It’s mid-July and the visitor season is speeding along, quite literally. In June, just before Father’s Day weekend, our primary locomotive, CN 9000, had a cylinder failure. This has placed 9000 out of service until repairs are completed. Kudos to Terry Wolfe for spearheading the repairs and finding parts for a 76-year-old locomotive!

In the meantime, we are giving our visitors the clickety-clack experience of riding the speeder with the attached trailer. Using the speeder trailer has doubled out capacity at busy times, however it has also doubled the number of staff members required for operations.

Our fabulous summer staff for 2024 are (Left to Right) Gideon, Jasmine, Ella, and Cam. Be sure to stop by the station and say hello. We are grateful for the wage subsidy provided by the Canada Summer Jobs program, and for the support of our Member of Parliament, Ziad Aboultaif.

Other Museum happenings:

Site Activities:

  • Photo groups
  • Visitors from near and far
  • Wedding photos
  • Kid’s birthday parties
  • Father’s Day brunch hosted in AGAWA
  • Kudos to Barry Collis, John Spooner, and Phil Harris for their ongoing site maintenance work.

NAR business car Dunvegan

  • Exterior restoration mostly complete, just waiting on lettering.
  • Electrical wiring installed, and new lights and ceiling fans installed
  • Kitchen restored and completed with the addition of a stove from the sadly defunct Vegreville Museum
  • Interior laminate siding is being installed by Charles Ormsbee

Canadian Northern Combine 7379

  • Windows rehabilitated over the winter
  • Exterior scrape and paint by Mike Nurse

CN Baggage Car 8730
A major new display on CN has been installed by Hans Huizinga. Many thanks to the Kramer family for funding the exhibit in honour of long time Museum supporter Don Kramer. If anyone can create a sound recording for the Telegram payphone, it would nicely complete the exhibit.

CN 7944
Scraping / grinding started to prep for painting. Project is being taken on by Jack van den Berg, a longtime volunteer who is also responsible for the lovely station garden

CN 6514 and CN 6614
Our 1957 Passenger F units have gone to CN Walker Yards for radiator replacement on 6514 and wheel repairs on 6614. The work is being done by CN. The units will be exhibited by CN at their Edmonton family day in August.

Grading between Track 6 and Track 12 has started, with plans to install 1 to 2 new tracks and adjust alignment of tracks 6 and 12.

Donations of railway artifacts keep arriving. However, books and magazines are not being solicited. Hans Huizinga and Mike Nurse are kept busy archiving new donations.

Books that do not fit the collection are being sold through local book shops. Thanks to Ken Jones for taking this on and bringing in some additional revenue.

If anyone has little wooden trains (aka Thomas the Tank Engine sets) that they would like to donate, it would be greatly appreciated. The ones from our play table in the station keep finding new homes away from the Museum.

Finally, is anyone driving to Vancouver this summer? There is a donation of a NAR painting that could be picked up, as well as platform trap doors for Dunvegan.

Members are always welcome at the site. Regular volunteer days are Wednesday and Saturday, and speeder operators are appreciated, especially on Sundays. The staff can provide a script for their speeder rides, or you can create your own! A huge thanks to all our members and volunteers for their work at the site, as well as behind the scenes. While I have not named all the volunteers, your efforts keep the Museum on track and moving forward.

If you have any questions, comments, or want to get further involved, please contact me.

Thanks, Stephen

Stephen Yakimets
President and Publicity Director
Alberta Railway Museum,
Museum address:24215 – 34 St. NW
Edmonton, AB    T5Y 6B4
Museum Phone: 780 472 6229
Stephen Yakimets Direct Line: 780 441 5917