Download The Museum Plan - Canadian Museum of Rail Travel

Canadian Museum of Rail Travel
Master Development Plan
September 2012
CMRT Master Development Plan
“The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel in Cranbrook is a railway heritage resource
that is unequalled anywhere in Canada and is clearly of national as well as
international importance.”
Robert Turner, Curator Emeritus, Royal British Columbia Museum.
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The historic passenger trains display area with the active railway yards behind.
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The consulting team:
Lee Boyko, Lead Consultant/Author.
Chris Ayling, Plan Design/Layout.
Andrew Todd, Conservator Report.
Nick Milkovich Architects, Building Design.
Equilibrium Consulting, Structural Engineering
Cobalt Engineering, Mechanical Engineering
BTY Group, Cost Consulting.
Special thanks to:
Kevin Weaver, Economic Development Officer
City of Cranbrook
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Contents
Executive Summary
8
Museum Overview
10
Museum History
18
Museum Organization
22
Financials
27
Governance
30
Succession Planning/Staffing
34
Protecting the Trains
39
Finishing Interior/Exterior
44
Risks and Opportunities
58
Conclusion
65
Appendices
66
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Dining Car “Argyle” from the 1929 Trans Canada Limited
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This 600-foot long viewing corridor was constructed between tracks 1 and 2 to temporarily protect one
side of rail cars against weather.
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Executive Summary
The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel (CMRT) is a unique institution that provides a home
for both a railway heritage collection of international significance and the history of the
local community of Cranbrook.
The Museum was opened in 1978 and is built on land owned by the City of Cranbrook.
Its buildings and collections are owned and operated by the Cranbrook Archives,
Museum and Landmark Foundation (CAMAL) – a registered charity and the overall legal
entity responsible for the Museum and its other heritage endeavours in the city.
In addition to the board of CAMAL, a Museum Development Committee of the City was
established to provide input and liaison with the municipal government on matters
pertaining to the physical development, excluding the collections and programs.
In 2012 the Museum is at a crossroads on its future direction. The Executive Director,
the founder and main driver behind the Museum, has announced his retirement for no
later than 2014. Acquisitions have been largely completed and the focus is shifting to
securing railcar artifacts and finishing interior and exterior facilities, particularly with an
eye to increasing local community use and increasing revenues for operations.
In addition to providing a review of the Museum’s history, organization, operations and
finances, the 2012 Master Development Plan provides proposed solutions for five key
challenges:
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Governance
Succession planning/staffing
Protecting the Trains
Interior and exterior finishing and maintenance
Risks and opportunities
The dual character of the Museum as both a centre of local Cranbrook history and the
repository of some of Canada's most important cultural railway heritage makes for some
daunting yet unique and exciting challenges and possibilities. While the scale of the
challenges cannot be underestimated, the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel can be
proud of its accomplishments to date –a testament to the innovation and flexibility that
will allow it to continue to develop for generations to come.
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One of two stained glass half-domes in the Palace Sleeping car “Omemee”
of the 1907 Soo- Spokane Train Deluxe
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Museum Overview
What is a “Museum”?
The Canadian Museums Association uses a definition based on that of the International
Council of Museum and similar to what most museum organizations use around the
world, stating:
“[museums are] institutions created in the public interest. They engage their
visitors, foster deeper understanding and promote the enjoyment and sharing of
authentic cultural and natural heritage. Museums acquire, preserve, research,
interpret and exhibit the tangible and intangible evidence of society and nature.
As educational institutions, museums provide a physical forum for critical inquiry
and investigation. Museums are permanent, not-for-profit institutions whose
exhibits are regularly open to the general public.”
Museums often perform many other functions in communities, such as building
community pride, increasing tourism, fostering economic development and providing
entertainment, but understanding this definition will help the reader understand some
of the unique challenges that a facility of this nature faces compared with many other
places that might at first glance have a cursory resemblance to a museum.
What is the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel?
The Canadian Museum of Rail Travel (CMRT) is a unique institution that provides a home
for both a railway heritage collection of international significance and the history of the
local community of Cranbrook. It has many components, some complete, others waiting
for capital/operations funds to complete.
The Museum is centrally located in the city and consists of a number of new and
heritage railway structures and gardens within an attractive high-profile setting in
Cranbrook, strategically located along BC Arterial Highway 3/95 downtown and right
beside the operating railway tracks and yard – a “dream site” for a railway museum, but
particularly one with large railway artifacts. The train sets are exhibited on three
adjacent tracks each over a city block in length.
The main Museum building is a 26,400 square foot facility including a new two-story
16,400 square feet brick-clad structure along with a re-purposed heritage freight shed
containing 10,000 square feet on its two levels. This new building serves as the main
entrance to the Museum, and was designed as a fitting interpretive approach to the
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trains. It is also the location of the Cranbrook archives and Cranbrook artifacts storage
along with offices and meeting rooms, a gift shop and other programming space.
The Railcar Collection
The heart of the Museum is a collection of 28 railway cars of which 17 are currently
available for tours to the public (see www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/rail-historymandate.html and Appendix 9.3):

The 1929 “Trans-Canada Limited”, classic “Jazz Era Art Deco” trains design. This
is a complete 7-car set of heavyweight steel cars, including solarium lounge,
three types of first class sleepers, dining car, day parlour and crew dormitory
cars , and is the only surviving set. This one train set alone contains over 50,000
square-feet of fragile inlaid paneled surfaces made of various exotic woods,
along with plush upholstery, wool carpets, brass fixtures, and a very large
collection of railway china, silverware and glassware, which is displayed in the
dining car. This train is really an art and design museum inside a mechanical steel
shell. The era during which the Trans-Canada Limited operated was designated a
National Historic Event in June 2011 (see
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/Letters-on-National-Designation.pdf).

The 1907 “Soo-Spokane Train Deluxe” captures the period of “Edwardian Art
Nouveau Elegance.” The train already contains two extremely rare cars, "Curzon"
and "Omemee", which were designated Canadian Cultural Property in order to
repatriate them to Canada from the Midwest of the USA where they had been
used as lakeside cottages since the early 1930's. The cars are filled with original
inlaid paneling, original upholstery and furniture, stained and beveled glass,
including two leaded half-domes each containing 1,250 pieces of stained glass
set in extravagant patterns. This classic passenger train once ran through
Cranbrook on its Minneapolis to Spokane run via Canada. One of the end
observation cars was actually called the “Cranbrook” due to the city being an
important servicing stop, with three cars so far of the set. This particular set links
the local, regional, provincial, national and international aspects of the
collection.

The “Chinook”, a streamlined “art deco” complete set of four cars that exemplify
the fast, lightweight inter-city trains of the 1930's. The entire 4-car set has been
assembled, and contains a mail-express, baggage-buffet, and two types of first
class coaches.

