Railways have played a significant role in the development of Canadian society. From the initial appearance of tramways in Nova Scotian coal mines in the 1820s to the contemporary 150-car coal unit trains operating in the Canadian west, railways have provided Canadians with a means to move themselves and their products over their vast and rugged land. Railways provided the means for Canada to settle and develop territories during the late-nineteenth and early-twentieth centuries. The technological and organizational tools required to achieve the construction of some of the largest railway systems in the world led to the formation of the first modern corporations.

The Rail collection is divided into five major fields:

• motive power
• operations
• public transit (street railways)
• rolling stock
• services

The Museum's restored Shay locomotive in service. 1996 CSTM

CPR Station at Heron Bay, Ont., ca. 1910.

The rail collection has been been a focus of attention at the Museum since its opening. A portion of the collection continues to occupy a prominent place in the Museum's exhibits. For close to 20 years the Museum maintained former CPR locomotive # 1201 in operating condition. Steam locomotive technology continues to play a role in programming through regular demonstrations of the Museum's Shay locomotive (above left) during the summer months.

The Museum's railway collection is broadly representative of the technological trends that have characterized Canadian railway operations from the 1850s to the 1990s. Documentary materials, such as a large collection of engineering drawings and over 20 000 railway photographs from the railway industry and private individuals, provide an invaluable resource for research. As in the case of other fields within the Land Transportation area, the railway collection contains material representative of the complex system that sustained its daily operations. This entails such diverse subject areas as: the railway manufacturing and supply industry; railway operations, including mechanical and civil engineering; and the impact of railway operations on Canadian society from the nineteenth century to the present.

CPR 4065 (cat. 900064) in service in British Columbia, 1970. Photo S.J. Smaill

Newfoundland Railway Train at Avondale, Nfld., ca. 1946. CSTM

See some of the Museum's rail photo collection at: