The Halton County Radial Railway is a working

museum A museum ( ; plural museums or, rarely, musea) is a building or institution that cares for and displays a collection of artifacts and other objects of artistic, cultural, historical, or scientific importance. Many public museums make th ...

of electric

streetcar A tram (called a streetcar or trolley in North America) is a rail vehicle that travels on tramway tracks on public urban streets; some include segments on segregated right-of-way. The tramlines or networks operated as public transport a ...

s, other

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a p ...

vehicles,

bus A bus (contracted from omnibus, with variants multibus, motorbus, autobus, etc.) is a road vehicle that carries significantly more passengers than an average car or van. It is most commonly used in public transport, but is also in use for cha ...

es and

trolleybus A trolleybus (also known as trolley bus, trolley coach, trackless trolley, trackless tramin the 1910s and 1920sJoyce, J.; King, J. S.; and Newman, A. G. (1986). ''British Trolleybus Systems'', pp. 9, 12. London: Ian Allan Publishing. .or trol ...

es. It is operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association (OERHA). It is focused primarily on the history of the

Toronto Transit Commission The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is the public transport agency that operates bus, subway, streetcar, and paratransit services in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, some of which run into the Peel Region and York Region. It is the oldest and larges ...

(TTC) and its predecessor, the

Toronto Transportation Commission Toronto Transportation Commission (TTC) was the public transit operator in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, beginning in 1921. It operated buses, streetcars and the island ferries. The system was renamed the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) in 1954. H ...

, Its collection includes PCC, Peter Witt, CLRV and ALRV, and earlier cars from the

Toronto streetcar system The Toronto streetcar system is a network of nine streetcar routes in Toronto, Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is the busiest light-rail system in North America. The network is concentrated primarily in D ...

as well as G-series and M-series

Toronto subway The Toronto subway is a rapid transit system serving Toronto and the neighbouring city of Vaughan in Ontario, Canada, operated by the Toronto Transit Commission (TTC). It is a multimodal rail network consisting of three heavy-capacity rail ...

cars. The museum is open to the public, with rides on many of its vehicles. It is located between the villages of Rockwood and

Campbellville Campbellville is a compact rural community in the geographic township of Nassagaweya in the Town of Milton, Regional Municipality of Halton, Ontario, Canada. It is on the Niagara Escarpment and is a tourist destination for residents of the Gr ...

in Milton,

Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...

, Canada, along part of the Toronto Suburban Railway's former

right-of-way Right of way is the legal right, established by grant from a landowner or long usage (i.e. by prescription), to pass along a specific route through property belonging to another. A similar ''right of access'' also exists on land held by a gov ...

. The tracks conform to the TTC's

track gauge In rail transport, track gauge (in American English, alternatively track gage) is the distance between the two rails of a railway track. All vehicles on a rail network must have wheelsets that are compatible with the track gauge. Since many ...

of , which is wider than . Vehicles from other systems must be altered to accommodate the tracks, and cars intended for

third-rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway ...

power must be reconfigured for use with

overhead wire An overhead line or overhead wire is an electrical cable that is used to transmit electrical energy to electric locomotives, trolleybuses or trams. It is known variously as: * Overhead catenary * Overhead contact system (OCS) * Overhead equipm ...

. In 1889, electric railway service on routes radiating from

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( ; or ) is the capital city of the Canadian province of Ontario. With a recorded population of 2,794,356 in 2021, it is the most populous city in Canada and the fourth most populous city in North America. The city is the ancho ...

began. An Ontario Historical Plaque was erected at the Halton County Radial Railway Museum by the province to commemorate the Radial Railways' role in Ontario's heritage. Museum Peter Witt streetcars can be seen in the 2005 film ''

Cinderella Man ''Cinderella Man'' is a 2005 American biographical sports drama film directed by Ron Howard, titled after the nickname of world heavyweight boxing champion James J. Braddock and inspired by his life story. The film was produced by Howard, Pe ...

'' on the streets of Toronto to give it a 1930s

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

appearance.

History

The Halton County Radial Railway and the OERHA was formed in 1953 by a group of men who wanted to save Toronto Transit Commission streetcar 1326 from being sent to the scrap yard. After the donation of this streetcar, the dream grew. Land that used to be a part of the Toronto Suburban Railway in

Nassagaweya Township Nassagaweya Township is a geographic township and former municipality in Halton Region, Ontario, Canada, now part of Milton. The township was created in 1819, its name derived from the Mississauga word ''nazhesahgewayyong'', meaning 'river with ...

was acquired, and subsequently, a number of other street and radial cars were eventually rescued. The museum's grand opening took place in 1972. Since the beginning, the vision of the HCRR was to inform, educate and inspire the public about the electric railway history of Ontario and Canada. Today, the museum displays and operates a variety of historic streetcars, radial cars and work cars, and maintains a collection of photographs, memorabilia and archival materials. The oldest rail car in the collection dates from the late 1800s.

