Collection & Exhibits

See the collection in-person at the Rotary Village Station Steam Museum located at 100 Forbes Hill Drive, Huntsville, Ontario and learn about:

• History of steam travel in the Huntsville area
• Focus on the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Company
• Norway Point Purser’s Cabin

1948: 24 tonne General Electric diesel electric locomotive

• We use this workhorse in our shoulder seasons (May, June, September and October) to pull the authentic coaches
• This locomotive hails from Corner Brook Newfoundland where it was of service in the pulp and paper industry
• As ridership fluctuates so much more at these times of the year, it is not practical to, nor are we able to operate our steam locomotive other than July and August

1926: 21 tonne Montreal Boiler Works steam locomotive

• This locomotive, purchased by the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Company, turned out to be too heavy for their light gauge rails and caused them to bend
• It spent most of its time at the original location, out of service in an engine shed
• This locomotive allows people a close-up look at the operation of steam and puts a face to the history of steam travel over land in the early days of transportation for development and tourism both

Iroquois and Algonquin coaches

• These coaches, bear their names in honour of the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Navigation Company’s palace steamboats
• Original to the Huntsville and Lakes of Bays North and South Portage route are these open-aired coaches; however were not the first ones used there
• The Algonquin coach, (the smaller of the two) built by the Toronto Railway Company in 1894 and was purchase for use by the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway Company in 1921
• The Iroquois coach, from the Delaware Car Works in Wilmington Delaware, arrived at the Huntsville and Lake of Bays Railway in summer of 1922

• Steam locomotive #1, although currently inoperable, long-term plans are to one day restore it and convert it to firing diesel fuel to heat the boiler as was the case with #2
• There is a flat car, crane car, mug-wamps and a gasoline powered maintenance car
• On static display, there is a pump car, a one-man velocipede and early gas powered track inspection vehicle

Would you like to donate to our collection?

You can sponsor one of the engines or coaches through our Adopt an Artifact program.