Royal and Business Cars from the 20's and 30's that were built specifically for the
Board of Directors of the CPR, and used for royal visits, and VIP business people.
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
Other cars dating back as far as 1877, some of them adapted and remodeled
over the decades in a process that adds greatly to the stories surrounding each
of these classic railcars. One highlight is the 1887 “Pacific Express,” a Victorianera train representing the first transcontinental service in Canada.
The Significance of the Railcar Collection
The Museum showcases the glory golden days of rail travel in Canada and North
America from the late 19th through the mid 20th century. During this period railways
sometimes developed specific sets of cars that ran in a certain configuration for style,
superior service and promotion and marketing purposes as deluxe Hotels-on-Wheels.
The cars were usually constructed with the best materials to the highest level of
craftsmanship and were operated to the best of its ability by the Canadian Pacific
Railway for the high demands of first class service.
In 1929, for example, the Trans Canada Limited used on the mainline VancouverMontreal service, was completely retrofitted with new first-class cars. These featured
matching exterior and interior design motifs and comprised several sets of sleeping,
solarium-observation and dining cars that were assembled to travel together in a certain
sequence to maintain daily service across the country. According to National Historic
Sites and Monuments of Canada, this train was “the most luxurious ever built and
operated in Canada.” The era during which the Trans-Canada Limited operated was
designated a National Historic Event.
Robert Turner, the noted rail historian and Curator Emeritus, of the Royal British
Columbia Museum, states the following in his 2007 update study (see
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/CMRT_Turner_Study_Update_2007.pdf):
“Although many passenger cars have been preserved in museums and at
heritage sites, the saving of an entire set of equipment used on a specific train
like the Trans-Canada Limited, and the Chinook is unique in Canada and a
hallmark of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel … The Canadian Museum of Rail
Travel in Cranbrook is a railway heritage resource that is unequalled anywhere in
Canada and is clearly of national as well as international importance.”
The statement Turner made in his original 1992 Study till stands true today (see
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/CMRT_Turner_Study_1992_Part_1.pdf;
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/CMRT_Turner_Study_1992_Part_2.pdf;
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/CMRT_Turner_Study_1992_Part_3.pdf):
“The importance of the collection of passenger trains at Cranbrook justifies the
broad and substantial support of both public and private sectors at all levels to
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ensure its preservation and interpretation for the benefit of the public. Support
from beyond the Cranbrook region is clearly justified. Moreover, a collection
such as this should receive appropriate provincial, national, and international
designation and recognition.”
The entire railcar collection is detailed in Appendix 9.3 and at
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/cmrtsummary.html.
Other parts of the collection
In addition to these luxury railcars and their related archival documentation, the
Museum houses archives and artifacts related to Cranbrook and the region.
Central to the Museum is the stunning Royal Alexandra Hall (2800 square foot/2.5
stories high inside) with its oak interior walls, chandeliers, French doors, windows and
ceiling. Reconstructed at the Museum, it is the original interior of the upscale European
Café from Winnipeg’s Royal Alexandra Hotel, one of the key Canadian Pacific Railway
hotels. The hotel was demolished in 1971, with the contents stored in a semi-trailer for
25 years before being obtained by the Museum in 1999. The entire Café structure was
mounted inside a new building shell surrounded by other public support rooms, and the
facility opened in 2004. The hall received Heritage Canada’s Restoration award in 2007.
For more details please see www.crowsnest.bc.ca/alexandra/index.html
The Museum is also in the process of completing two museum-quality historic model
railways and additional large gallery space that will hold temporary exhibits of local
history and art as well as traveling exhibits from other museums and art galleries.
Programming
The quality and size of the various spaces provides many current and proposed forms of
cultural activity, including most types of visual and performing arts. The Museum has
the makings of a significant cultural centre that goes well beyond heritage.
Educational School Programs Development
School programs are now a priority due to the recent completion of several permanent
educational displays in the facilities. Two programs are now in development: the
Cranbrook History Program and the Historic Trains Program, both relating to the school
curriculum.
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First, the Cranbrook History Program uses the Cranbrook History Gallery and ultra-large
historic maps in the Entrance Hall where classes circulate in small separate groups
through the displays to be able to do investigation in small groups or “teams”. This
program was tested in May 2011 to get feedback from students and teachers to refine
the program before making it available to schools on a regular basis from mid-October
to mid-May. Second, the Historic Trains Program was tested in February 2012 with new
audio scripts using younger student voices. Previous school tours of the trains used the
regular tourist scripts that do not really address learning in younger students. New
displays in the trains restoration and interpretive area also now provide learning aids
after the tours and in a central place for class discussions.
Both programs provide advance material for class preparation before coming to the
Museum, and they are teacher-driven and guided programs with less reliance on
Museum staff so that the educational needs of the students are met while getting
across "essential" museum artifact collection messages. The programs have received
widespread interest, and several schools can walk to the Museum. Because the
programs rely less on museum staff time and involvement and use the teachers and
their backups, they are offered at no cost. This is very important for school budgets and
some students who may not be able to afford to pay. For an example of the curriculum,
see http://www.trainsdeluxe.com/cmrt_temp/other_info12.html
One other program that is in development is the larger "community heritage program",
an external museum experience located outside the walls of the Museum and spread
throughout the community. This program will be based on the comprehensive "Explore
Historic Cranbrook" heritage tours maps that the Museum has developed over the years
(see http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/heritage-tour-map-large.pdf). Classes can do
these self-guided tours on their own at any time, but they are also in relation to the
other two programs at the Museum. All programs, including web-based programs, will
also be made available on the Museum web site for a wider educational benefit and
exposure.
Speakers
With the excellent facilities that the Museum has for groups from 10 to 280,
consideration is being given to developing a speaker series on a variety of subjects. This
might be done in conjunction with another group such as the college or a media
partner. This can be a standalone program or in conjunction with a temporary exhibit.
Community Partnerships
In mid-2011, senior staff of the Museum and the Key City Theatre (KCT) discussed a
potential partnership using the 280-seat Royal Alexandra Hall and its wonderful
acoustics as a smaller quality venue for certain musical events that would be more
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appropriate than the larger 620-seat Key City Theatre. The Museum had extensive
positive concert and music experiences from the time of the Hall’s opening in 2004 until
January 2008, when it reduced rentals to annual users only due to insufficient trained
supervisory staff.
It was decided that this partnership would be beneficial to both facilities and that the
Key City Theatre’s marketing and ticketing “machinery” would relieve the Museum of
this task. Rentals would be at standard non-profit rates on an existing a la carte basis
where the only additional charges would relate to the number of chairs (and tables if
needed) and the time to set up, perform and take down. A price per person would be
arrived at for KCT to plan, and any profit would be the KCT’s. The Hall would be provided
ready for any production and the KCT billed for the time as per a rental contract.
Public Use
Weddings are a very lucrative market, and based on past experience from 2004 through
2007, the Museum generated large earned revenue by hosting them. The demand can
be expected to continue as the Museum still receives 40 to 50 requests each year.
However, hosting these events do present some challenges. Changes in the
logistical/operational practices of the Museum will be required in the future in order to
host and better accommodate such events.
Public Galleries
The Gallery spaces have recently been opened for some pilot project exhibitions. In
future, the development of the gallery spaces will naturally lend themselves to
additional local programming, including school programs and events related to
temporary and travelling exhibits. Special events and speakers that complement the
exhibits should be natural additions to the museum program schedule. The Galleries
themselves can be an important nexus for visual arts with space for visual artists as well
as local historical exhibits. See Appendix 9.5 for a Potential Programming Guide and for
a letter from Cranbrook & District Arts Council about the Galleries’ community use.
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Royal Alexandra Hall showing deluxe railway hotel architecture, here
set up for meals for 184 diners
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Royal Alexander Hall setup for speaker or performances up to 280 seats.
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Museum History
1976-1987
Prior to the Elko Station Arrival operations, office, archives and visitor services were
conducted out of several railcars, growing from one car in 1977 to five by 1987, some of
which were stored off-site.
1988-2003
Offices, archives and visitor services were housed in the Elko Station, which had been
moved to the site and restored, in 1987. The Railcar collections grew by 19 making a
total of 28 railcars to care for, some which were stored off-site.
September 2002
The Museums’ 28 railcars were relocated to the new secure fenced site due to a
schedule that suited the CPR which invested substantial staff and equipment for the 3day relocation process saving tens of thousands of dollars, and without which the
relocation could not have happened. However, since the facilities at the new site were
not yet complete for staff, an Occupancy Permit could not be obtained so tours of the
railcars were conducted for a year from the old site about 2 blocks away.
2003
Operations were partially relocation to new (current) Museum building. 600-foot long
raised and covered viewing corridor opens between tracks 2 & 3 for tour use.
2004
Full operations moved to current Museum building. Royal Alexandra Hall opened April
2004 and the Museum Grand Opening was in September 2004.
2007
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Process of railcar collecting is complete.
2008
New gift shop and preliminary archives added to operations. Royal Alexandra Hall onetime rentals ceased in January due to insufficient trained museum staff, although annual
rentals continue. Gift shop and Restoration Interpretive Area opened on lower back
floor and new facilities for Archives opened on upper floor. Model railway room interior
completed for models storage and work, but not public access.
2009-2010
Major work on storage area, archives, roughing in galleries/café and office/meeting
room levels, and work on railcar exteriors.
2011
The Cranbrook History Gallery officially opens on lower floor of Freight Shed.
2012
Public Galleries opens for pilot project arts display. Four large windows in the Freight
Shed were completed. The Restoration interpretive area had some work complete and
new audio visual, detailed interpretive panels on some of the trains sets were
completed.
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This floor plan is of the 26,500 square feet museum building and shows the connection to the trains display area
to the left (see next page). About 40% of the interior remains incomplete. See Appendix 9.4 for more building
layout drawings.
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This plan shows what work remains on the railcar collection layout as displayed in original sequences as
historic sets and other individual cars that add to the story-line. About half the collection still requires
stabilization, conservation & restoration work. See Appendix 9.3 for more details.
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Museum Organization
Since it began, the Museum has had to constantly adapt its operations extensively due
to the limitations of facilities and budgets. It has demonstrated great flexibility in
developing both the railcar and Cranbrook collections, while working with very small
operating budgets.
The Museum is built on land owned by the City of Cranbrook. Its buildings and
collections are owned and operated by the Cranbrook Archives, Museum and Landmark
Foundation (CAMAL) – a registered charity and the overall legal entity responsible for
the museum and its other heritage endeavours in the city.
The Museum was opened in 1978. In addition to the board of CAMAL, a Museum
Development Committee of the City has provided input and liaison with the municipal
government on matters pertaining to the physical development, excluding the
collections and programs.
CAMAL’s Mandate
The following is the mandate of CAMAL as stated in its constitution (see Appendix 1):
“2A. The objects and purposes of the society will be dedicated to the study and
research, the preservation and restoration, the acquisition, classification, storage
and exhibition of the City of Cranbrook’s heritage and to develop an awareness
and appreciation in the community of the heritage from which the City of
Cranbrook had its beginnings, and more particularly:
(a) to encourage the study of Cranbrook’s heritage in the public school
system;
(b) to encourage research into various aspects of Cranbrook’s heritage;
(c) to acquire various documents, photographs and artifacts, etc.,
representative of Cranbrook’s heritage;
(d) to secure a museum facility sufficient for the proper storage of such
exhibition of Cranbrook’s heritage;
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(e) to establish a sound program to ensure that the important landmarks of the
City are protected and continue to be viable with the changing times, and
(f) to establish an annual “Heritage Award” program to recognize outstanding
contribution involving heritage improvement of a physical nature in the City
of Cranbrook.
2B. The purposes of the society will also be dedicated to the study and research,
the preservation and restoration, acquisition, classification, storage and
exhibition of the Railway – with specific reference to the “Crowsnest and KettleValley route of the Canadian Pacific Railway” – and to develop a national
awareness and appreciation of this Heritage.”
The Cranbrook History Mandate is to assemble a collection of documents and artifacts
on Cranbrook and immediate district and to develop museum facilities to properly care
for and exhibit these artifacts (see www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/cbk-mandate.html)
The Railway (specialty) Mandate is to collect, preserve, exhibit and interpret a collection
of artifacts on the railway and to develop museum facilities for this purpose. Special
reference is made to the Crowsnest route of the Canadian Pacific Railway and railway
travel aboard famous Canadian name trains - deluxe hotels-on-wheels - representing
special era (see www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/railway-mandate.html.
Conceptual Development Study for the Cranbrook Railway Museum (1990)
In 1990/91, the City of Cranbrook received the Conceptual Development Study for the
Cranbrook Railway Museum. See
http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/development_plan.html. At the time, this Plan was
based on many hypothetical aspects of the railcar collection (which was not yet entirely
assembled in Cranbrook) and the promise of the new site (with several parcels of
strategic land purchase not yet completed by the city). Most of the Plan has been
followed since, depending on funds and opportunities available, and it has set the stage
for this new Plan. See Appendix 9.1.4 Museum Capital Campaign Chart 1976- 2011 for
more details.
Museum Business Plan (1991)
The 1991 Museum Business Plan (See http://www.crowsnest.bc.ca/cmrt/BusinessPlan.pdf) provided a strong foundation for the operating structure of the Museum and
