Northern Ontario Railroad Museum

Last updated
Northern Ontario Railroad Museum
and Heritage Centre
Northern-Ontario-Railroad-Museum-Heritage-Centre-logo.png
Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre.jpg
Northern Ontario Railroad Museum
Established31 August 1993;32 years ago (1993-08-31)
Location26 Bloor Street
Capreol, Ontario
P0M 1H0
Coordinates 46°42′33″N80°55′27″W / 46.7092°N 80.9242°W / 46.7092; -80.9242
Visitorsapprox. 13,000 per year
PresidentCody Cacciotti
Website www.normhc.ca

The Northern Ontario Railroad Museum and Heritage Centre (NORMHC) is a rail and local history museum located in the community of Capreol in Greater Sudbury, Ontario, Canada.

Contents

History

In 1967, the Town of Capreol was given steam locomotive CN 6077 by the Canadian National Railway as a monument to the towns history. [1] The locomotive was placed as a static display on a parcel of land next to Bloor Street. [1] The park was named Prescott Park for then-mayor of Capreol Harold Prescott, who was a central figure in having the locomotive donated to the town. [1] Caboose No. 77526 was added to the park in 1969. [1]

The Capreol Heritage Committee was founded in 1982, and the following year Rules Instruction Car No. 15019 was added to Prescott Park. [2] In the 1980s Eileen Thompson, who served on the museum's board for many years, set up history displays in the parks caboose during July and August. [3] [4]

In 1993, the museum was incorporated as a non-profit organization. [3] The 1916 Superintendents House, located adjacent to Prescott Park, was purchased by the town in 1997 and became the main building of the museum in 1998. [2] It was designated as a heritage site in 2002. [5]

Prescott Park was expanded in 2006, with Inco locomotives 101 and 116, caboose 77562, and hot metal car No. 5 added to the park the following year. [6] The Garden of Life was installed in association with the Trillium Gift of Life Network in 2010. [7] [8]

In 2012, the former Capreol fire hall was acquired by the museum. [9] The building, constructed in 1929, became the museums Heritage Centre, library, and archives. Temiskaming and Northern Ontario No. 219 was added to Prescott Park in 2014, and cosmetically restored in 2018. [10] [11]

Superintendents House

The main museum building is housed inside the former Canadian Northern Railway Superintendents house, constructed in 1916. [5] The house served as the residence of the superintendent of rail operations in Capreol until the 1950s, and was a private residence until it was acquired by the Town of Capreol in 1997. [2] [5]

The house was designated as a heritage site under the Ontario Heritage Act in 2002. [5] The house includes architectural elements such as eyebrow-shaped roof arches, original oak flooring, baseboards, french doors and window frames. [5]

Heritage Centre

NORMHC Heritage Centre NORMHC Heritage Centre.jpg
NORMHC Heritage Centre

The museums Heritage Centre is located in the former Capreol Fire Hall building, constructed in 1929. [9] In addition to being an active fire hall until 2010, the building also served as the Town of Capreol police station, jail, and council chambers. [12] The Heritage Centre houses the Dale A. Wilson Reference Library, the Doug Mohns Heritage Room, and a fire hall display including a 1929 Gotfredson-Bickle firetruck owned by the Capreol Firefighters Club, a 1916 horse-drawn hose cart, and the cab of a 1986 Ford C-Series Superior firetruck. [13] [14]

Sudbury Railway Modellers Club

In 2017, the museum announced the opening of a 1,000 square feet (93 m2) HO scale layout, completed in association with the Sudbury Railway Modellers Club. [15] The layout has 600 feet (180 m) of track and is one of the largest layouts in Northern Ontario. [15]

Prescott Park

Prescott Park contains the museums outdoor exhibits, locomotives, and rolling stock.

Locomotives

ImageRailwayBuilderClassConfigurationNumberNotesRef.
CN 6077.JPG Canadian National Railway Montreal Locomotive Works U-1-f 4-8-2 No. 6077 Built in 1944 with a serial number of 72774. One of three preserved examples of this type. [16]
TNO219.jpg Temiskaming and Northern Ontario Railway Montreal Locomotive Works Class 115 4-6-0 No. 219 (119)Built in 1907. Owned by Normetal Mining Corporation from 1938 until 1975. [17]
INCOelectric.JPG Inco Railway Westinghouse Electric/National Steel Car 50 Ton Steeplecab No. 101 (E12)Built in 1919 for the Hydro-Electric Power Commission with a serial number of LE27. Retired in 1998. [18]
INCO electric locomotive 116 (2016-Aug-22).jpg Inco Railway General Electric 100 Ton Steeplecab No. 116Built in 1948 with the serial number 29128. Rebuilt in 2000, retired in 2001. [19]

Rolling stock

ImageRailwayBuilderTypeNumberNotesRef.
Grand Trunk Railway Caboose No. 77562Built as a boxcar in 1897. [20]
Canadian National Railway Hawker Siddeley Canada Caboose No. 79231Built in 1967. Owned by INCO Railway from 1991 to 1998. [21]
Norm june 2009 Ben Groves144.JPG Intercolonial Railway Pullman Company Sleeping car No. 15019 StadaconaBuilt in 1912 as a sleeping car, later reconfigured as a rules instruction car. Displayed as a school car. [22]
Canadian National Railway National Steel Car Baggage car No. 60049Built in 1953. Later used as a warehouse car. [21]
Canadian National Railway Eastern Car Company Wedge plow No. 55208Built in 1924. Single track wedge plow with wings. [21]
CN 50392, 30-ton Welland rail crane, NORMHC, 2016-Aug-22.jpg Canadian National Railway Browning-Wellman Rail crane No. 50392Built in 1957. [23]
Inco hot metal bottle car, NORMHC, 2016-Aug-22.jpg Inco Railway Bottle car No. 5 [21]
Inco Railway Slag pot carFormerly on display at the Big Nickel. [21]

See also

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Capreol Public Library (1993). Capreol: The First 75 years. Journal Printing.
  2. 1 2 3 "Our History". normhc.com. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  3. 1 2 Gilhula, Vicki (2023-01-11). "Helpers: The history of Capreol lives in Eileen Thompson's head". Sudbury.com.
  4. ↑ Jensen, Mia (2022-12-09). "Capreol railroad museum honours member for 40 years of service". The Sudbury Star .
  5. 1 2 3 4 5 "26 Bloor Street". Ontario Heritage Trust. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  6. ↑ Sauve, Deborah (2006-06-29). "Working on the railroad in Capreol". The Sudbury Star . pp. A5.
  7. ↑ Punch, Rachel (2010). "Garden raises awarness about organ donation". The Sudbury Star .
  8. ↑ "Capreol chugging along with beautification project". Sudbury.com. 11 September 2013.
  9. 1 2 "Capreol Museum Acquires Historic Fire Hall". The Sudbury Star . 2012-09-24. Archived from the original on 2013-10-20. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  10. ↑ "Century-old Cochrane steam locomotive makes Capreol home". CBC. 2014-04-01. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  11. ↑ Leeson, Ben (2018-06-17). "Locomotive unveiled in Capreol". The Sudbury Star . Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  12. ↑ "Capreol Fire Hall". Greater Sudbury . 2017-09-06. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  13. ↑ "How Ol' Betsy served Capreol for decades". CBC. 2019-07-31. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  14. ↑ "Capreol Railway Shrine Adds Fire Truck". The Sudbury Star. 17 November 2012.
  15. 1 2 "All aboard Northern Ontario's largest model railroad". Sudbury.com. 20 May 2017.
  16. ↑ "CN 6077". rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  17. ↑ Llanso, Steve. "4-6-0 Steam Locomotives in Canada, Temiskaming & Northern Ontario". www.steamlocomotive.com. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  18. ↑ "INCO Ldt. GE 50T #101". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  19. ↑ "INCO Ldt. GE 100T #116". www.trainweb.org. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  20. ↑ "77562". rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  21. 1 2 3 4 5 Roberts, Earl; Stremes, David (eds.). "Canadian Trackside Guide 2024 Part 3: Preserved Railway and Traction Equipment" (PDF). Canadian Trackside Guide. The Bytown Railway Society, Inc.: 3–70.
  22. ↑ "CN 15019 Rule Instruction Car". canadianfreightcargallery.ca. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
  23. ↑ "CN 50392". rrpicturearchives.net. Retrieved 2025-09-20.
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