Cranbrook History Centre — Canadian Museum of Rail Travel

The Cranbrook History Centre, formerly the Canadian Museum of Rail Travel, is one of the most distinguished railway heritage sites in North America, located in the heart of Cranbrook, British Columbia. At the core of the Centre is its extraordinary collection of 28 vintage railway passenger cars — the largest assembly of early 20th-century Canadian passenger rail equipment in North America — including the only surviving complete set of the 1929 Trans-Canada Limited luxury train, with its breathtaking stained-glass domes, inlaid mahogany interiors, and period-authentic tableware. The museum beautifully captures the golden age of Canadian rail travel, when riding the transcontinental was a refined and luxurious experience. A centrepiece of the site is the Royal Alexandra Hall, the grand oak-paneled café from the CPR’s 1906 Royal Alexandra Hotel in Winnipeg, painstakingly dismantled and reconstructed in Cranbrook. The museum also features exhibits on First Nations history, a remarkable East Kootenay paleontology gallery with trilobites and other ancient sea life, and the CPR’s role in shaping the region. Open Tuesday through Saturday year-round, the Cranbrook History Centre stands as both a nationally significant heritage institution and a captivating destination for any visitor interested in the history of travel, design, and culture in western Canada.