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some of its proposals have been followed in terms of budget and staffing levels as funds
have permitted, but the staff and the budget have not kept up to the levels
recommended at that time as the collections and facilities developed. The construction
of a facility to house the cars was another goal that has not come to fruition; therefore,
and it is chief among the objectives of the current Plan.
Basic Museum Operations and Tours of the Railcar Collection
The Museum operates year-round with professional staff and is busiest during the
summer season. The main attraction is the railcar collection, which can be visited only
on guided tours due to security and conservation issues.
The Museum is currently geared to servicing the inbound tourist market, due to the
national importance of the trains and traditionally has in excess of 10,000 visitors a year,
most of who pay for a tour of the railcars. The facility also has recently provided limited
free public display areas and has substantial unfinished space for future public displays
and meeting rooms for community use. The Royal Alexandra Hall is part of the regular
tours, but its potential as a community rental space is underutilized. See Appendix 9.1.3
for the Museum Components Table.
Municipal Role in the Museum
The City has played an essential role in the development of the Museum and accepted,
in principle, the 1990 Conceptual Development Study for the Cranbrook Railway
Museum and the associated 1991 Business Plan. The City also acknowledged that the
CAMAL Foundation would continue development of the railcar collection (including the
assembly of some railcars not yet brought to Cranbrook at that time), as well as the
development of facilities on the old and new sites.
It is important to note that the Museum railcar collection, the new buildings and site
improvement were built with significant funding from both the City and senior
government. The facility is debt-free without borrowing costs usually associated with
such as large civic-scale project. Development (cash) costs to date total almost $7
million and represent a unique feat compared to other public museums in Canada. This
illustrates a strong partnership with the City of Cranbrook, and it is doubtful if there is
any other local facility of this scale that has been built in this manner.
City funds have been used for land acquisition and capital improvements including
washroom construction/improvements, parking lot paving (thereby reducing cleaning
costs for the nearly 600 windows on the railcars and the buildings, as well as cooling
compressors under 13 of the cars) and fire hydrant installation. The infrastructure
projects covered by the City amounted to approximately $250,000 alone. The City also
provided $2.5 million in funding to support operations --approximately 50% of the
museum’s operating budget.
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The Museum Entrance Hall interior with its 2.5 storey-high carved oak fireplace that is the visitors’ first
impression and explains the thematic approach of the museum as design rather than mechanical.
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School children in the Cranbrook History Hall participating in an education program on local history.
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Financials/Budget
The proposed five year budget is broken into two basic areas: Operations and Capital
Development.
Operations encompasses activities such as archival maintenance, collections
development and restoration work, visitor services, advertising and promotions, staffing
costs and general administration. The annual operating budget is estimated to range
from $445,700 in 2013 to $546,900 in 2017.
Proposed public funding of approximately $330,000 per year are anticipated to support
the planned operations of the Museum. Direct City financial support accounts for the
largest revenue source for operations accounting for approximately 50% of annual
operating costs. Earned, self-generated, revenues from sales are anticipated to cover
the remaining operational expenses.
The Capital Development component of the budget focuses on completion of major
capital upgrades to complete the existing facilities as well as the construction of a
proposed 65,000 sq. Ft. structure (the “Train Building”) to completely enclose the rail
car collection. Capital construction investments for completion of the existing facilities
are planned over the period of 2013 to 2015 and will range in annual expenditures from
$120,000 to $510,000. The most significant capital cost is the completion of the
proposed Train Building planned to be constructed in 2017 at a current estimated cost
of $18.5 million.
A simplified itemized budget of the proposed 5-year budget is provided in Appendix 7.
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From the Upper Galleries looking down into the Main Entrance during special event shows
the versatility and the grandeur of this space.
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The Cranbrook Archives looking in through windows on the upper balcony of the Entrance Hall
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Governance
The Museum is operated by a non-profit organization, the Cranbrook Archives, Museum
and Landmark Foundation (CAMAL), a registered charity and the overall legal entity
responsible for the museum. This is a common form of governance for museums in
Canada.
The CAMAL Board is responsible for not only developing policy and overseeing the
appointment of an Executive Director, but ultimately the Board is responsible for
making sure that the resources are in place to operate the organization. Further, the
Board develops and maintains relationships at the municipal, provincial and federal
level, and providing strong connections with the community at all levels.
Other forms of governance include museums that are municipal departments, provincial
government agencies, federal agencies, and in a few cased private operators contracted
by governments to operate the facility.
Non-profits are generally seen as having the most flexibility of operation. In some cases
they have a contract for services with the local government that outlines in detail the
expectations and services to be provided in exchange for a fee. In other cases museums
may get some local grant in aid money. In a few cases funding comes as the result of a
local referendum.
A common problem with many non-profits is the lack of stability of funding. Finding
volunteer board members can also be an issue and more than one museum has
floundered when board level battles occurred.
Municipally operated museums have the advantage of more stable funding, but often
have difficulties in responding quickly to opportunities. They also can get lost in the
shuffle within the municipal structure if they do not have an executive level presence
within the management.
The City of Cranbrook has been a consistent supporter of the Museum, providing
essential operational and capital funding that have been crucial to the Museum’s long
term survival. The partnership between both organizations has clearly been beneficial to
the community. We recommend the City and CAMAL continue to look for ways to
maintain and strengthen this essential relationship.
CAMAL has undertaken a number of discussions about whether operations should
continue to be run by the non-profit organization. The ability to provide operational
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continuity during senior staff changes (particularly emergency changes), as well as
uninterrupted operation and maintenance of the sizeable and formidable physical plant
and artifact collections, make operating this facility by a volunteer board and undersized
staff increasingly tenuous. This issue has taken on a new urgency with the pending
retirement of the current Executive Director, the founder and driving force behind much
of the Museum development and successes over the past thirty plus years.
Does the Museum’s continuation as a non-profit entity providing adequate long-term
support for its responsibilities, sizeable collection, facilities, and physical plant? This key
question needs to be answered sooner rather than later.
CAMAL must continue to work hard to prove the value of the Museum to the
community. The simple reality is that the Museum needs more support if it is to
function properly as a museum (not necessarily as a tourist attraction) that provides
more programs for local residents, while maintaining important revenue from tourist
attendance into the community.
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Interior of the Model Railway Room with O-gauge model.
Insert shows detail on one of the miniature train bridges.
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The HO –Gauge model of the Historic Crowsnest Pass Railway Route showing the section of the Cranbrook
Railway yards with several historic railway buildings such as the Railway Ice House,
the Station and the Railway-YMCA.
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Succession Planning/Staffing
What has been accomplished to date is, in no small measure, the result of dedicated
staff and volunteers who have performed well beyond expectations. With three fulltime permanent staff supplemented by summer and grant staff, it is no minor miracle
what has been accomplished to date. However, this staffing level is not considered
enough to sustain the Museum and places it in increasing jeopardy. It should be noted
here that the Museum now has one less permanent staff position than it had in 2004
the year the Museum opened its new much larger site and facilities.
The current Executive Director will retire on or before the end of 2014. Immediate
action needs to be taken to add a second senior museum professional to the team. At
the moment no one on staff can step in for the Executive Director. This means that the
organization might be in real danger if the Director was unable to carry out his
responsibilities. The Museum is also missing out on opportunities such as expanded
programming, full use of the Royal Alexandra and other possibilities cited in this report
that could be explored and implemented by a second senior staff professional.
Current Positions
Executive Director / Curator
This is a full time position responsible for the providing the conceptual leadership,
overall operations of the Museum, curatorial functions for both the railway and
Cranbrook collections, development of the collections, grants writing and reporting,
budgeting, Board liaison and the Museum’s representative to the public. The Director
maintains primary responsibility for the care and interpretation of the railcar collection.
Office Manager
A full time position responsible for accounting, day to day office administration, support
and visual and systems security monitoring services, book keeping, reception for all
visitors, schedule and monitor all tours with guides and operate the gift shop/inventory.
Senior Tour Guide
This full time position provides rail car tours to public, supervises other seasonal and
volunteer tour guide training and supports the office manager and other tasks in the off
season. Currently this position helps by doing some basic archival accessioning when not
needed for tours.
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Archivist/ Reference Librarian
This part time position involves research and maintenance of both the archival and the
object collections and allows public access to the facility, including responding to
research requests from individuals and organizations, arranging for volunteers to assist
or perhaps arranging on a contract basis for commercial uses to recoup some costs.
The Archives Consultant advises that the current database and retrieval system works
well, but some existing material needs to have the descriptions updated and/or
corrected according to the nomenclature used. If this is not done sooner rather than
later, existing knowledgeable staff will not be able to supervise this work before
retirement, making the task much more difficult (and expensive) if not impossible.
Future accurate records make by put at risk. This work also includes all of the special
curatorial files that need to be entered into the database as identified by the current
Executive Director/Curator before he retires.
Tour Guides
Part time/ Seasonal position as required for seasonal expansion (ie federal program
summer students) and are supplemented by trained volunteer guides, particularly for
large group tours (over 10).
New proposed positions:
Associate Director
This full time position would be primarily responsible for marketing and program
development and with responsibility for and direct involvement in the daily operations
and rentals of the Royal Alexandra Hall for earning revenue to help support this
position.
The Associate Director could assist (the proposed) Exhibit Manager with development of
exhibits in new galleries, with temporary and travelling exhibits, and supervises the
Exhibit Program Manger position.
Exhibits Program Manager
This full time position involved pre-planning an annual gallery schedule, overseeing the
installation and construction of exhibits and staffing during the gallery operations. The
role of Exhibits Program Manager can be delivered initially by the Associate Director
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until such time as funding and activity levels warrant the separation of the two
positions.
Collections Assistant
This full time position would catalogue collections and oversee the required procedures
for care of the object and railcar/artifact collections. The position could be possibly
combined with an Archivist position as a full time Archivist and Object Registrar.
Restoration/Conservation Supervisor & Maintenance
This full time position would undertake restoration and specialized artifact conservation,
particularly the railcar collection. The position could also act as a building maintenance
supervisor, lead carpenter\contractor\maintenance.
Restoration Special Project Workers (Railcars collection)
Full or part-time and seasonal depending on what type of programs available. Typically
hired on a project basis via employment grants, these workers have limited skills and
require supervision. Ideally, hiring of skilled wood worker would be more appropriate.
Conservator and/or conservation services (primarily for the railcar artifact collection)
A full-time conservator would be responsible for the preservation and active
conservation of the collection. That said few museums have the physical and financial
resources required to keep such a person on staff. In addition to a substantial salary,
there would be the need for specialized lab space and collection care areas. In the
interim the role of Conservator and / or conservation services can be merged with the
Restoration/Conservation Supervisor & Maintenance position until such time as funding
and activity levels warrant the separation of the two positions.
There have been efforts by some museums in Canada to have a shared conservator. This
might be something that an organization like the Columbia Basin Trust could explore to
see if it is a viable option to assist the many museums (and archives) in the Basin that is
the repository for important Basin history.
See Appendix 3 for the Proposed Staff Organizational Chart, as well as Appendix 9.1.5
examples of various Museum Job Descriptions.
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Looking west with Car Curzon is to the right and car River Rouge to the left.
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SECTION VIEW of the Proposed Rail Car Preservation Building Design
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CMRT Master Development Plan
Protecting the Trains
By far the biggest challenge over the immediate future is the protection of the historic
railway passenger cars. While the cars were by their very nature originally designed to
be used outdoors, they were also intended to be upgraded, refurbished or even
scrapped on a regular basis. They were never meant to be preserved, particularly their
fragile interiors. The Museum on the other hand is in the business of preserving them in
their original glory.
The Museum has done an excellent job of refurbishment (including conservation,
restoration and replication as required) and has instituted a number of short-term
temporary ventures to help preserve them. However, as noted in the reports by Robert
Turner over the past 20 years and the more recent study by conservator Andrew Todd,
the railcars still do face many dangers. The latter report was undertaken at the
beginning the development of this 2012 Master Development Plan to asses all risks to
the collection and to provide a proper museum context for the Plan as well as to satisfy
the funding from the Museum Assistance Program of the Federal Ministry of Heritage.
It should be noted that no restoration work has been done on the interior paneling of
the railcars since 1992 since other more urgent task have had to be done such as
assembling the final parts of the collection is Cranbrook, which was largely completed in
2007.
An overall conservation assessment of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel has been
undertaken by an on-site visit and through research and analysis of the conservation
conditions at the site. Key conservation concerns as listed in the attached Conservation
Report are:

