Middleton Railway Museum

10/20/2026

Newtrailsoutthere posted this beautiful overhead of the Hortonville bridge along with some history. Way back in 1869 it would have been a broad gauge line, 5’6” wide as opposed to the standard gauge (4’8 1/2”) installed on W&AR lines circa 1881 through to modern times virtually everywhere.

Take a trip through time....
This Train Bridge seen below, was built in 1912. It now sits abandoned.

It replaced the original Train Bridge, which was built in 1869 for the Windsor and Annapolis Railway, and was described as a covered railway bridge. (You can still see remnants of the piers of that bridge, at low tide.)

Middleton Railway Museum
Kings Historical Society

10/20/2026

Bill received this information from Danny McCracken who (re)discovered it while searching through his “stuff”.

Danny had this comment re the written details of this snowy crash of a Dominion Atlantic Railway train and a backing CNR locomotive in Feb 1950:

“Seems strange that CN 6175 suffered tender damage if it was backing to the station. Would have thought all damage would have been on the front as the DAR was over taking the backing up engine.” Hmmm

Dan Conlin provided a photo from the Chronicle Herald showing the crash in the comments below which has been added to the images here.

To become a member, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/become-a-member/
To become a museum volunteer, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/volunteer/
To make a donation to the museum, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/make-a-donation/

10/19/2026

At the train show this Saturday

Our thanks to MRM’s Jeff and Fred for attending the Truro Model Railroaders Association Train show on Saturday with our travelling diorama, brochures, and their expertise.

Check out the train show on this video. WOW! Our display had a brief view and Jeff got caught on the camera, anyone spot Fred? In any case, lots of amazing stuff to see here: https://youtu.be/fQTGxog90zU?si=GKGuQ6DyoGdpYxLM

To become a member, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/become-a-member/
To become a museum volunteer, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/volunteer/
To make a donation to the museum, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/make-a-donation/

Photo by Jeff Keddy

10/18/2026

Gathering railway history

These screenshots from a February 2025 post not only show an interesting view of a CN locomotive at the Middleton station (according to the comments below it would have arrived from Bridgewater).

Seems that this item got bought up by another collector which is too bad. But lots of Dominion Atlantic Railway and MRM fans are always on the lookout for small bits of evidence like this that add to the story of the lines, Middleton, and the station itself.

One never knows when or where something may turn up and hats off to all those eyes on the lookout.

To become a member, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/become-a-member/
To become a museum volunteer, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/volunteer/
To make a donation to the museum, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/make-a-donation/

10/17/2026

THE TRURO MODEL RAILROADERS ASSOCIATION TRAIN SHOW IS HAPPENING TODAY

MRM Directors Fred Huntley and Jeff Keddy will be hosting a table and welcoming potential visitors to our Museum in Middleton. Drop in to see them in Truro and check out all the other tables at the show.

Thanks Fred and Jeff for representing the station!

10/17/2026

Long spout oil can

Out in the tool shed there are all sorts of older railway maintenance items, including these oil cans. Lots of weights of oil were/are needed on rail cars and locomotives to keep the moving parts from seizing, grinding, and sparking etc.

The impressive long spout oil can made it easier to reach components requiring oil, Including, perhaps, the journal boxes attached to the wheel axles. (Knowledgeable railroaders was this type of can used for this task?).

This summer MRM volunteer David Killam explained how the spring-loaded journal box door on our CNR 575520 could be flipped opened, checked, and oil added to keep this wheel’s axles operating correctly and preventing a “hot box” situation.

To become a member, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/become-a-member/
To become a museum volunteer, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/volunteer/
To make a donation to the museum, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/make-a-donation/

10/16/2026

Riding the Dominion Atlantic Railway

Yes, you can! Paul Charland has created several historically accurate train simulator versions for our DAR lines (and I mean really accurate cars, locomotives, scenery, and buildings) and he is currently backdating to 1956 to match our station’s set date. This takes a ton of work and research but once done we hope to have it available to visitors at the MRM. Until then, you can drive your train along our 1970s lines at home.

An explanatory post written by Steve Meredith on the DAR page:
“There has been quite a few comments regarding the screen shots from Paul Charland's D.A.R. route created for the OpenRails simulator. Paul is a charter member of the DARDPI (19 years and counting) and his contributions and time spent through the years especially concerning the simulator route has been greatly appreciated. The reason for so many posts lately is Paul is in the process of taking the original 1973 route he created and back dating it to 1956, as well as finishing the Truro sub. Hopefully this answers many of the repeated questions like what is this train simulator called (OpenRails.org) and especially comments that it is "fake" or "AI". It's totally in line with our name "DPI" (digital preservation initiative). Enjoy the recreated scenes and think about installing it yourself to play trains on the D.A.R. ! It's all free.”

There’s a great intro video on the OpenRails link under Getting Started. Note the download is Windows-based. Mac users will need an app that allows Windows games to be installed and played on a Mac (I have not found a free one- anyone?).

Personally I’m not much of a gamer but the history embedded into Paul’s DAR routes might just make me into one.

To become a member, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/become-a-member/
To become a museum volunteer, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/volunteer/
To make a donation to the museum, go here: https://middletonrailwaymuseum.ca/make-a-donation/