Exploring the best of Toronto and Southern Ontario.

Happy Wednesday all! I hope everyone is having a great week, and that my local readers are enjoying this unseasonably warm weather we’ve been having. This fall certainly has been a wild ride, weather-wise: it seems to go from freezing one week to positively balmy the next. It does make it a little challenging to dress, but hey, I’m not complaining! Highs of 19 in late October? #hereforit

I know I’ve said this many times before, but I honestly feel so lucky to live in a province where there truly is so much to see and do. Recently a friend said to me, “it seems like you go somewhere new every weekend – how do you find all these places!?” This is a question I’m often asked, and as much as I’d like to say I spend hours diligently researching local attractions, the truth is that most of it comes down to simply keeping my eyes and ears open. It might be a friend mentioning a cute new café they’ve just discovered, an intriguing antique market I stumbled upon while scrolling Instagram, or a fun event I read about on a local travel website like BlogTO, Curiocity or Narcity. (The trick is remembering all the places I find – which is where my ever-growing spreadsheet and custom Google Map really come in handy!) I believe that in order to be a good content creator, one must also be an equally good content consumer, which is why I’m always keeping up with local travel websites and social media accounts. In fact, it was an article on BlogTO that alerted me to the place I’m going to write about today: the Halton County Radial Railway Museum.

Located in Milton, the Halton County Radial Railway (HCRR) is dedicated to preserving Ontario’s railway history. As Ontario’s first and largest electric railway museum, it’s home to an impressive collection of historic streetcars, radial cars, work cars and vintage transit memorabilia. The HCRR is owned and operated by the Ontario Electric Railway Historical Association (OERHA): a non-profit, volunteer-run organization. The OERHA was formed in 1954, when a group of men banded together to save a historic streetcar from destruction. Soon after, the group acquired a plot of land in Milton, started rescuing and collecting other vintage streetcars, and the rest is history. The museum officially opened to the public in 1972 and is still going strong today! In addition to their museum spaces, where visitors can view and tour the interiors of vintage railcars, the HCRR is home to a fully operational electric railway. When I heard that they were offering scenic fall rides through the forest, I knew I had to check it out. So last weekend, after celebrating my best friend Victoria’s birthday with high tea at the Guelph Boathouse, we headed to the HCRR for some fall fun!

The HCRR is open Saturdays, Sundays and holiday Mondays in September and October. (Yes, that means this weekend is the last weekend to experience the fall train rides!) The site opens at 10am, the first streetcar ride is at 11am, and rides depart every half hour until 4:30pm. Admission is $24 per person ($22 for seniors, $18 for teens and $12 for children) and includes unlimited streetcar rides. We arrived around 3:30 and had just missed that train, so we decided to check out the Display Barn while we waited for our ride.

The Display Barn is a massive building that’s home to over 20 historic railcars (the museum has more than 75 in total!)

I’m a little biased, as I’ve always thought modern vehicles are just so drab compared to their vintage counterparts (I’d drive a Thunderbird if I could!) but I just couldn’t help but marvel at how gorgeous the old cars were. Check out the lighting!

This carriage reminded me of Cinderella’s pumpkin coach:

In addition to railcars, the Display Barn also houses several other artifacts, from vintage traffic signs to conductor caps and fare boxes.

After touring the museum, it was time for our first train ride. We boarded this gorgeous candy apple-red streetcar that dates back to 1923. The interior is delightfully retro – we loved seeing all the vintage advertisements!

As we embarked on our scenic train ride through the forest (the fall colours were so pretty!) the conductor told us about the history of the museum and the various movies that had been filmed on site, from Anne of Green Gables to Cinderella Man. The round trip is approximately 15 minutes, and stops at a halfway point where visitors can get off and order ice cream from the East End Café (located inside another vintage streetcar.) It was a bit too chilly for ice cream, so Victoria and I just stayed on the train and enjoyed the rest of the ride.

After the ride, we headed inside the historic Rockwood Station. This station was built in 1912 for the Grand Trunk Railway and was later used by the Canadian National Railway. It was moved to the museum in 1971 and now houses a variety of vintage artifacts, from traffic signs and luggage to rotary phones, typewriters and other retro office equipment. I loved getting a behind-the-scenes look at the station’s original ticket booth! A friendly and knowledgeable volunteer showed us all of the artifacts, and even gave us some paper transfers to take home as souvenirs. (When I was a kid and my mom would take me downtown – usually for a fun day out at the ROM or AGO – I’d always keep my subway transfers as mementoes. Taking the subway was so exciting back then… funny to think that paper transfers are now considered ‘retro’!)

In my recent post about St. Thomas – a.k.a. the Railway City – I talked about the London & Port Stanley Railway. Founded in 1856, it was one of Ontario’s first railways. Playing a key role in trade as well as tourism, it transported passengers between London and the popular tourist town of Port Stanley. Well, the HCRR just so happens to have one of its original cars – and yes, you can ride it! The striking teal blue car – built in 1915 – was definitely one of the prettiest ones we saw at the museum. Although we didn’t get the chance to ride it (it had just returned from its last trip of the day) we loved touring the inside – check out those stunning art deco details!

It was now 4:30, so we hopped aboard another streetcar for one more ride. This one was decidedly more modern. I believe it was built in the 1970s, so it looked a lot more similar to the streetcars of today (although I do wish they’d bring back those leather seats!)

Before heading out, we browsed through the gift shop, which sells museum souvenirs and transit-related memorabilia. I loved these beautiful illustrations, which would make a great gift for any train enthusiast.

Victoria and I had so much fun at the HCRR, and I highly recommend it to anyone looking for a fun, unique and educational experience. There’s so much to see and do, and the people are amazing. Every volunteer we met (yes, they’re all volunteers!) was so friendly, talkative and knowledgeable. We learned so much from them, and their passion for the subject was so inspiring!

As I mentioned earlier, this weekend is your last chance to enjoy the HCRR’s scenic fall streetcar rides, so don’t miss out! There’s no need to reserve in advance – simply show up and buy your tickets at the gift shop. The last ride leaves at 4:30, but I recommend arriving no later than 2:30 to give yourself ample time to explore and take advantage of the unlimited rides. We didn’t get there until 3:30 and we really wished we’d given ourselves more time!

If you can’t make it out this weekend, fear not: the HCRR will be open again the first two weekends of December, offering their Christmas On The Rails experience. If there’s one thing I love more than fall fun, it’s Christmas festivities, so I’ll be there with bells on! (I don’t mean literally… hmm… or do I??)

If you end up visiting the HCRR, please let me know what you thought – I’d love to hear about your experience. Thanks for reading and until next time, I hope you have a fabulous rest of your week!