Halton County Radial Railway Museum- Top 5 Must Dos!

Halton County Radial Railway Museum is open for 2022!

The Halton County Radial Railway Museum is open for the 2022 season and we couldn’t be happier! This volunteer run museum is such a great spot to visit as it’s full of history, activities and educational opportunities.

Location and Admission

The museum is located on Guelph line north of the 401 which makes it a very easy spot to get to. The Halton County Radial Railway Museum is currently open on weekends from 10am-5pm with the first streetcar ride at 11am and the last ride at 4pm. Admission is $22 for adults, $20 for seniors, $16.50 for youth 4-17 and $3 for kids under 4 there is also a family rate of $60 which includes 2 adults and 2 children. Once you’ve paid your admission to everything else is covered including unlimited streetcar rides.

Accessibility

The museum grounds are somewhat wheelchair and stroller friendly but you will be limited to what you can do. For young children if you can use a carrier or a small folding stroller it will probably be easiest. If you are visiting with a wheelchair user I would suggest calling ahead to check accessibility based on your specific parameters.

Washrooms are located inside the main gift shop and there is a small snack bar there as well. The food offerings are limited to snacks and drinks but will most likely expand as the summer comes and crowds increase. We heard there would be ice creaming coming soon!

If you would prefer to bring your own food that isn’t a problem, there are also lots of picnic tables around so it’s nice and easy to sit and eat.

Let’s go for a ride!

Once you enter the museum grounds you will see which streetcars are operating that day. The rides are every 20-30 minutes and when we were there 3 different cars were in use and they went out one at a time throughout the day. We got on the very first ride at 11am and rode all 3 cars in a row, this took 1.5 hours and was lots of fun, it was so cool to be inside the different cars and feel how different each ride is. Shockingly, the older the car the smoother the ride! The rides are also very educational as the conductor talks through the history and significance of both the vehicles and the museum itself.

There is no limit to how many times you can ride so if you want to ride all day long that’s totally fine. Be sure to ask the conductor if they can punch your ticket for you!

Meadowvale Station

You are welcome to stay on the streetcar for the entire loop but if you want to get off there is a stop at Meadowvale station where you can sit and have a picnic or explore the rock garden. You can’t walk back to the main station from there so once you get off you will have about 30 minutes until the next streetcar returns to pick you up. This is where the ice cream will be sold once summer hits!

Rockwood Station

The main museum is Rockwood Station and it’s located right at the entrance to the grounds. This is a great spot to explore the old station and learn about the history of the Radial Railway in Ontario. If you’re curious to learn more you are welcome to speak to the docent who is very knowledgeable about the history of the station.

Car Barn #3

Car Barn #3 is where all of the restored vehicles are and it’s definitely worth a visit. There are lots of things that you can touch and explore and many of them are open so you can enter them and take a look. If you’re interested in learning more about each vehicle there are also information stands throughout with lots of great facts. Be sure to let your kids drive the bus and explore the subway maze (it’s not really a maze just a bunch of connected subway cars but we really enjoyed it!)

If you have a train enthusiast in the family or are just looking for a unique day out experience I would definitely recommend a visit to the Halton County Radial Railway Museum. The entire museum is run by volunteers and they do such an amazing job. Everyone we talked to was enthusiastic, knowledgeable and had an infectious passion for trains and streetcars.