Exporail: The Canadian Railway Museum

Opened in 1965 as the Canadian Railway Museum, Exporail is the largest railway museum in Canada, located on a 50-acre site in the suburban Montreal communities of Delson and St. Constant. The Museum possesses a world-class collection of railway-related artifacts, documents, and works of art, including 160 pieces of rolling stock, three of which have been designated as National Historic Sites. In 2004, Exporail opened a major new $12 million exhibition hall to better showcase its collection and tell the story of the railway's importance for the growth and development of the Canadian nation.

Exporail opened its new Angus Pavilion in 2004 which provided visitors with a much-upgraded experience. That same year, Exporail asked Lord Cultural Resources to conduct an independent review of its operations and collections to ensure a sound basis for the future planning. Our review provided an incisive assessment of Exporail's institutional structure, its collection, exhibitions and programs, market context, and strategic and operational plan.

“I am writing to you to express my great satisfaction with the work Lord Cultural Resources…has done for Exporail…The report produced by Lord was comprehensive, completed within the time parameters and dealt with the various issues in a thorough and highly experienced manner.”

C. Stephen Cheasley, General Chairman, Fundraising Committee, Exporail

We were asked back in 2021 to develop a facility expansion plan for the Angus Pavilion which included a complete assessment of Exporail’s audiences, functions, site and facilities. Our recommendations focused not only on a building extension, but also on repurposing of existing spaces for maximum efficiency as well as strategies to maximize attendance and revenue generation while also ameliorating back-of-house collection storage and processing issues.