Light, at the top of the list is considered the most serious threat to museum
collections. Since windows have been covered on most of the rail cars, interiors
have been somewhat protected. There are still cars where a lot of sunshine can
affect decorated wood, fabric and organic materials.

Relative humidity is the next threat on the list of dangers to these artifacts.
Moisture content in the air can affect deterioration rates by being either too
high or too low. Ambient relative humidity needs to fluctuate at a gradual rate
and is dependent on temperature.

Temperature is the next factor in controlling the environment for suitable
preservation conditions. Along with relative humidity, temperature needs to rise
and fall at a gradual rate as well.
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
Air pollution is considered another major contributing factor in the deterioration
of artifacts in an outdoor environment especially. The present outdoor collection
of rail cars is also subject to wind-blown rain and snow in winter and blowing
sand in summer which causes weathering, etching and a sand-blasting effect to
exposed surfaces. Indoor environments can also suffer from ingress of noxious
fumes carrying gaseous and particulate pollutants. The railway yard environment
of the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel is particularly corrosive for the railcar
collection. A protective enclosure with mechanical air filters would reduce this
threat considerably.

Pest infestation in the form of wood tunneling insects, insects that consume
fabric fibers are the small scale dangers to the collection. Rats and mice can also
cause damage to the collection and finally birds and larger animals such as
raccoons and skunks need to be managed for protection purposes.

Shock and vibration are considered threats as well. In the location of the
Museum, there are a considerable number of events of this nature on a regular
basis as the result of active rail yard shunting. Plans to buffer fragile objects from
this activity should be implemented.

Natural emergencies are considered to be those rare but potentially devastating
events such as fire and floods.

Emergency response policies should consider these natural situations along with
other kinds of mechanical or service failures, such as power and again floods.

