Field Trip Report: Memory Junction Museum, Brighton, Ontario

Click on each picture for a closer look!
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In 1996, when Ralph and Eugenia Bangay discovered that the Brighton Grand Trunk station (built in 1857) was up for sale, they decided to buy it and preserve the structure for future generations. The resulting 3 acre site was opened as the Memory Junction Museum and functions as both a museum and a gathering spot for railway enthusiasts. The museum is a treasure trove of both railway and non-railway artefacts. The collection also features three cabooses, a box car, a flat car, a work car and GTR 670 (CNR 2534), a N-4-a steam locomotive.
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The site offers a clear view of CN’s Kingston Subdivision and also CP’s Belleville Subdivision. To sit at the station and watch the action on both busy main lines is a wonderful way for a railfan to pass the time.
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The photographs show one of the museum’s two CP Angus cabooses, the interior of their 1929 CN caboose and their display train. The station’s waiting room houses some of the large collection of artefacts, while their velocipede sits in one of the outbuildings. While visiting Memory Junction, an Ottawa-bound VIA train sped by the station building.
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More information can be found on their website by clicking here.
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Posting and pictures by Thomas Blampied
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