There are lots of railway history and railfan websites, magazines and clubs. These are my top picks for anyone interested in the railways of eastern Ontario and west Québec.
The Mother Lode
Colin Churcher’s Railway Pages is the number one source of information about railways in the Ottawa region. You can access it here. Colin has transcribed tens of thousands of newspaper reports and hundreds of other documents. You can search or browse by year or location.
The site also hosts the findings of the Ottawa Railway History Circle.
Magazine Archives
Branchline magazine covers the whole Canadian railway scene, but features the Ottawa region. The Bytown Railway Society has published Branchline for fifty years. You can access a full index of back issues here or browse them by year here.
Canadian Rail, published by the Canadian Railway Historical Society Association (CRHA), combines national breadth with in-depth coverage of the Montreal region. CRHA operates the Exporail museum near Montreal. To browse or search over eighty years of Canadian Rail, click here.
A Very Special Library
Ottawa’s C. Robert Craig Memorial Library is unique. The ‘Craig Library’, entirely volunteer run, shares the space of the City of Ottawa Archives. Devoted entirely to railway history, the library has thousands of books, magazines, photos, maps and timetables. The Ottawa region features in its collection. You can find out more and explore its treasures here.