The Kenora Railroaders Museum has received a much-needed boost after a public appeal for volunteers attracted several new recruits, offering hope that the community landmark can continue sharing the city’s railway history.
The museum recently warned that it could face closure due to a dwindling volunteer base. While the response has been encouraging, board member Barrie Creran said help is still needed to ensure the museum’s long-term future.
“We have four volunteers that signed up today, which is really good,” Creran said following a meeting with prospective volunteers. “I would love to have 20… because that would make it so much easier.”
The museum traces its roots back to the 1980s and early 1990s, when retired Canadian Pacific Railway employees relocated a former tourist information building to its current location in Norman. Since then, the not-for-profit museum has preserved artifacts and stories documenting the railway’s role in shaping Kenora.
“It’s all to do with how the railway influenced and… started the town of Kenora,” Creran said. “It was here before the roads were really here.”
Inside, visitors can explore railway equipment, lanterns, caboose stoves, a restored caboose, a diesel locomotive and a model railroad depicting the Kenora area.
For Creran, preserving the museum means preserving the city’s beginnings.
“It is the history of Kenora and how it came about,” he said. “That’s what we’re trying to tell — all the stories about the different businesses that were here and how they started.”
Creran said the museum was originally sustained by a large group of retired railway employees, but time has taken its toll.
“All of the original volunteers… they’ve all passed now,” he said. “We have one guy left that’s turning 88 in a couple of weeks.”
Over the past five to 10 years, the museum has relied on just five to 10 volunteers. Today, only a handful remain.
“I’m the youngest guy, probably 75 years old,” Creran said. “So, we do need volunteers with new ideas.”
The museum needs people to greet visitors alongside summer students, help maintain exhibits, assist with office work and research grants, repair artifacts, and contribute fresh ideas for programming.
Creran said the museum is also open to new ways of attracting visitors, suggesting themed events such as movie nights, Halloween activities or art workshops.
“We’re open to any kind of new ideas,” he said.
Although encouraged by the latest response, Creran said the museum’s future still depends on attracting more volunteers.
“I do [feel optimistic], but that depends on how much more these four volunteers could maybe convince other people to be involved as well,” he said. “The ones that are here are quite passionate about it… and it takes passion to keep this going.”
The museum typically operates during July and August with the help of federally funded summer students before shifting to tours by appointment. Creran hopes a larger volunteer base could eventually allow the museum to extend its operating season into June and September.
For anyone considering volunteering, Creran said experience isn’t required.
“They don’t have to know anything about the trains. We could show them, we could teach them,” he said. “They could do as much or as little as they really want to.”
Those interested in volunteering can contact the Kenora Railroaders Museum through its Facebook or Instagram pages to learn more.
