Toronto Railway Museum

Tribute to Nation Builders Ceremony
2024-07-01 10:30 - 12:00 (America/New_York)
The Chinese Railroad Workers Memorial commemorates an important part of history, and the people who made Canada’s transcontinental railway possible. Located a 5-minute walk from the Toronto Railway Museum, please join us and our friends at the Foundation to Commemorate the Chinese Railroad Workers (FCCRWC) in Canada on July 1.
FCCRWC is hosting their annual wreath-laying ceremony on July 1 at 10:30 am.
All are welcome, learn more here.

CTHF Pop-up at Don Station
2024-08-03 12:00 - 2024-08-04 17:00
Canadian Transit Heritage Foundation will have a pop-up booth at the museum store Don Station. They will be selling books related to Canadian Transit, be sure to check them out!

Modal Music at the Toronto Railway Museum
2024-08-05 12:00 - 17:00
Labyrinth Ontario and the Toronto Railway Museum are partnering to co-present a unique listening and learning experience that is open to all! This Civic Holiday, stroll through Toronto’s Roundhouse Park, take a ride on the mini steam train and enjoy the live music of our fantastic trio.

Labyrinth Ensemble musicians Sadaf Amini (santur), Naomi McCarroll-Butler (saxophone/clarinet), and Yang Chen (percussion) will be performing modal music inspired by transience and travel.

The performances will be held at 12:30 – 1 pm and 2:00 – 2:30 pm. Please note the mini train will not run during these times.

You can find the performance right across from Don Station, our museum store!

Supported by: Canada Council for the Arts

Naomi McCarroll-Butler

Sadaf Amini

Yang Chen

March Break 2025
2025-03-08 12:00 - 2025-03-16 17:00
The Toronto Railway Museum will be open from March 8-16, 2025, for March Break. Bring your family to Roundhouse Park and enjoy activities, tours, and special guests throughout the week. All activities are included with regular admission.

Highlights include:

March 14-16: Operation Lifesaver will be giving out free activity books to visitors.
Volunteer guides will be providing tours of the rolling stock in Roundhouse Park on Saturdays and Sundays.
March 14 & 16: Story Time, from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m.
March 15: Local artist pop-up in the gallery.

The newly renovated TRM Gift Shop will be open at Don Station, featuring new products and special discounts.

Easter Chocolate Tasting
2025-04-19 14:30 - 15:30, 2025-04-20 14:30 - 15:30 | Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Blvd, Stall 17, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3M9, Canada
Hop into a vintage train car and embark on a one-of-a-kind Easter chocolate tasting adventure. Let the charm of this historic train setting transport you through the world of artisanal Canadian craft chocolate with our Easter Chocolate Express. With the guidance of a chocolate tasting expert, you will discover the origins of chocolate and its journey through history before indulging in a curated flight of craft chocolates and learn how to taste like a true connoisseur. Best of all, take home your own chocolate tasting kit to relive the experience and make many more memories as sweet as chocolate.
Features

1 chocolate tasting kit per 2 people featuring

4 full-size bars of artisan chocolates made by local Canadian craft chocolate-makers (dark and milk)
High quality raw cacao from a premium cacao supplier
Reusable chocolate tasting mat and flavour wheel
All packaged in a lovely gift box perfect to take home

Guided tasting on the history, making and tasting of chocolate – learn how the experts taste chocolate!
Be part of a unique chocolate tasting experience inside a vintage railway car.
Complimentary access to the Toronto Railway Museum after the tasting

Dietary Restrictions
The tasting is vegetarian, gluten-free and nut-free, but is not dairy-free due to the milk powder in milk chocolates. Please mention any dietary restrictions in the ‘Dietary restrictions’ field when booking a tour.
Location
Toronto Railway Museum
(accessibility note: some stairs required to access railway car)
Event Dates
April 19 (Sat), 2.30 – 3.30pm
April 20 (Sun), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Price
$55 per person (tickets sold in pairs)
Kits are sized for 2 people, so if you have an odd number of people, invite a friend and gain yourself some (chocolate) brownie points!
Visit https://tastytourstoronto.com/easter-sweets-chocolate-tours/ to purchase tickets.

