By Railfan & Railroad Staff

EDMONTON, Alberta — The Alberta Railway Museum will open its doors for the first time in more than a year on July 31, and will be open every weekend into September, the museum announced last week. 

When visitors do get the chance to return to the museum, they’ll have the opportunity to enjoy the recently completed cosmetic restoration of Northern Alberta Railways 2-8-0 73. The locomotive was restored last fall thanks to a grant from the Government of Alberta through the Heritage Preservation Partnership Program. 

Locomotive 73 was built in Kingston, Ontario, in 1927 by the Canadian Locomotive Company, Ltd. for the Edmonton, Dunvegan and British Columbia Railway. Shortly after it became part of the government-owned Northern Alberta. Two years later, Northern Alberta was taken over by Canadian National and Canadian Pacific. The locomotive ran until 1960. Four years later, the locomotive was donated to the Canadian Railroad Historical Association. The locomotive operated briefly in the late 1960s and 1970s before becoming a static display in 1979. The locomotive was sold to the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association, which runs the museum, in 2017.

Besides NAR 73, the museum is home to an operating CN 4-6-0 and various diesels from CP, CN and Grand Trunk. The museum was founded in 1968. 

The museum will be open every weekend from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. through Labor Day. It is recommended that people purchase tickets in advance. For more information and to buy tickets, visit albertarailwaymuseum.com.