COCHRANE RAILWAY AND PIONEER MUSEUM

The Cochrane Railway and Pioneer Museum, located across from the train station, was created to preserve a three-dimensional picture of the pioneer railway and homesteading days - tribute to the men and women who within the present century opened Northern Ontario.  At the museum you will visit the Famous Engine #137.  From the steam engine to the caboose, the various cars house an abundance of railway memorabilia. 

The museum is open from mid-June to mid-September 8:00am to 8:00pm.

Guide in Brief

T & N.O. Locomotive No. 137 - Chosen for use in the ONR's Centennial train, this steam locomotive has many of the original fittings from the days when it was coal-fired.  Operated last time in August 1972.

CN Caboose - The "traveling hotel" of countless rail workers, it is being preserved as far as possible in its original condition.

CN Baggage Car - The entrance lobby holds Indian and Inuit displays as a reminder of the inhabitants of the country before Cochrane existed.  Successive exhibit areas show logging tools, a trapper's cabin with skins, traps and a "bachelor apartment".  The forge, with its anvil, bellows and tools, is a reminder of the days when the Northern Development Branch was responsible for roads; the exhibit was assembled by its modern successor, the Ministry of Transportation of Ontario.  The homesteader's log cabin was not a bachelor - its bunk bed was supplemented by the attic, whose trap door the children reached by ladder.  Wood fuelled the stove, and oil the lamps.  In this, as in other exhibit areas, there are many tools, farm implements and domestic utensils.  Of special interest are the many home-made pieces of furniture, and wooden implements.

CN Coach - A model train display introduces the main railway exhibits.  Part of the coach seating has been retained, and while most items are "untouchable", weary travelers are invited to rest here.  (This also serves as a miniature classroom for school party visits)  Telegraph operator's corner, ticket office, document display, insulator collection, uniforms, etc., lead the visitor back to additional pioneer exhibits, including a shoemaker's corner.

Photographs - The large and varied displays of photographs have been made available by many owners.  Many of the pictures are from the very large collection assembled by the RE. W.L.L. Lawrence in the 1912 period, for which the museum is now trustee.

Interpretative Car - One interpretive car donated by the ONR and designed by the Ontario Ministry of Natural Resources, has been noted previously.

Tim Horton Museum - One car of the Railway and Pioneer Museum is dedicated to hockey legend Tim Horton, who was born in Cochrane.