Vision

The Museum will be a space that entertains, educates, and inspires. We will connect the story of economic and social development in the Annapolis Valley with the railway. We will provide an engaging and informative experience for adults, youth, and children.

Mission

The Museum will bring the past to life using our historic station, rolling stock, our collection of railway artifacts, and interactive exhibits. We will provide experiences tailored to every member of our audience. By preserving, displaying, and interpreting our history we will contribute to an understanding of our present.

Who We Are

In July 2017, the Middleton Railway Museum Society (MRMS) registered with the Nova Scotia Registry of Joint Stock Companies. We are a CRA registered charity.

In August 2020, the Municipality of the County of Annapolis approved our request to transfer ownership of ex-CNR steam locomotive 1274, located at the former Upper Clements Park, to our Society. In November, MRMS received a grant of $100,000 from the Nova Scotia Department of Communities to fund the transportation of the locomotive from Upper Clements Park to Middleton. On December 18, 2020, the locomotive arrived at the station. It was placed on track that Canadian National had recently upgraded and further supported the Middleton Museum with a $25,000 grant.

Our station is one of a handful of surviving Dominion Atlantic stations that are open to the public. It is one of eight sites throughout Nova Scotia that the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society promotes as key attractions for visitors. Volunteers are actively restoring the interior of the waiting room and office to recreate the atmosphere experienced on boarding a train in 1956. With assistance from the Nova Scotia Department of Communities. Culture, Tourism and Heritage, volunteers are also completing a second accessible ramp to ensure that our museum is fully open to all guests.

Our Future

Station Upgrades

Our 105-year-old Station requires restoration work on the exterior of the station and freight shed including period siding and window and door enhancements consistent with the buildings’ architecture.

Collections Management

We take very seriously the trust placed in us by the community as custodians of the Museum’s structures and artifacts. Using industry best practices and in consultation with Nova Scotia Museums Association we will catalog and preserve our collections. We already hold three nationally recognized photographic collections, and two that are currently being gifted to us by deceased Nova Scotians.

Indoor artifact display with interactive elements including videos and simulators

Artifacts will be displayed using museum best practices and displays will be rotated to best showcase our collection. Simulators, videos, sound, and information available through QR code links will be used to enhance the visitor’s experience. Our goal is to tell the stories of the railway in the Annapolis Valley using techniques that will appeal to today’s generation.

Indoor HO scale model railway layout representing the DAR and the CNR as they existed in the Annapolis Valley

The model railway will attract railway enthusiasts and modelers. Visitors will recognize landmarks from their own communities and see how railways contributed to the social and economic development of the Valley.

Outdoor Artifacts Display

Built in Montreal in 1905, our engine 1274 is the fourth oldest surviving CNR steam locomotive. In the future, we expect to add additional rolling stock to add to our interpretive opportunities. Our dedicated volunteers are completing a replacement wooden cab like the one that the engine possessed throughout its 55-year working life. More recently we have received a former CNR boxcar built in 1948 which will become a storage and interpretation centre.

Now that you know a little more about Middleton Railway Museum…

We’d love to get to know you! Please feel free to get in touch or find us on social media just to say hi.

You can follow us here or join us on Facebook.

Header Photo by Lee Hopkins