Winnipeg Railway Museum makes deal to secure future at Union Station — for now
CBC News | Posted: November 10, 2022 12:40 AM | Last Updated: November 10, 2022
Museum was forced to close its doors to public almost a year ago, with significant renovations needed
It turns out it's not the end of the line for the Winnipeg Railway Museum after all — but it may be some time before visitors can peruse its railroading relics again.
After learning it would have to close its doors at Union Station at the end of 2021 because the space needed significant renovations, the museum says it has now struck a deal that will secure the next part of its future.
"I guess relief is a great way to put it," spokesperson Gordon Leathers said of the 25-year lease the non-profit museum recently signed with Via Rail, which runs the Main Street station that has housed the museum for decades.
"That means that we're now stable and we can say to people that we'll be around for a little while yet."
Leathers said the update means the museum can now work on getting itself back in business, starting with applying for grants, "because nobody wants to give you money if they figure you're not going to be there in a couple of years," he told CBC's Up to Speed host Faith Fundal on Tuesday.
Volunteers from the Midwestern Railway Association Inc. and the Winnipeg Model Railway Club run the museum, which is located on the upper platform along historic Track 1 and Track 2 of the station.
A spokesperson for Via Rail confirmed the 25-year lease agreement, "pending certain conditions which remain confidential."
In an email on Wednesday, the spokesperson said the museum plays an important role in preserving Manitoba's rail history and Via is happy to have reached an agreement that keeps it at Union Station.
Leathers said the hope is for the museum to open its doors again in November 2024.
But there's still plenty of work to do before then, including replacing walls, remaking structures, reworking entrances and exits, and setting up a sprinkler system.
As for the price tag, Leathers said the museum hopes to raise somewhere in the neighbourhood of $2 million.
Once that's all done, the museum will work to present itself as "an attraction that's worth having and worth keeping" for Winnipeg, he said.
"One of the problems with amateur museums in the past has been that you make a very nice collection of things that you point at, but you don't really talk about what the significance of it is," he said.
"So this is what we're trying to do, is to rebuild the place and make a proper interpretive plan so that we can present our artifacts in a way that is really a lot more interesting."
Historic streetcar among museum's artifacts
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 and 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 the CN and CP rail lines, as well as City of Winnipeg rail. They also detail 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 scale model railroad and a gift shop.
As well, the museum is home to Streetcar 356, believed to be the last remaining wooden streetcar 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.
While the immediate repairs to the museum space are front of mind, Leathers said volunteers are also thinking about the more distant future.
That includes the implications of the Winnipeg Transit master plan, which details an agreement that will allow the city to make use of the tracks that currently house the railway museum.
That means the museum will also have to start developing relationships with other potential homes in Winnipeg, Leathers said, in case the day comes that Winnipeg Transit pushes it out of Union Station.