Trip Report: The Bytown Railway Society, Ottawa

Click on each image for a closer look!
.
The Bytown Railway Society is Ottawa’s equivalent of the TRHA. Founded in 1969, their aim is to promote interest in railway history. Among the society’s long list of publications are their journal, “Branchline”, as well as the definitive guide to railways in Canada, the annual “Canadian Trackside Guide”. They also maintain and restore a varied collection of rolling stock.

The Bytown Railway Society stores their collection at the Science and Technology Museum site and much of it is visible from the parking lot. This past summer, the society operated a train for visitors on Wednesdays and Sundays. During a visit on 29 August, their train’s consist was a vintage CP coach, a CP caboose from 1913 and No. 3, a 1925 Lima 2-truck Shay locomotive built for use on logging railways. The train takes visitors on a 10-minute ride along a track within the museum site.
.
Pictured above is the train for visitors featuring the vintage coach, caboose and the Shay locomotive. The photographs below show some of the Society’s collection: Pictured are CP 402818, a 1907 spreader for snow clearing (it has been restored and is once again used in winter); their Central Vermont steam-crane and No. 10, a 50-ton diesel used to move equipment around the site.
More information about the society can be found by clicking here.
.
Posting and pictures by Thomas Blampied
.