Trains Deluxe

The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel
in Cranbrook, British Columbia,
Welcomes You!

• View Photo-Documentation of the Construction Projects and the Move to the New site

Significance of the Museum and its Collections

The Museum's collection of deluxe railway passenger cars, with many belonging to "sets' of famous name-trains ("deluxe hotels-on-wheels"), is recognized as one of the great railway heritage collections in North America. In their niche, the collections are considered without equal in the world.

Robert Turner, Curator Emeritus of the Royal British Columbia Museum, completed a 112-page study in 1992 on the Historical Significance of the train collections at Cranbrook, showing their contribution to the international story of railway car design in various eras of railway travel.

• 1992 Study on the HISTORICAL SIGNIFICANCE of the trains at Cranbrook
  • Pages 1-40 (pdf file 5.5 MB)
  • Pages 41-81 (pdf file 5 MB)
  • Pages 82-114 (pdf file 3.5 MB)

In 2007, Mr Turner provided a 38-page up-date to the 1992 report, bringining into focus the growing international renown of the Museum and the urgent need for proper capital facilities to enclose this important collection to provide long-term efficient preservation of of the historic railcars particularly the fragile inlaid paneled interiors.

• 2007 Up-date to the 1992 study, and recommendations for a NATIONAL COLLECTION AT RISK. (pdf file, 5 MB)
• Application to the National Historic Sites and Monuments Board of Canada for the Designation of the 1929 Railcars of the Canadian Pacific Railway’s Trans-Canada Limited as a National Historic Site.  (pdf file, 2 MB)

Other Documents Relating to the Museum and Its Development

• Canadian Pacific's Trans-Canada Limited Booklet (1919-1930) (pdf file, 3 MB)
• CPR Superintendent's House Restoration (pdf file, 2.5 MB)
• Former Museum Site (Pre 1974 – 2002) (pdf file, .5 MB)
• Museum Business Plan (1991) (pdf file, 7 MB)
• Museum Conceptual Development Plan (1990) (link to document in sections)
• Museum Development Zone Staging (Pre 1974 – 2002) (pdf file, .5 MB)
• Museum Railcar Storage Yard (1997 - 2001) (link)
• Cranbrook Station Report (Nov 2009) (pdf file, 5.3 MB)
• Cranbrook Cultural Plan for the Arts and Heritage (February 2010) (link)

Mandate and Collection Policy

Development and Philosophy of this Railway Museum between the years 1976 to date
(adapted from an article in Locomotive & Railway Preservation, Summer 1993, written by and for the museum.)

Collections Summary

• Soo-Spokane Train De Luxe (1907)
• Trans-Canada Limited (1929)
• Chinook (1936)
• Business and Interpretive Cars
• Structures
• Royal Alexandra Hall (A Millennium Project) - The centrepiece of the new site and facilities from 2003.
  • Project Sponsors
  • Visual Progress (on-line)

Promotional Video (downloadable): Roll Back Time! (4:28 mins; the appropriate player must be installed on your system!)

• QuickTime format: rollback.mov 2.9 MB
• RealTime format: rollback.rm 6.7 MB

Site and Tour Maps (downloadable in pdf -Acrobat- format)

• Museum Site Map -1.5 MB): (the complete 1.2 kilometre-long Railway Museum Development Heritage Zone of the City of Cranbrook)
• Detailed Museum Facilities and Railcars Tour Map - 2.8 MB (the complete .4 kilomtre-long floor plan of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel)

Contact the Museum

How to Find Us

CMRT Information

The museum is located on Hwy 3/95 and Baker Street (57 Van Horne Street South) in downtown Cranbrook. There are marked entrances & exits for the parking lots along the front of the Museum, with areas reserved for buses, small cars and RV's.

Unless otherwise noted, photographs and images are from the Cranbrook Historical Archives at the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel.

©Cranbrook Archives, Museum and Landmark Foundation, 2010.

Last update: April 3, 2010.

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