St. Thomas is called the "Railway Capital of Canada". 26 railroads have passed through St. Thomas with the earliest dating back to 1856.The Elgin County Railway Museum was started in 1988 to preserve the heritage of this area. The museum is located inside former Michigan Central Railroad Locomotive Shops that were built in 1913. The museum owns several pieces of rolling stock and locomotives including Canadian National hudson #5700.
The museum houses most of its collection in the huge Michigan Central shops. An interesting part of this shop is the operating transfer out back. The former Michigan Central shops are also home to Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society. They run former Essex Terminal Railway #9. This 0-6-0 was restored in 1997 and runs occasional for the museum. Most of these excursions are just in the yard area, but on special trips the engine runs to various festivals in the area. Also being stored here at the time of my visit was ex Reading t-1 #2100. The engine was bought from a group in the Untied States, brought up to Canada converted to burn oil and given this "interesting" paint job.