Mother's Day Chocolate Tasting
2025-05-10 14:30 - 15:30, 2025-05-11 14:30 - 15:30 | Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Blvd, Stall 17, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3M9, Canada
Make this Mother’s Day extra special by boarding our Mother’s Day Chocolate Express, a one-of-a-kind tasting experience in a charming vintage train car. Let the historic ambiance transport Mom into the world of artisanal Canadian craft chocolate, where she’ll be guided by a chocolate expert through the captivating stories and flavours of chocolate. To top it off, she’ll take home her kit of tasting tools and surplus chocolate so she can recreate the experience and make even more sweet memories.
Note that this event focuses on the darker spectrum of chocolate and is best for those who appreciate quality dark chocolate or are open to broadening their horizons beyond the standard supermarket brands like Lindt and Nestle!
Features

1 chocolate tasting kit per 2 people featuring

4 full-size bars of artisan chocolates made by local Canadian craft chocolate-makers (dark and milk)
High quality raw cacao from a premium cacao supplier
Reusable chocolate tasting mat and flavour wheel
All packaged in a lovely gift box perfect to take home

Guided tasting on the history, making and tasting of chocolate – learn how the experts taste chocolate!
Be part of a unique chocolate tasting experience inside a vintage railway car.
Complimentary access to the Toronto Railway Museum after the tasting

Dietary Restrictions
The tasting is vegetarian, gluten-free and nut-free, but is not dairy-free due to the milk powder in milk chocolates. Please mention any dietary restrictions in the ‘Dietary restrictions’ field when booking a tour.
Location
Toronto Railway Museum
(accessibility note: some stairs required to access railway car)
Event Dates
May 10 (Sat), 2.30 – 3.30pm
May 11 (Sun), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Price
$55 per person (tickets sold in pairs)
Kits are sized for 2 people, so if you have an odd number of people, invite a friend and gain yourself some (chocolate) brownie points!

CLOSED
2025-06-25
We will be closed June 25th for an event in the park. We will reopen JUne 26th.

Grand Reopening - TRM Shop at Don Station
2025-08-22 11:00 - 17:00
You’re invited to our grand reopening of the TRM Shop at Don Station. Now, more than ever, we’re excited to be showcasing local Canadian products from artists including Wendy Tancock, GoTomago, Lawrence Bernstein, Raymond Besinger, Joseph Zhuang in addition to a long list of local authors.
Remarks will take place at 11:30am and there will be retail discounts and special offers to celebrate the museum’s 15th anniversary throughout the day. The shop will be open daily through Labour Day from 12pm to 5pm.

Operation Lifesaver
2025-09-20 12:00 - 17:00
Volunteers from Operation Lifesaver will be at the Toronto Railway Museum on September 20. Join us at Don Station to learn about the importance of rail safety in Canada through fun activities and giveaways.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: How Rail Industry Knowledge Informs Heritage Preservation
2025-10-14 19:00 - 20:00
Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: How Rail Industry Knowledge Informs Heritage Preservation
Historic locomotives and railcars can be mysterious and challenging objects, but there are similarities between the 19th and 21st century rail industry that provide historians context for preservation. Join Chris Fox for a lively discussion of his experience in maintaining heritage rolling stock using his industry knowledge that he’s compiled throughout his rail career.
About our speaker:
Christopher Fox is an experienced and widely respected professional in the rail industry with a career spanning 30 years. He worked as a railway mechanic for Bombardier and GO Transit for over 10 years, before moving on to the operating trades at GO Transit for the past 15 years.
He also works with the VIA Historical Association and the Halton County Radial Railway, where he has helped to maintain and restore various heritage cars and locomotives including the VIA 6917 (owned by the TRHA).
He enjoys anything mechanical. When he’s not working on trains or engines, he enjoys fishing, snowmobiling, and spending time with his children.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: From Platform to Battlefield: Toronto’s Union Station and Canada’s World War Soldiers
2025-11-11 19:00 - 20:00
Ryan Goldsworthy will explore the importance of Toronto’s railway network to Canada’s World War efforts. Anchored by Union Station, a major transportation hub, Toronto’s rails moved tens of thousands of soldiers, and millions of munitions and supplies towards the front. He will explain how the logistics of locomotives and steel rails enabled our nation’s overseas contributions. He will also touch upon some of the human stories seen on crowded platforms with waving loved ones looking on.
About our speaker:
Ryan Goldsworthy, the new Curator of the Toronto Railway Museum (TRM), is a seasoned museum professional with 15 years of experience working with museum collections across Canada. A graduate of the University of Toronto and Queen’s University, Ryan is a published Canadian historian and material culture expert from Toronto. He has served on several museum boards and committees, and he has supervised many museum and material studies students.
He was previously the Museum Director & Curator at the Royal Canadian Military Institute (RCMI), one of Canada’s oldest and largest military history museums. He significantly enhanced their museum, collection, and profile which included the cultivation of one of the most diverse and complete collections of Canadian military uniforms in existence. During his work, he developed a special interest for the Canadian Railway Troops of the First World War. He has also worked for the City of Toronto as the Manager of Collections & Research where he led the City’s first indigenous repatriation project.
He was formerly an Educator and Historian at The Military Museums of Calgary, and he has worked with the Royal Ontario Museum’s arms and armour collection.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: Driving the Rails with Ford in 1925
2025-12-09 19:00 - 20:00
Second Tuesday Talk: Driving the Rails with Ford in 1925
In 1925, Ford of Canada organized an epic crossing of Canada by road in celebration of their 21st anniversary, and the launch of a new version of their ubiquitous Model T car. Over the course of 44 days and more than 7,700 kilometers, Ford videographer Ed Flickenger, newspaperman J. L. Scrymgeour, and others, including local car dealers, and occasionally Canadian highway promoter Dr. Perry Doolittle, drove from Halifax to Vancouver. When the roads ran out, they fitted their car with train wheels and drove along the tracks, covering more than 1,300km by rail. Footage of the trip was made into a silent documentary, Across Canada with Ford.
Join Dumaresq de Pencier for a special live screening with commentary of this film, and a snapshot of the grand and often perilous adventure that was Canadian driving and rail travel in the 1920s.
About our speaker:
Dumaresq de Pencier is an award-winning museum researcher, television presenter, exhibit developer and guide, and has had a lifelong interest in the history of vehicular technology. He is currently the Exhibit & Special Project Coordinator for the Canadian Automotive Museum. In his spare time he writes tabletop games and volunteers for the Canadian Tank Museum and Ottawa’s Cold War Collection.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.

