Railway Museum faces forced departure from Winnipeg's Union Station

A wealth of railroading relics are in jeopardy after a Winnipeg museum has been told to pull up tracks from its home in Union Station, where it has been set up for the past 30 years.

The Winnipeg Railway Museum, located on the upper platform along historic Track 1 and Track 2 of the downtown Via Rail-operated station, must close its doors to the public.

The non-profit attraction operated by volunteers from the Midwestern Railway Association Inc. and the Winnipeg Model Railway Club has been told its 110-year-old location requires significant upgrades.

"In order to turn it into a proper venue where you can host people, they've decided that we have to do some major, major renovations on it that, quite frankly, we simply can't afford," spokesperson Gordon Leathers told CBC's Up to Speed host Faith Fundal.

Leathers has no idea at this moment how much money the group would need to bring its space — where it showcases 37,500 square feet of railway history and artifacts — up to code.

"But it won't be a little, I'm afraid."

Even if it did raise the money, there is uncertainty whether the museum would be allowed to stay.

The City of Winnipeg's long-term plans call for part of Union Station to be converted into a hub for its rapid transit lines. That plan incudes Track 1 and Track 2.

So the writing has been on the wall "but we just weren't expecting so quickly," Leathers said.

There have been reports that it must pull out of the station by the end of the year but Leathers said the museum has not been given a deadline.

"At the moment, we haven't been told to vacate the premises," he said.

Nonetheless, that departure will happen so he and the group are preparing to face the monumental task of finding somewhere else to relocate the museum's massive collection.

In addition to several locomotives, such as the Countess of Dufferin — the first steam locomotive on the Prairies — the museum also has a wooden boxcar, caboose, a sleeper car that served the second wave of immigrants to the west, as well as a refrigerator car and other artifacts.

Its displays tell the history of CN, CP, City of Winnipeg rail, the construction of the Hudson Bay Railway, the struggle of women entering the railroad industry and how steam gave way to diesel power.

There is also a large model railroad in HO scale and a gift shop.

As well, the museum is home to Streetcar 356, believed to be the last remaining wooden streetcar built and used in Winnipeg. Built in 1909 and one of the last streetcars to be retired in 1955, No. 356 has been under renovation for years with plans to put it on display for the public.

"We are hoping — and this is really what we'd like to happen — if we can raise the capital to put it into a proper building and to maintain our presence in the downtown, we would be ecstatic," Leathers said.

Asked if the museum's volunteers have heard from Via Rail, or any other organization, regarding any potential help, Leathers said not yet.

"We're still at the very start of this so we do have to put out our feelers and see what we can do and what people can do to help."

CBC News has reached out to Via Rail for an interview request but has not yet heard back.

The museum will be open to visitors until Dec. 31, after which its future goes off track.