Theft, vandalism and misplacing objects are factors that threaten damage to
collections as well. Security and limiting access to collections can prevent
instances of loss or damage.
The loss of the collection is the biggest risk that the Museum faces. The rail cars need to
be enclosed in a building to provide true long-term protection. A train storage and
display facility will not only help protect the cars from the elements, it will improve
security and allow increased all-weather access for visitors. It will also dramatically
reduce operating costs, in particular gas and electrical utilities and exterior
maintenance.
The proposed trains building would be appropriately attached to the current Museum
building and be constructed over top and along the sides of the railcars. An optional
“Green Roof” has also been included in the building design for consideration.
See Appendix 4 for a more detailed discussion of the train enclosure, as well as
Appendix 5 for photos of the current conditions of various areas in the rail car
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collection. See also Appendix 9.2 for further design and costing details on the train
enclosure.
Note that given the scale and significant cost of the proposed train building design,
further feasibility assessments and consideration of design options will need to be
undertaken before a final design can be set.
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The Public Galleries (160 ft) showing the new window units installed along the outer front wall of the historic
Freight Shed. Each of the four Galleries opens into this space to the left of the photo.
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Exterior of the public galleries window units, showing the original proportions of the Freight Doors
which have been relocated for mounting as exhibits along the back wall of this building. The original transom
windows were incorporated into the upper parts of these new high-efficiency windows.
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Finishing Interior/Exterior
As stated previously, the Museum is comprised of a main building, housing the main
entrance area, Royal Alexandra Hall, gift shop, archives and other office space. Attached to
one end of the main building is the historic 1898 railway freight shed, one of the earliest
buildings in the city. In 1999, this building was moved slightly along the track to maintain its
original context but make more land available for the trains display area. A new foundation
provided a 5,000 square feet lower level and a modern interior was then incorporated on
the upper level while leaving the original exterior. The Museum was therefore able on both
levels to provide space for the new (permanent) Cranbrook History Gallery, new gallery
spaces for temporary exhibits, a small meeting room, storage, small maintenance workshop,
washrooms, two historic model railways and a Galleries Café with outdoor deck.
The entire Museum building has been designed around the principle of
“compartmentalization.” This means many sections of the facility can be operated
independently for reasons of security, controlled access, prevention of fire spread,
efficiencies in heating and cooling, and to host several events at one time without
conflicting with each other. As a result, each area must also have its own heating/cooling
ventilation system (HVAC) and access as well as auto-closing doors that are locked after
hours. The Museum’s railcar collection alone, for instance, has 52 exterior doors.
The unfinished sections have been roughed-in by using the skills of unemployed people on
Job Creations programs. With proper supervision and the use of consultants in some cases,
much valuable work and significant financial savings have been accomplished in advance
with building materials purchased under the program. Accessible spaces and runs have been
left for future ducting and HVAC equipment, for instance, and certain sections of the
temporarily-mounted drywall can be easily removed for the installation of electrical wiring
before the drywall is finished and painted.
Most of the remaining work must now be done by professional contractors using
professional design consultants, which is beyond the scope of the Job Creation programs.
This work will have to proceed on many fronts, among them: the installation of services
such as electrical, emergency and exit lighting; security systems; the HVAC systems; regular
and specialized lighting; taping, mudding and drywall finishing and painting; and flooring
along with some furnishings. The final professional work is required for the museum to
obtain an “Occupancy Permit” to allow the public to legally use the space(s).
While there is certainly some real cost in finishing off these various areas, the bulk of the
cost has already been paid for. The completion of some detailing on the lower floor of the
main building will contribute to the high standard that the Museum is known for, and this
includes some unfinished baseboards as well as decorative trim on the ceilings and wall,
which to date has been too expensive to complete.
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Ranges of costs for the various projects are given as a guide and are based on both the
experience of the consulting teams and information provided by the CMRT as part of recent
various potential grant applications. However, it is recommended that each specific project
should have an individual final design completed for detailed code compliance, an accurate
estimate of completion costs, and a business plan (including Return on Investment ROI
calculations, expected usage numbers, and so on).
Interior
Entrance Hall Completion
The large Museum Entrance Hall connects the new and old buildings and provides a
grand interpretive approach to the high-end trains on display as well as a space to orient
oneself to the many Museum components that are available. It represents an imposing
style used in the larger urban stations that the Museums’ historic trains would have
used.
Directly in front of the visitor entering the doors is the massive two and one-half storey
high-carved oak fireplace from the CPR’s Royal Alexandra Hotel of Winnipeg. This
dramatic feature is intended to set the tone for the Museum of being an historic
experience of railway art, architecture and design rather than a technical/mechanical
one.
Four new ultra-large detailed reproductions of historic railway maps were recently
placed on the tall walls of the entrance hall to help orient visitors stepping into the
Museum. These focus on the collections of trains, the routes they ran on, and the
strategic, historical and current context of Cranbrook in the North American railway
network. The maps also completed the room by filling in the large wall spaces that had
been reserved for them when the new Museum facilities opened in 2004.
Expectations are that this area will continue to function as a place to introduce visitors
to the many aspects of the facility as well as a gathering point for groups and a spot for
events and receptions. It serves well as an appropriate “quality approach” to the historic
trains, which remain the Museum’s prize holding.
Work Required: Some ceiling, wall and baseboard trim work and touch-up
painting. Additional signage will be needed for the new galleries, notably a
suggested combination of electronic signs (to show changing exhibitions) and
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traditional signs. Space for this has been provided on the back wall of the upper
stairs landing and is clearly visible from the main space.
Office and Ticket area Completion
To the left of the Main Entrance and through a set of glass doors, the ticket counter area
serves as the entrance point to the Gift Shop, Restoration Interpretive Area, Royal
Alexandra Hall and Railway Collection.
Work Required: Some finishing and trim work. The Museum is also planning
some semi-transparent blinds that will help visually shield the second staff work
area from the main tour ticket area. These can be opened when the Royal
Alexandra Hall is in use since this area is the primary entrance to the hall.
Gift Shop Completion
The Gift Shop is located to the left of the Main Entrance and immediately behind the
Ticket area and contains many items for sale for both rail enthusiasts and materials
relating to local arts and heritage.
The revenue generated by the gift shop is a direct reflection of visitor numbers. As the
scope of the exhibits throughout the Museum develops beyond trains, the scope of the
material in the shop can expand as well. It has the potential to become the go-to place
for Cranbrook residents seeking items that not only reflect rail travel, but human and
natural history of the region.
Work Required: Mounting of the display lights (circuits already installed). The
1998 Crowsnest Pass Railway Route Centennial exhibit, which is currently
temporarily displayed up against the north wall in the gift shop area, is planned
for relocation to the HO Model Railway in the lower freight shed when that room
can be completed. This should provide increased room for display of
merchandise.
New furnishings should also be provided along with priority development of
inventory specific to the historic trains and the whole perspective of railway
heritage that the Museum uniquely displays. These would help market the
museum experience by continuing the historical message even after the visitors
have returned home.
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The shop could also display art and gift items related to specific temporary
exhibitions in the Galleries on the upper floor of the freight shed. Organizations
and businesses should be able to think of the shop as a place to get gifts for
clients and staff, and the Museum leaves it open when special evening events
are held in the Royal Alexandra Hall. This policy could be expanded as other parts
of the facility are completed and new programs begin.
Restoration Interpretive Area Completion
Between the Gift Shop and the Railway Collection, this area provides a fascinating
example of a wood panel in its pre-restoration and deteriorated condition through the
various stages of paint removal, and finally to the restored stained and varnished
original mahogany inlaid wood. A companion Audio Visual presentation on the
restoration has been developed, and large explanatory panels have been dedicated to
the Museum’s railcar sets in detail.
Work Required: Completed
Royal Alexandra Hall Completion
Central to the Museum is the stunning Royal Alexandra Hall (2800 square foot/2.5
stories high inside) with its oak interior walls, chandeliers, French doors, windows and
ceiling.
Continual conservation care for the Hall is required as it is not just another room; it is an
artifact that people can occupy. Further work is required to develop better management
practices that will enable the hall to be more fully utilized while ensuring that the
heritage aspects of the asset are conserved.
Work Required: No immediate work is required, however skylights and interior
cornice lighting are still to be installed, and all circuits have been run to the
locations and hooked into the main service. However, the exterior of the Hall
should also have its own signage and is on the Museum project list as funds
permit. Large traditional raised gold letters placed on the long exterior cornice
are being considered to promote the Hall as a special place at the Museum,
particularly if the rental operations can be expanded as is recommended.
A concert grand piano is required for music performance of all types in the hall,
which is considered acoustically superb by musicians and should be rated by an
acoustics engineer. The historic 1864 Broadwood Concert piano can be used in
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some performance contexts, but it is not considered current enough for
contemporary musicians. With some small modifications, the controlledenvironment piano storage room is capable of holding a second grand piano.
Catering Space Completion
Located adjacent to the Royal Alexandra Hall, this current catering “holding” (nonpreparation) area next to the Hall has been designed to allow private caterers to
contract directly with renters and assume all liability for food services.
Work Required: Tiling floor and walls, commercial dishwasher, and heated
serving shelving for more efficient catering (holding) procedures.
Main Museum Upper Floor - Staff / Volunteer Lounge Completion
This room, currently functioning as a Board Room and meeting room, is above the
catering area and is was complete in 2004. It is designated to become a staff / volunteer
lounge once the new Board Room can be completed on the upper back floor as noted
below.
Work Required: Complete
Main Museum Upper Floor - Archival Reading Room Completion
Work Required: Heating and cooling (small HVAC unit), some finishing work
around the valence lighting, and restore the one of two original Royal Alexandra
Dining Room doors
Main Museum Upper Floor - Back office/meeting room area completion: (3 offices,
boardroom and conference room)
This area sits above the Gift Shop and Restoration Interpretive area and includes a
number of offices the run parallel to an open mezzanine overlooking the reception area
for the Alexandra Hall below. The conference room can be easily sub-divided into two
small offices.
Work Required: One HVAC unit is needed for the whole area along with
electrical, communications and lighting and lowered ceilings. Furniture and
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carpet is already provided in all spaces. Trim, drywall finishing, and install jambs,
paint and restore the one original Royal Alexandra Dining Room door, located in
the Board Room. These meeting rooms would also be available for general public
meeting room use.
(Performance)Mezzanine for Reception Hall use Completion
This area runs the length of the Main Museum upper floor and overlooks the Royal
Alexandra Hall reception hall below.
Work Required: Five sliding glass doors are required to cover the openings to
the reception hall below. Sandwich the existing original etched glass (stored)
panels in between safety glass. Other minor finishes required include trim,
drywall finishing, paint, some door hardware and baseboards.
For emergency exits purposes at the north-east end of the upper floor at this
stairwell, a code check should be done in case sprinklers are needed to cover the
glass doors and the windows of the office areas on the main floor. The intended
exit from this floor, as designed by Thorkelsson Architects, used the main front
doors and not the excursion trains doors at the back, which open onto private
property (for use by the CPR’s “Royal Canadian Pacific”).
Stairwell Completion (new main stairs from main level and the exit stairs at the southwest end)
Work Required: Trim, drywall finishing and paint.
Completion of the Historic Freight Shed - Overall
Work on the exterior and interior of this 1898 building began in 1994 when it was
purchased for $10,000 for the Museum by the City as part of the land acquisition for the
property. After a structural analysis by engineers, it was found to be in excellent shape.
It was moved onto a new foundation in 1999, providing an excellent new support
system along with the installation of a new basement.
Work Required: The freight shed is a hybrid building that combines new
construction with portions of an historic building. While overall the building has
been brought up to code, the deteriorated exterior sheathing should be replaced
with the original deep clapboard (some of which still exists on the back) and
building wrap installed under it for efficiency. This will also allow work teams to
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check and repair the internal lateral blocking at the base of the floor, which was
found to be inconsistent when interior insulation, vapour barrier and drywall was
installed in 1994.
Both levels of the freight shed have also been compartmentalized for efficiencies
and protection against the spread of fire. As a result, several areas require their
own HVAC units.
Lower Freight Shed Area - The Cranbrook History Gallery Completion
The Gallery opened in June 2011 with permanent exhibits consisting of text, images and
graphics. The large and comprehensive “Explore Historic Cranbrook” Heritage Map is
also part of this development; it encourages tourists and locals are to visit other historic
aspects of the city as an “external community museum experience”. The large 2005 City
Centennial Quilt is also on permanent display here. Altogether, these three elements