CANCELLED - Holiday Chocolate Tasting
2025-12-13 14:30 - 15:30 | Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Blvd, Stall 17, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3M9, Canada
This event has been cancelled.

Holiday Chocolate Tasting
2025-12-20 14:30 - 15:30, 2025-12-21 14:30 | Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Blvd, Stall 17, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3M9, Canada
Step into the magic of the season aboard our Holiday Chocolate Express, a decadent chocolate tasting inside a vintage train car. As rich aromas fill the air, your chocolate expert will teach you how to savor each creation and uncover the fascinating stories behind them. You’ll leave with your own tasting tools, extra chocolate to share, and a heart full of holiday spirit. Celebrate the warmth and wonder of the holidays – from Christmas to Hanukkah and everything joyful in between – with this once-a-year experience that blends nostalgia, indulgence, and delight.
Note that this event focuses on the darker spectrum of chocolate and is best for those who appreciate quality dark chocolate or are open to broadening their horizons beyond the standard supermarket brands like Lindt and Nestle!
Features

1 chocolate tasting kit per 2 people featuring

4 full-size bars of artisan chocolates made by local Canadian craft chocolate-makers (dark and milk)
High quality raw cacao from a premium cacao supplier
Reusable chocolate tasting mat and flavour wheel
All packaged in a lovely gift box perfect to take home

Guided tasting on the history, making and tasting of chocolate – learn how the experts taste chocolate!
Be part of a unique chocolate tasting experience inside a vintage railway car.
Complimentary access to the Toronto Railway Museum after the tasting

