A Visit To ExpoRail

A Small 2-4-0 Steam engine sits on a section of bridge at the entrance to the Exporail site

The Inside Collection Part 1...by Don Janes

     As you have read, this past week George and I did a presentation at the OVAR monthly dinner in Ottawa.  On our way home we made a side trip to Montreal to visit the Exporail Railroad Museum in Saint Constant, QC.  This was my third visit to Exporail, the last time being in 2006.  I was amazed at how it had expanded.  The main "Great Hall" was new and what a excellent venue it was to display and preserve a bulk of the beautifully restored pieces of railroad equipment.  It was bright and spacious with lots of plaques giving a brief history of each item on display.  The equipment ranged from small street cars, vintage passenger equipment and cabooses and old steam engines to a large modern CPR MLW locomotive, all in beautiful condition.  

     The original metal building that I remembered was still there and it was also full of beautifully preserved equipment also although they were squeezed in much tighter and it was quite dark so photo opportunities were very limited.  There was also a lot of other equipment stored outside in various states of repair.  I will cover the outside displays in another post.

   So, lets take a tour of the "Great Hall"

As you enter the pavilion, one of the first items you will see is this beautifully restored British steam engine, the "Dominion of Canada".The stair to the right of the engine take you to a pit where you can see the underside of it and adjacent CPR  Royal Hudson 2850

A view from the Balcony of these two beautiful steam locomotives

This large CNR 2-10-2 was one of a small group of engines that spent most of their career in transfer and helper service between Mimico and Danforth yards in the Toronto area

One of my favourite diesels were CNR's FPA4's, a passenger locomotive that lasted into the VIA era.  I had quite a few trips running these locomotives

Were are in the engine room of CNR 9400, Canada's first modern diesel freight locomotive.  It shows what these beasts looked like inside.  It featured a  recording of the MLW 244 series engine used in these locomotives. It went through the  start-up equence and as it was rev'd up.  A very good idea to show just how they sounded.

This is a very old 36' CNR stock car that has been nicely restored.  There is a full size model of a cow in the car which gives you a perspective of just how small these cars were back in the day

CNR wooden caboose 78214 was nicely restored and was open to look through.  It was interesting to see how railroaders lived in these cars while at their away from home terminal

CN RS-18 3684 and CPR D-10 492 pose at the south end of the building.  Quite a contrast in motive power.