form the foundation of a “Cranbrook Museum,” which will be enhanced by special
temporary exhibits on local history in the upper floor galleries
Work Required: This space is virtually complete with local history is now being
displayed in this area in the lower freight shed.
Lower Freight Shed Area - The Model Railway Displays Completion
Located at the far end of the Shed area, this large room is accessed by a set of glass
doors and contains two very large model railways that take up much of the space in the
room. The “O Gauge” set is a massive 40-foot long by 20-foot wide model, comprising
mountains, rivers, bridges and trees, all to scale. Slightly smaller, the “HO gauge” set
represents the Historic Crownest Pass Railway Route showing the section of the
Cranbrook Railway yards with several historic railway buildings such as the Railway Ice
House, the Station and the Railway-YMCA.
Both the O gauge and HO gauge model railways require completion, as does the room
itself. The concept is that this portion of the museum will be a separate paid-access
space particularly for tourists. However, locals can purchase an annual Museum
membership; after the second visit, the rest of the visits in a year are free.
Work Required: In order to complete the model railway room itself requires an
HVAC unit, electrical for display lighting and train operations, exit and emergency
lighting, flooring, glass shields to protect both models that also provide easy
access for maintenance and repair, signage and token-operated access turnstiles.
The O-gauge (Railways in Southern BC - Coast-to-Rockies) model upgrades
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include: completion of the track work to uninterrupted working standards to
meet the requirements of paid attendance; cosmetic work to repair the seams
on the model, where it had to be cut into 38 sections for movement to
Cranbrook in 2008, and the electrical system for trains operation. Due to the
complexity, fragility and value ($325,000 in 1994 dollars) special attention to the
reconstruction of this model will be required to ensure the model works
consistently on demand if people are paying for access to it.
The HO-gauge (Historic Crowsnest Railway Route) model is currently being
worked on by volunteers and could open once an occupancy permit to the room
is obtained.
Lower Freight Shed Area - Ted Fiedler Room Completion
Besides its use for the general community, special museum functions and model railway
volunteers, this room is particularly important for the expanded school program now
being offered in Cranbrook and railway history. Being adjacent to the Cranbrook History
Gallery, this room is ideal since it can be efficiently heated to a comfortable level for
class discussions. This meeting space will be available for rental and programming.
Work Required: It requires baseboards, a heating and cooling system (HVAC
unit), flooring, lowered ceiling for dimmable spots, an adjacent coffee service
room, audio-visual equipment and a wall screen. The room already has lighting,
plugs and enough tables and chairs for groups of 50 people.
Lower Freight Shed Area - Small Maintenance Shop Completion
Work Required: Interior walls and door framing and drywall, trim, finish drywall,
paint, small heater, but no cooling, work benches, (tools already exist for
building maintenance).
Lower Freight Shed Area - Costume Storage Room Completion
Historic replica gowns and costumes for use by volunteers are stored in this secure
room.
Work Required: Completed.
Upper Freight Shed Area - Exhibition Galleries Completion
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There are four galleries of 400 square feet each that can be used for a wide variety of
two-dimensional and three-dimensional exhibits along with a 130 foot long hallway
gallery of 1300 square feet suitable for wall-based exhibits. The total space is therefore
about 3,000 square feet along with 600 linear feet of sturdy wall space for exhibits.
These large spaces will therefore allow multiple exhibits of history and art to be
presented at one time with overlap for a continuing and changing series of exhibits to
bring locals back over and over throughout the year.
The Museum regularly hosted a successful temporary exhibits program during the
period 1980-85 before the railcar collection dramatically increased in size and required
most staff attention (see www.crowsnest.bc.ca/tcltd/4481_01.html). It utilized an 84foot long baggage car as a temporary exhibit space for a combination of history,
traveling and local art exhibits. This prototype operation is now being re-established and
substantially expanded in new flexible gallery space on the upper level of the Freight
Shed.
Short-term history exhibits developed in-house will be a draw for visitors and locals
alike, as will temporary travelling exhibits coming from outside of Cranbrook. With the
development of these galleries the Museum also has the potential to collaborate
regionally with other institutions in developing exhibits while also attracting collections
from elsewhere in Canada and internationally.
Work Required: Trim, taping and mudding of the drywall, LED display lights and
general lighting, heating & cooling, painting, flooring, emergency and exit
lighting, office communications and furnishings. Two galleries were painted in
fall 2011 with temporary lights.
Upper Freight Shed Area - The Galleries Café Completion
The café adjacent to the galleries in the upper freight shed is another important part of
the development of the Museum that is intended for private lease. In the centre of the
café is a small raised platform with large heritage etched glass panels on each side and
small piano that would allow small music performances and poetry reading, etc to
create further ambience day and night. This involves performing artists to enrich the
total museum visit for locals and tourists. The intention to also have an outdoor deck for
customers in the summer (see Appendix 9.4.4 for a plan drawing of the proposed deck).
The cafe will bring in revenue, which could be used to subsidize the gallery exhibition
program. It should also increase visitor traffic to the site and extend the total amount of
time spent in the museum by tourists and locals as they linger over meals while enjoying
the cafe’s historic ambience. This includes safely watching real operating trains on the
adjacent tracks as well as observing the galleries from the other side of the café.
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The location and configuration of the space at the far end of the upper freight shed
allows for the cafe to be completely closed off from the Museum and galleries when
needed. This means that the lessee could probably operate the facility outside of normal
Museum hours with little to no impact if certain procedures and policies are in place.
Selection of the right operator will be crucial and should be based on the right fit, not
just revenue potential. A flat lease rate along with some profit sharing from groups
booked through the Museum and events at the Museum would be the best situation
Work Required: The provision of handicapped access to this area during these
hours will have to be addressed since, to meet code requirements, the
handicapped lift is located in the Museum entrance hall past the galleries. One
place to provide an outdoor lift would be on the exterior deck off the cafe, with
the awning keeping the lift out of direct weather. There is also direct access from
the outside for bringing in supplies.
The outside deck construction will be a future project and will enhance the
operation of the café and its public access.
The bottom line is capital will be required over several years to complete these
community spaces and revenue-generating spaces of the Museum. See Appendix 6 for a
summary Chart of interior finishing work required.
Exterior
1898/1946 Railway Water Tower
To the east of the main building and at the far eastern end of the Museum property is a
water tower (complete with its original interior shielded wooden tank), and was moved
to the property in 1996. Built in 1946 and based on an 1898 design that it replaced, the
tower has an imposing presence on the grounds and in the downtown. It is one of the
few such towers remaining in the country, and this one still has its original 15,000 gallon
wooden-slat, steel-banded tank situated on massive braced timbers. The water tower is
used as an outdoor exhibit and has interior exhibits that were installed in 1996, but is
presently being used for temporary storage.
The tower’s major function is as a community heritage landmark of some architectural
value and it certainly is a distinctive feature along the highway and the Museum
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property.
Work Required: The conservator did notice some weathering and recommends a
treatment regime to help preserve the structure. Some of the clapboard on the
weathered side may have to be replaced, since it was in a slightly deteriorated
condition when given to the Museum. The current fire and intrusion monitoring,
connected through the Elko Station monitored security system, appears to be
adequate.
The “Elko” Station
This small station building dates back to 1901 and was moved to the (former) Museum
site from Elko (43 miles east of Cranbrook) in 1987. Since the relocation of the Museum
in 2002, it has in recent years been rented out as office space at fair market value.
Currently it is unoccupied, as parking problems for any retail use must be solved since it
offers only a small, two-car lot. Continued rental of the space to a compatible private or
public partner makes the most sense in the short term, once the parking and other
vehicular access problems can be solved.
Work Required: Review of the Elko Station by the conservator found the building
to be in good condition with only a few signs of general weathering and some
impact by animals. The Museum has a contract with a pest controller at all times.
The current fire and intrusion monitoring seems adequate. The lack of parking
needs to be examined with the City or CPR.
CPR Railway Station
Another building on the grounds yet not part of the Museum is the old CPR Railway
Station. Once of traditional design, it has undergone a number of major
“modernizations” over the decades. Until 2009 it was used by the CPR for office space. It
is currently unused but is still owned by the railway.
The acquisition of the building and land would create an uninterrupted 1.4-km long
piece of land with many original heritage railway structures that could be promoted as a
linear Heritage Urban Park. The fact that it is situated downtown on BC arterial highway
3/95 and along the still-operating railway tracks and yard makes it a dream location for
any museum or any heritage development.
Work Required: Should the building/property come up for sale, the Museum
could explore options for obtaining. However, since the Museum has so many
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other responsibilities, it should not take on this particular project. It should,
however, be involved in a support role with the city and other community
partners to improve the downtown and the Museum property enhancing the
visual and physical links between the two.
The Trains Display Area
The display area sits to the west of the property and is connected to the main building.
The Museum’s collection of railway cars are currently stored outdoors and surrounded
by a 10-foot high metal mesh security fence. Entrance to the area is via the main
Museum building for security and tour-scheduling purposes. Access through the two
exterior gates to the collection is carefully monitored with staff always in attendance
when the gates are open. Furthermore, no keys are given to contractors or special
project employees when they work on the cars since there is no staff located in this area
or in the cars themselves. These and other special security procedures form part of the
Museum’s insurance policy to keep rates as low as possible while protecting the
extremely valuable contents.
Work Required: See above Protecting the Trains section above.
Historic CPR “ALCO” Diesel Engines (A & B units – outdoor permanent display)
Adjacent to the Elko Station is the display of the ALCO Diesel locomotive units (A&B)
donated to the Museum from Canadian Pacific Railway’s historic collection in the late
1980s. These units were stored off-site for many years until the Museum’s 2002
relocation. At that time, they were moved onto the former site at no cost to the railway
by using the rails laid across King Street that has been placed temporarily to remove the
14 passenger cars. A crane lift of these 100-plus ton diesels would have cost in the range
of $20,000.
The Museum retained title to the locomotives as artifacts in order to control their
future. It was made clear to all, however, that their restoration would have to be a
community project since the Museum was already heavily involved with preservation of
the trains in the fenced display area.
Work Required: The Sunrise Rotary Club project is underway to cosmetically
restore the exteriors of the diesels to reasonable museum standards, processes
and documentation (expected completion in 2012).
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The former museum site looking south-west past the Elko Station and Water Tower to the CPR Station beyond.
The active tracks of the Canadian Pacific Railway are on the far right.
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The north-east museum wing –the Historic (wooden) 1898 Freight Shed attached to the new brick Museum
Entrance beyond. The Royal Alexandra Hall is at the far end.
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Risks and Opportunities
Another fundamental challenge facing the CMRT from the beginning is overcoming the
public’s traditional perception of what a railway museum entails, complete with all the
steam-engine stereotypes.
The Museum developed a very tightly defined railcar/artifact collections policy at the
start in 1976 to prevent limited resources being spent on equipment that did not
support the special thematic approach for which the Museum is now well known and
which has gained respect from museum professionals. This collections policy and
process is well explained in both the Turner Studies of 1992 and 2007.
The Museum instead must market effectively and continue to communicate the fact
that it offers a unique opportunity to literally step back into the golden age of railway
travel as visitors climb aboard some of the most historic and luxurious railcars ever built.
It is a more social history experience with an emphasis on railway design, art and
architecture over the usual technical and mechanical themes of most railway museums.
As is the case with many other cultural institutions, the Museum also faces the constant
challenge of securing funding for capital improvements and present and future
operations. For this reason we have included a discussion on possible worst case
scenarios in the event the Museum is unable to maintain its present and future funding.
See Appendix 8 “What If? A Discussion of Museum Closure Scenarios”.
Market Analysis
The 2011 Census population figures showed that the Regional District of East Kootenay
had a population of 56,685, an increase of 2.2 percent from 2006.
Overall the region has a slightly younger population than BC as a whole and is slightly
less educated. In terms of employment there is a significantly larger percentage of
individuals working in the forestry and mining sectors (28 percent vs 10 percent for BC
as a whole). The same goes for tourism with 9 percent of regional residents working in
this sector compared with 6 percent for BC in general. Average family income is $75,000
here ($80,500 in BC).
Tourism Market
The American tourism market to Canada and BC has witnessed a steady decline since
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2001. Since then less than half the numbers of Americans cross the border into the
region than before. Over that same period, however, room revenue from all sources has
increased from $86 million to $137 million.
A detailed study done in 2007 at Fort Steele Heritage Town (located just north of
Cranbrook and operated by a not-for-profit society) found that 36 percent of its visitors
were from BC, of which 16.8 percent hailed from the East Kootenay region. A further
28.5 percent were from Alberta, 6.9 percent from other parts of Canada, 16.4 percent
from the USA and 12.2 percent from other international countries.
The Fort Steele survey also broke visitors down into age demographics:






