed, sandblasted, and returned to the engine.? They are to be installed shortly, and are currently in primer paint, waiting for the rest of the hood to be finished.? HEPC steam engine #46 has also recieved some attention. On June 2, she recieved a new coat of flat black paint on the water tank.? Makes quite a difference, and will look great when the smokebox is painted.

Other work is progressing at the shop, such as painting of the door frames, and a general clean up of the area.? The old machinery that has been stored inside the office was removed before the open house, and has opened up a lot of space, which will allow us to plan the future. Thanks to Attar Metals for thier help with the clean up, and continued assistance.

Restoration continues at the shop, and we are always looking for new members, no skills required. Please email us for more information.

The first Open House of the year is approaching fast. This Saturday, May 26th, and Sunday, May 27th the shop will be open from 9-5 both days, rain or shine. Visitors will now enter through the office area at the east end of the building. Handicap access will be the big doors at the west end. All the major artifact displays, layouts, tables, etc. will be located in the office area, to allow viewing even if the weather is poor. The shop will be open for visitors to view the equipment, and get a better look at our facility.
Admission is by donation, and all are welcome. All proceeds support the Niagara Railway Museum Inc., a registered charitable organization under the Canada Revenue Agency. Please see our evenst section for a map to our location, and feel free to contact us if you have any questions.

The Niagara Railway Museum was part of the Canadian Council for Railway Heritage Spring Conference held at the Halton County Radial Railway near Rockwood Ontario.  The meeting was hosted by the Ontario Rail Foundation, and brought together various railway groups from across Ontario, as well as Manitoba and Saskatchewan.  The main purpose of this meeting was to introduce the CCRH to the eastern groups (CCRH has primarily been geared towards the Museums of Western Canada), and to hep create a unified front in the world of Railway Preservation.  We had lunch while we took a trip on open car #326 to the end of the line and back.  Lorna from Ontario Rail lined up some great sandwiches and wraps for the trip.  Dinner was a great BBQ, complete with a home made cake marking the event.  After dinner HCRY ran the cars for the guests, and gave a few of them a chance to take control of the car and run it down the line.

Attendees were treated to lunch on board open car #327 (left) and after the days events were done, given a walking tour (right) of Barn 4, the Adam Beck Centre, which has allowed HCRR to get almost the entire collection indoors.

The lineup of cars includes Small Witt TTC 2786, Rail Grinder W-28, and Montreal and Southern Counties #107. (left) Montreal & Southern Counties #107 still looks great, indoors in the new display building (right). 

London& Port Stanley interurban #8 and Canadian Pacific caboose 437123 wait for the next trip to the other end of the line (left).  Niagara railway Museum member John Weylie takes a look at Lake Erie & Northern line truck M-6 (right).

All in all, it was a great day, and a great opportunity to see what some of the other Railway Museums are dealing with.  Halton County Radial Railway were excellent hosts, and the tour was a hit with the guests.  Lorna and the Ontario Rail Foundation also did a great job setting up this meeting. Thanks to everyone for their hard work, and also to those who took the time out of busy schedules to attend the day.

      It was another busy weekend for the NRM.  We took part in the Ontario Narrow Gauge show in Schomberg, Ont. on Saturday April 21st. This is a small show, focusing solely on Narrow Gauge railways, and features some amazing layouts and models.

     Along with a small display, we had a small 5/8" scale layout
(O scale track is 2ft gauge), operated by Ken Jones on display.  It was well recieved, but I know what needs to be done for next year.  Sunday was busy as well with the Woodstock Model Train show in Woodstock Ont.  The show was very busy, and we talked to many people, promoting the Museum and our upcoming open house at the end of May.

      On another note, our friends at the Toronto Railway Historical Association have been hit with a major snag in the development of the Roundhouse Museum.  The site is located right in downtown Toronto, with the CN Tower, Rogers Centre, Air Canada Centre, and Gardener Expressway surrounding it.  We wish them the best of luck through this unfortunate issue.  Please read the article at the link for the full story.

http://www.trha.ca/news.html