Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario, Rail transport museum in Smiths Falls, Canada

The Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario occupies the 1913 Canadian Northern Railway station in Smiths Falls, a building boarded up for fifteen years before reopening as a museum in 1985. Its collection of historic rolling stock, equipment and railway memorabilia sits on the abandoned right-of-way of the CNoR line that once ran southwest toward Napanee.

The 1913 Canadian Northern station was boarded up for fifteen years before the Smiths Falls Railway Museum Association formed in January 1983 and began collecting rolling stock and memorabilia. The building was recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada on November 18, 1983. The line beyond Smiths Falls had been embargoed in 1979, and in 1986 CN sold 58 km of track for redeployment in Western Canada; the association raised $13,000 in days trying to buy back 2 km.

Railways shaped how communities in this region grew and connected to one another during Canada's industrial expansion. Walking through the displays, you see how train travel became woven into the daily routines and identity of local people.

Plan your visit for afternoon hours when natural light helps you see the detail on locomotives and vintage cars. The outdoor layout and ground-level access make it straightforward to walk through the collection without obstacles.

The museum's site is a 1913 Canadian Northern Railway station, recognized as a National Historic Site of Canada on November 18, 1983. The station had been boarded up for fifteen years before local volunteers began raising funds and collecting rolling stock in 1983. The abandoned right-of-way southwest toward Napanee is now the Cataraqui Trail.