Middleton Railway Museum
61 School Street B0S 1P0 Middleton, NS, Canada

Middleton Train Station, circa 1927

Middleton Railway Museum News Release November 5, 2020, on behalf of the Board of Directors For the many inquiries received through our Facebook group and web site, we wish to update all our museum fans (The DARmy) on the happenings past and present at the museum.... Starting in 2017, the museum started the paperwork process of acquiring the building and property from the Province of Nova Scotia to become a bona-fide museum. This required the facility to be closed while collections were re-organized, displays created and interior space reconfigured with our limited resources. In the process of compliance for the transfer process there was also remediation and consultation for the lands and building that took place throughout 2018 and 2019. On the cusp of reopening in 2020 we were then faced with delays in the transfer of property and COVID19 combined. With a lack of time and resources to prepare and comply with COVID19 requirements in the facility, we elected to keep the doors closed for yet another year. Thankfully this year though we were blessed and were able to use the available time to acquire the legacy CNR 1521 steam engine for static display at the station to bring interest and authenticity to the museum. The once ubiquitous and forever venerable "10 wheeler" will be arriving soon and be placed on rails so generously installed by Canadian National Railways. The "10 wheeler" plied both the Dominion Atlantic and Halifax and South Western Railways that the Middleton Railway station served and will stand as an emotional and educational display for generations who remember and for generations that never knew the days when rails were king in our province. We're looking forward to greeting everyone back in 2021 and will keep our loyal following updated especially about the steam engine move in the months to come. The Board of Directors

So many inquiries as to when the steam engine will arrive! A lot of excitement from the general public and museum supporters! To our followers and fans, we will advise everyone when the engine is going to arrive but can't answer every message and post asking when. Sorry! For now consider it TBA (to be announced). Thanks for your support!!

I just found this on YouTube!https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4zF22lea-4Q

The Ole Semaphore system is back on the Station in Middleton.....and it’s a beauty.....

A view of the Sheffield Mills railway station circa 1950’s.

Looking West, Middleton Station, July 16, 1989

CN Preserving Historic Piece of Canada’s Railway 115-year-old Engine to be Displayed in Middleton, NS MIDDLETON, NS - Dianne Hankinson LeGard, Chair of the Mid...dleton Railway Museum Society, is proud to announce that CN is assisting in the restoration and display of a vintage locomotive in recognition of the rich, century-old, heritage of the railway in the Town of Middleton. Completed by the Locomotive and Machine Company of Montreal in 1905, the 61.1-foot-long engine weighs 274,500 pounds and could carry 10 tons of coal and 5,000 gallons of water. It is quite unusual as it is equipped with a Belpaire firebox, a design usually associated with the Pennsylvania Railroad in the U.S.A. To my knowledge there is no other similarly equipped steam locomotive in Canada, said Bill Linley, chair of the Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society. CN has offered its services and materials to create new infrastructure capable of supporting the 75-ton locomotive and tender in front of the historic railway station. Construction has already begun. Middleton’s railway history dates back to the 1870s when Nictaux and Atlantic Rail commissioned the line which was later renamed Nova Scotia Central. The line would service the nearby iron mines at Torbrook and the growing agricultural industries of the province for over a century. We view the lines and the station as core to the development of our primary industries and early passenger traffic in central Nova Scotia, said LeGard. CN is extremely pleased to support the effort to bring this rare piece of Canadian railway history back to Middleton, a founding line in our now tri-coastal network which provides essential transportation service to the economy, our customers and to the communities we serve, said Robert Pace, chair of the board of CN. This is the type and size of locomotive that would have run through Middleton to the great Canadian North and to the Pacific Coast the engine was engineered to be a work-horse in the second wave of the industrial revolution. After being sold for preservation, the engine was later acquired by a private owner in Michigan in 1969 and eventually made its way back to Nova Scotia. After being displayed at Upper Clements Park to the delight of thousands of railway enthusiasts, the locomotive will now be proudly displayed in Middleton, NS. We can trace our Province’s integral role in today’s international supply chain back to the innovations and infrastructure put in place over a century ago in Middleton, proclaimed the Honourable Stephen McNeil, Premier of Nova Scotia. CNR 1521 will stand as a reminder of our capacity to innovate and compete in what is becoming a more virtual and global marketplace every day. It is important to reflect on Nova Scotia’s long history as a central figure in the trade and transport of our nation’s natural resources and products, a legacy that continues to this day. The locomotive was donated to the Middleton Railway Museum by the Municipality of the County of Annapolis when some assets of the theme park became surplus. "Municipal councillors voted unanimously to give the train to the museum in Middleton," said Lawrence Powell, the county's information officer. "The feeling was that this iconic engine should remain in the area as an attraction and as a testament to the transportation industry that helped make the Annapolis Valley a thriving and vibrant place." See more

Thanks for all the great videos of the locomotive and your recollections John. Lovin' it.

John MacDonald tells a few stories about trains. About the mystery and romance. About why it's important to get this train from Upper Clements to its new home i...n Middleton at the Middleton Railway Museum. The locomotive and tender were donated by the County of Annapolis. Things are happening. Stay tuned in the next few days. See more

Kingsport Depot, Dominion Atlantic Railway, successor of the Cornwallis Valley Railway formed in 1887 by Canning merchants, bought by the Annapolis Railway, 1892, by the DAR in 1894; active until 1962 and tracks removed 1963. (FHS; date of photo unknown.)