Museum Review: Halton County Radial Railway

Canadian Light Rail Vehicle (CLRV) 1979-2019

Earlier this summer, I had the pleasure of going with my family to visit the Halton County Radial Railway. This was an opportunity for me because I enjoy visiting local museums. All photos in this post are courtesy of me.

This seems like a fairly small museum, but it is dense. It has two re-located stations from various radial lines (lines than ran from Toronto to other cities such as Guelph). Indeed, this station uses some of the same grade/location of the spur line that ran from Toronto to Guelph via Georgetown and Acton. The museum itself is found on Guelph Line, a few minutes south of Highway 7, just before you reach Rockwood. It has a fully electrified railway loop that runs from the main area though a small wooded area to a secondary location a few minutes away. You are able to disembark there, purchase ice cream, and hike on some trails before catching a later trolley back to the main area. There is also an area with picnic benches and several play structures for children, as seen in the photos below. There are several structures where vehicles are refit and preserved- since the museum has mostly TTC vehicles they use the TTC gauge which is different than normal gauge for railways- (A deliberate choice, originally). As such, they need to regauge other vehicles to fit their infrastructure. There is also a rather large storage facility.barn with many other vehicles tightly packed, and lots of displays and information.

Vehicles are lovingly preserved, and in the ones that you can enter, they have advertising that will bring back incredible memories to those who used those vehicles when in service. You are able to enter vehicles from a number of different eras, including the Chicago transit system car shown below. Unfortunately, this is not accessible to those in wheelchairs or other mobility devices as you need too climb sets of stairs to get in. ¹

This is a volunteer-run museum, and as such the entry is not inexpensive- it doesn’t take many tickets to run the price up over $100 (adults are $23, seniors $20, children much less). I absolutely believe that you get your money’s worth, between being able to ride on functional vehicles, and the sheer number of other vehicles in the main barn. From having spoken to the volunteers, they are knowledgeable and passionate and frankly that should be support. If you like trains, or you have to find a way to entertain children for a few hours, I very much encourage you to drive up Guelph Line to find this museum and stop in.

A President’s Conference Committee streetcar (1938-1995)

Duncan enjoying the children’s playground near the picnic area

The selection of books available in the ticket office.

a Hawker Siddeley H Series subway car. (1965-2012)

SMALL PETER WITT – TTC ‘P’ CLASS – 2786

former Streetcar in storage, awaiting restoration

A railway truck maintenance vehicle, with displays

A Canadian Pacific Caboose.

An American railcar for consideration- this was from Chicago Transit IIRC.

1. I was particularly struck by late 1990s/early 2000s advertising in the TTC vehicles- both the posters advertising Blue Jays tickets, and the ads decrying the Mike Harris era cuts to public education funding. The more things change, the more things stay the same.