Gallery

Image:Halton_County_Radial_Railway_street_sign_2017-Jul-09.jpg, Entrance sign located on Guelph Line in Milton, Ontario Image:Halton107.jpg, Montreal & Southern Counties 107 (built by

Ottawa Car Company The Ottawa Car Company was a builder of streetcars for the Canadian market and was founded in Ottawa, Ontario, in 1891 Middleton, William D. (1967). ''The Time of the Trolley'', p. 423. Milwaukee: Kalmbach Publishing. . as an outgrowth of the ca ...

) Image:HCRY-Chicago-48.jpg,

St. Louis Car Company The St. Louis Car Company was a major United States manufacturer of railroad passenger cars, streetcars, interurbans, trolleybuses and locomotives that existed from 1887 to 1974, based in St. Louis, Missouri. History The St. Louis Car Company ...

-built 1-50 series train of the

Chicago "L" The Chicago "L" (short for "elevated") is the rapid transit system serving the city of Chicago and some of its surrounding suburbs in the U.S. state of Illinois. Operated by the Chicago Transit Authority (CTA), it is the fourth-largest rapid tr ...

, originally considered for the Toronto subway File:Hamilton_Street_Railway_7801.jpg,

Flyer Industries New Flyer is a Canadian multinational bus manufacturer, specializing in the production of transit buses. New Flyer is owned by the NFI Group, a holding company for several bus manufacturers. New Flyer has several manufacturing facilities in Cana ...

E800A

used by

Hamilton Street Railway The Hamilton Street Railway commonly known as the HSR is a public transport agency in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. The name is a legacy of the company's early period, when public transit in Hamilton was primarily served by streetcars. Although stree ...

Image:HCRY-Toronto-Civic-Railways.jpg,

Toronto Civic Railways Toronto Civic Railways (TCR) was a streetcar operator created and owned by the City of Toronto, Ontario, Canada, to serve newly annexed areas of the city that the private operator Toronto Railway Company refused to serve. When the Toronto Railwa ...

55 is one of the few surviving

Preston Car Company The Preston Car Company was a Canadian manufacturer of streetcars and other railway equipment, founded in 1908. The company was located in the town of Preston, Ontario (now part of the city of Cambridge). Preston sold streetcars to local transpo ...

-built cars Image:HCRY-Peter-Witt-TTC-2984.jpg, This Canadian Car & Foundry Peter Witt streetcar 2894 restored into the TTC’s original 1921 livery Image:HCRY-TTC-327.jpg, Car 327 is a 1930s replica (built by

) of the original 1890s

Toronto Railway Company The Toronto Railway Company (TRC) was the operator of the streetcar system in Toronto between 1891 and 1921. It electrified the horsecar system it inherited from the Toronto Street Railway, the previous operator of streetcar service in Toronto. ...

vehicle File:Toronto_Transit_Commission_8058.jpg, 1975 GM New Look bus T6H 5307N #8058 from the TTC https://cptdb.ca/wiki/index.php/Halton_County_Radial_Railway Halton County Radial Railway on CPTDB. Retrieved November 24, 2019.

TTC Collection

* TTC CLRV streetcars 4003 (built by SIG), 4010, 4039, 4040, 4053 and 4178; acquired 2019-2020. * TTC ALRV streetcar 4204; acquired 2019 and one of two last ALRV operating in 2019 * TTC G1 subway cars 5098 and 5099 * TTC MLW M1 subway cars 5300 and 5301 * TTC CCF-built Peter Witt streetcar 2894, 2424 and 2786, 2984 * TTC

PCC streetcars The PCC (Presidents' Conference Committee) is a streetcar (tram) design that was first built in the United States in the 1930s. The design proved successful in its native country, and after World War II it was licensed for use elsewhere in the ...

CCF-built 4000 (A1), 4386 (A6), 4426 (A7), 4600 (A8 / A15), 4611 and 4618 (A8 / A15); 4684 is an A12 St Louis Car built ex-

Louisville Railway The Louisville Railway Company (LRC) was a streetcar and interurban rail operator in Louisville, Kentucky. It began under the name Louisville City Railway in 1859 as a horsecar operator and slowly acquired other rival companies. It was renamed in ...

#509 and ex-

Cleveland Transit System The Greater Cleveland Regional Transit Authority (officially the GCRTA, but historically and locally referred to as the RTA) is the public transit agency for Cleveland, Ohio, United States and the surrounding suburbs of Cuyahoga County. RTA is t ...

#4259

References

External links

Official web site of The Halton County Radial Railway
{{authority control Culture of the Regional Municipality of Halton Heritage railways in Ontario Rail transport in Milton, Ontario Railway museums in Ontario Streetcars in Canada Rail transport in the Regional Municipality of Halton History of rail transport in the Regional Municipality of Halton Museums in the Regional Municipality of Halton 4 ft 10⅞ in gauge railways Tram museums

History

Gallery

TTC Collection

See also

References

External links