24.4 percent were over 65 years of age
27.3 percent between 55 – 65
23.9 percent 45 – 54
14.7 percent 35-44
8.5 percent 25 – 34
1.2 percent under 25
The study also showed that word of mouth recommendations from family and friends
had been the most important factor in choosing to visit the site, followed by signage.
The Executive Director of the Museum reports similar anecdotal findings.
Tourism BC identifies that 11 percent of Canadian adults consider themselves 'heritage
enthusiasts” and 17 percent of Americans define themselves in a similar way. Overall,
BC Museums & Galleries have over 7 million visits a year.
Risks
Potential challenges facing the CMRT include:

Small residential and regional market compared to centers such as Calgary or
Vancouver.

Ups and downs of the province’s economy that may affect smaller communities
more.

Softness of the tourism market, specifically the declines in American tourists in
the region and across BC as well as Alberta.
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
Size of the federal deficit and other priorities discourages investment in cultural
infrastructure.

Existing federal initiatives such as the Museums Assistance Program prioritizes
travelling exhibit funding over artifact conservation.

Provincial programs are not aimed at museum priorities. As an example, the BC
Arts Council is mainly focused on artistic endeavors and does not appear to
account for museums’ fixed cost required to operate facilities versus the more
flexible costs associated with running cultural programs.