Dietary Restrictions
The tasting is vegetarian, gluten-free and nut-free, but is not dairy-free due to the milk powder in milk chocolates. Please mention any dietary restrictions in the ‘Dietary restrictions’ field when booking a tour.
Location
Toronto Railway Museum
(accessibility note: some stairs required to access railway car)
Event Dates
Dec 13 (Sat), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Dec 14 (Sun), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Dec 20 (Sat), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Dec 21 (Sun), 2.30 – 3.30pm
Price
$55 per person (tickets sold in pairs)
Kits are sized for 2 people, so if you have an odd number of people, invite a friend and gain yourself some (chocolate) brownie points!
Visit https://tastytourstoronto.com/holiday-chocolate-tastings-food-tours/ to purchase tickets.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: Royal Tours and Rail Journeys in the life and reign of King Charles III
2026-01-13 19:00 - 20:00
Royal Tours and Rail Journeys in the life and reign of King Charles III
In November 2025, King Charles III celebrated his 77th birthday by driving a tram-train in Wales while opening a new rail depot. The reign of King Charles III, however, has also seen the decommissioning of the royal train in the United Kingdom. Join Dr. Carolyn Harris as will discuss the changing role of trains in the life and reign of King Charles III over the course of decades of royal tours.
Register for Royal Tours and Rail Journeys
About our speaker:
Dr. Carolyn Harris received her PhD in history from Queen’s University in Kingston and is an instructor at the University of Toronto School of Continuing Studies, receiving the teaching award in 2016 and 2021. She is the author of three books, Magna Carta and Its Gifts to Canada (Dundurn 2015), Queenship and Revolution in Early Modern Europe: Henrietta Maria and Marie Antoinette (Palgrave 2016, recipient of the 2016 Royal Studies Journal book award) and Raising Royalty: 1000 Years of Royal Parenting (Dundurn 2017) and the co-editor of the English Consorts: Power, Influence and Dynasty series (2022-2023). Her writing concerning history and royalty has appeared in numerous publications including Reader’s Digest, Smithsonian Magazine and BBC History Magazine. She frequently provides royal commentary for the media including CBC News and the BBC.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: Black Railway Porters in Canada
2026-02-10 19:00 - 20:00 | Toronto Railway Museum, 255 Bremner Blvd, Stall 17, Toronto, Ontario, M5V 3M9, Canada
Join author and historian Channon Oyeniran as she shares the story of the Black men who worked as sleeping car porters on Canadian railway routes. This presentation will also explore some of the established Black communities in which many of these men lived and came from, as well as explore the experiences many Black men had as Sleeping Car Porters in Canada.
This presentation will explore and discuss:

Who were the Black Sleeping Car Porters?
Black Sleeping Car Porters and established Black Canadian communities.
Labour Challenges and the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters.
Black Canadian Leaders and their connections to Sleeping Car Porters.

Register for Black Railway Porters in Canada
About our speaker:
Historian and author Channon Oyeniran has an indescribable passion and thirst to not only know more about history, in particular- slavery (historical and modern), but to educate people on these issues and to assist in stopping it from continuing!
Channon is a graduate of University of Toronto with a bachelor’s degree in history and Caribbean Studies, the University of Hull (UK) with a Master’s Degree in Slavery Studies, and she is currently undertaking her PhD at Queen’s University. Channon has expanded her knowledge and information about Black History and the issues that the Black community faces both locally, here in Canada and internationally, by participating in conferences and workshops relating to the Black experience and history in Canada.
Channon served as the Vice-President for the Ontario Black History Society (OBHS) from 2017-2023, where she helped the organization to preserve, celebrate and spread the rich Black history of Ontario and Canada.
Channon is the founder of Oyeniran Education Support (OyES), an educational organization that helps individuals and institutions identify and align with their intrinsic values, gifts and nurtures them to greatness. Channon uses the OyES platform and others, to teach people about Black History. Channon Oyeniran was born in Scarborough, Ontario but is a longtime resident of the Durham Region. She currently resides in the Durham Region with her husband and their sons.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.

Family Day Weekend at TRM
2026-02-13 12:00 - 2026-02-16 17:00
Join us on Family Day weekend for crafts and tours. This year CP Cape Race will be open to visitors inside Stall 17 with a DIY train crest activity. The Toronto Railway Museum will be open extended hours on Monday, February 16 from 12pm to 5pm. All activities are included with admission and are appropriate for ages 3+.

Second Tuesday Zoom Talk: Rails Reclaimed: How Toronto’s Rail Infrastructure Found New Life
2026-04-14 19:00 - 20:00
Rails Reclaimed uncovers the afterlives of Toronto’s rail infrastructure. How many former streetcar, radial and rail properties were eventually repurposed as markets, subways, parks and neighbourhoods, and reasons that some traces were erased. Using historic photographs, maps and then-and-now comparisons, Jeremy Hopkin reveals a past that still shapes the city today.
About our speaker:
Jeremy Hopkin is a Toronto historian whose love of local history began as a child trailing his railfan photographer father along the city’s tracks. A graphic designer and artist by trade, he enjoys weaving visual storytelling with archival sleuthing to bring Toronto’s history to life. Jeremy is the Official Toronto Historian and regular quarterly guest of the award-winning Toronto Mike’d podcast, a contributor to Spacing magazine, an ambassador for Motorista Studio, and a board member of the Leaside Heritage Preservation Society. He brings curiosity, warmth, and a knack for turning his research into vivid local stories.
About the series:
The Toronto Railway Museum hosts guest speakers online via the Zoom Webinar platform the Second Tuesday of each month. These talks are free and open to the public, with a suggested donation of $10 to support future programming. The Toronto Railway is a registered Canadian charity (838626943RR0001) and charitable tax receipts will be issued for donations over $25.