The Executive Director is nearing retirement (latest at end of 2014) and there is a
lack of other employees with museum backgrounds on staff to provide overlap
for the transition. Much of the museum development and operational
“corporate archives” knowledge is invested in this person as the founder of the
organization. Unless sufficient time is given to him to share his 35 years of
knowledge for assembly, categorization and/or chronological organization and
storage, it may be all or partly lost and very difficult and costly to reassemble and
interpret for use by future curators.
Opportunities
Marketing
The Museum already gets excellent free press in travel books and journals and it has a
reasonable budget for paid advertising in strategic publications. Additional signage in
the community and on the highways will also help.
The Museum has a long history of being well-supported by the local media, but other
community publications of all types should continually advertise the museum
experience to assist local marketing. This should involve all sectors in the community
from the City to the Chamber to local businesses and community groups. For example,
the Museum should also be profiled at Canadian Rockies International Airport, and the
air carriers that service it, to increase the Museum's profile with air travelers. The
Museum promotion should also work with the City and Chamber and other regional
tourist promotional organizations and opportunities in order to promote the Museum
more effectively to the visiting public.
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The Museum should also take the opportunity to develop the social media market with
a presence on Facebook and Twitter. While right at this moment it might not make
sense to spend much money on these avenues, they should be developed as the
Museum expands its local program base. A work experience student, possibly from the
College of the Rockies, could probably be used to help get these innovations off the
ground.
The Museum should also be positioned and promoted as “a regional exhibition facility”
of this type that is able to offer programs over the whole year since it is an indoor
venue, and to offer the proper security that most traveling exhibits require. This might
also enable the Museum to apply for some assistance from the Regional District.
The Museum might consider offering hotels a commission in attracting groups with
package deals, and has some experience in having special rates for hotel customers.
For local visitors, the museum should continue to concentrate on completing facilities
for its free programs like the Cranbrook History Gallery and the exhibition galleries in
the upper freight shed, as well as free event listings and specific articles in newspapers,
local TV and radio.
Various existing annual events such as the Pre-Christmas Gala Dinner, the Royal
Alexandra Masquerade, the Canada Day Citizenship Ceremony and the CBT August
regional tours are also good marketing vehicles. As noted earlier, further use of the
Royal Alexandra Hall as a performance venue in partnership with the Key City Theatre
would be an excellent local/district audience generator. If the second senior staff can be
brought on as soon as possible, local/rental use of the Hall could take off” as explained
earlier. In keeping with the logic of word-of-mouth promotion, attendees at these
events would, in turn, encourage their friends and family to visit the museum and its
multiple paid and free attractions.
The value of increasing local use through numerous school program options in an allweather facility have already been mentioned above, and form a specific long-term (unending) market group.
Visitor Numbers
Calculating the number of potential visitors to a museum can be a somewhat difficult
task. There is no doubt that the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel has the potential to
generate many more local visitors by completing the partially finished building facilities
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and creating programming aimed at the local and immediate district market such as
travelling exhibits and school tours. It is also crucial that these first few exhibits and
programs are well developed as word of mouth will be key for future audience
development.
Tourist numbers have the ability to expand as well, especially the bus tour market.
The goal should be to triple overall visitor numbers within five years of finishing the
facilities and providing the necessary operating and program staff. Local expansion
would be mostly by increased attendance at Royal Alexandra Hall events and changing
exhibitions in the public galleries.
Consistent provision of tourism services to the level as advertised is vital. If visitors are
promised something, the Museum must consistently deliver on that. This will always be
a challenge for the Museum to ensure the number of trained staff and volunteer guides
are available for large group tours.
Royal Alexandra Hall
There is no doubt that the Hall is an asset for the Museum, but it does bring its own set
of operational issues. Current operating practices make its full potential from a revenue
and programming perspective difficult to achieve. The Museum did carry out a four-year
testing of the hall’s rental potential from its opening in 2004 until the end of 2007. Due
to the late evening/early morning hours of many rentals, and the current operating
practices of the Museum, this could not be sustained.
The current catering “holding” (non-preparation) area next to the hall has been
designed to allow private caterers to contract directly with renters and assume all
liability for food services. This policy also allows the private sector to compete for profit
from rentals of this public facility while also removing the need for the Museum to have
specialized food servicing staff on hand. That said, some simple limited and occasional
small heritage food programs in the hall, such as tea and scones served by Museum
volunteers, could be done without major food liability implications. However, some
upgrading is necessary even for these small types of programs.
Expanding this catering (holding) area to become a full kitchen to allow preparation of
food for large groups would require a more comprehensive evaluation.
On the plus side, the Hall has the potential to enhance the use of the Museum by local
residents and visitors alike. Having numerous events throughout the year will increase
the vitality of the Museum –and potentially increase Museum revenues. Ultimately,
CAMAL needs to make a firm decision about the future of the Hall, considering the
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appropriate balance between protecting the building artifacts and increasing
community use and revenue.
Complementary Competition
Within the immediate local region there are three facilities that can be considered
competition for the CMRT, namely Fort Steele Heritage Town, the Sullivan Mine
Interpretive Centre and the Ktunaxa Interpretive Centre. All three are heritage focused
yet are really quite different experiences and are in fact complementary. Fort Steele is
also seasonal and not fully open in the winter but does have special events, and
programming throughout the year. However, the CMRT is an indoor facility and is
developing school programs in this part of the year when there is much less competition
for people’s time in other more outdoor heritage facilities. Nevertheless, all three
facilities should develop an on-going relationship –one that shares visitor information
and leverages potential shared marketing opportunities.
Attracting New Residents
As the 'urban' centre for the region, Cranbrook needs to attract a variety of staff for
positions in corporate offices, the hospital and educational institutions. Facilities like the
CMRT can assist in attracting workers and their families from larger urban centers where
such facilities are more common and expected for a quality of life. Smaller centers can
more effectively compete in this way to draw people to their community over others
that do not have these important “community-defining” types of cultural facilities.
The Canadian Council of Chief Executives said in 2006 that "artistic and cultural
creativity plays an important role in transforming communities into destinations of
choice for skilled people in any occupation". The same report added that “a
community’s cultural infrastructure has a direct impact on quality of life … and therefore
on the competitiveness of communities in attracting people and investment.”
The Museum should work with the City and Chamber of Commerce to promote the
Museum as a local arts and cultural facility in any attraction initiatives.
School programs development
As has been mentioned above in programs, school programs create a whole new
audience of potentially thousands of students in Cranbrook and district as well as school
groups traveling through the area.
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Visit us at www.trainsdeluxe.com
An example of some of the stunning inlay work found in many of the deluxe rail cars, such as the car “Curzon”
from the 1907 Soo-Spokane Train Deluxe. There is excess of 100,000 square feet of varnished inlaid paneled
surfaces in the railcar collection that are in urgent need of long-term conservation
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Conclusion
Since 1977 Canadian Museum of Rail Travel has built up an impressive collection and
facility but still faces significant challenges to its continued operation --issues both
unique to museums and common to any organization need to be dealt with.
The Museum has experimented, tweaked and pulled off a few minor miracles to build
on one of the most significant railway heritage collections of any type in Canada and
along the way figured out ways of maintaining a sizable operation with a very small, but
increasingly unsustainable, budget.
The costs in the operating budget related to the preservation of the railcar artifact
collection are difficult to balance against the cost to deliver expected public access to
the artifacts and programs. This Museum is challenged due to the high costs of energy
for preservation including environmental controls and security for the fragile interiors of
the cars as has already been pointed out in the Conservation Plan. Without the artifacts
being preserved, there would literally be no Museum.
Since there are so many components to the Museum – it is not only a railway museum –
there are many opportunities that would make the Museum earn even more revenue
than it currently does as well as involve many more tourists, but more importantly, local
attendance and involvement. These include the capital completion of the two historic
Model Railways and the Exhibition Galleries, as well as the expansion of Royal Alexandra
Hall events, particularly rentals.
We remain hopeful that the community, Museum staff, Board, private donors, local,
regional, provincial and federal governments will continue to build on the successes of
this outstanding facility for the benefit of generations to come.
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Appendix
1. CAMAL Constitution & Bylaws
2. City of Cranbrook Museum Development Committee Terms of Reference
3. Proposed Staff Organization Chart
4. Trains Enclosure Discussion
5. Photo Examples of Required Conservation
6. Interior Finishing Required Work Chart
7. Financial Information
8. What If? A Discussion of Museum Closure Scenarios
9.1 General Material
9.1.1 Risk Assessment and Recommendations
9.1.2 Conservation Report
9.1.3 Museum Components Table
9.1.4 Museum Capital Campaign Chart 1976- 2011
9.1.5 Museum Job Descriptions Examples
9.2 Proposed Railcar building
9.2.1 Trains Building Architectural Design
9.2.2 Trains Building Mechanical Concept Design Report
9.2.3 Trains Building Class “C” Cost Estimate
9.3 The Railcar Collection
9.3.1 Rail Car Collection schematics with development/requirements
9.3.2 Conservation/restoration work on railcars - overview with
assessment
9.3.3 House of Commons Hearings into the establishment of a National
Railway Museum (Oct/2006) - submission by the Canadian Museum of
Rail Travel
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9.3.4 Correspondence with the Canadian Railway Museum (Montreal)
regarding potential Canadian Museum of Rail Travel Collection
association with the establishment of a National Railway Museum (2007)
9.4 The Museum Buildings
9.4.1 Existing Building Floor Plans showing detailed aspects of the design
and operation
9.4.2 Building HVAC Analysis Details
9.4.3 Museum Facilities Size Comparison to three locations in Downtown
Cranbrook
9.4.4 Exterior Café Deck design and drawings on NE end of Freight Shed
9.5 The Exhibition Galleries - Development and Operation
9.5.1 Potential Exhibition Gallery Programming
9.5.2 Letter of Understanding from the Cranbrook & District Arts Council
to the Museum Regarding Exhibition Galleries Development at the
Museum (2011)
9.6 Royal Alexandra Hall - Development and Operation
9.6.1 Royal Alexandra Development Hall - (draft) Operations Budget
(2011-2018)
9.6.2 Royal Alexandra Hall (draft) Rental Application (2010)
10. OTHER REFERENCES
10.1.1 The Plan Terms of Reference
10.1.2 The Consulting Team details
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