The Innisfail Historical Village Model Rail Exhibit A miniature replication of the history of the railway in Innisfail -
a preview of the much larger Alberta Central Historical Model Rail
Project.
In
August 2008 the Innisfail Historical Society was looking for ideas
for a railway theme in the Bowden CPR station which had been
relocated to the Innisfail Historical Village in 1974.
They had heard of the proposal for the Alberta Central Historical
Model Rail Project and requested a proposal of a modified version to
demonstrate the history of Innisfail. The former freight shed
portion of the station building (about 600 sq. ft.) was being used
to display miscellaneous artifacts and was not heated at the time.
A
proposal was submitted to the historical society to develop the
space as Phase One of the historical model rail project in a 2-level
layout in N scale using two different time periods, focusing on the
history of Innisfail and Bowden with the possible addition of
Penhold and a diorama of the Mintlaw trestle.
Ultimately,
the society decided to go with three single level period layouts
showing Innisfail in 1892, 1910 and 1960.
During
the winter of 2008-2009, work was done to prepare the space for the
new exhibit that included adding heat to the building, building the
initial benchwork for the layouts and creating a facade of a CPR
tuscan red passenger car to be used as the viewing panel for two of
the layouts. A lot of the work was done by inmates from the Bowden
Institution nearby.
A
sneek preview took place during the summer of 2009 and the work
continued over the winter on two of the layouts to be revealed to
the public in May 2010. The 1892 layout is expected to be completed
over the winter of 2010.
In
August 2008 the Innisfail Historical Society was looking for ideas
for a railway theme in the Bowden CPR station which had been
relocated to the Innisfail Historical Village in 1974. 
A
proposal was submitted to the historical society to develop the
space as Phase One of the historical model rail project in a 2-level
layout in N scale using two different time periods, focusing on the
history of Innisfail and Bowden with the possible addition of
Penhold and a diorama of the Mintlaw trestle.
Ultimately,
the society decided to go with three single level period layouts
showing Innisfail in 1892, 1910 and 1960. 
During
the winter of 2008-2009, work was done to prepare the space for the
new exhibit that included adding heat to the building, building the
initial benchwork for the layouts and creating a facade of a CPR
tuscan red passenger car to be used as the viewing panel for two of
the layouts. A lot of the work was done by inmates from the Bowden
Institution nearby. 
A
sneek preview took place during the summer of 2009 and the work
continued over the winter on two of the layouts to be revealed to
the public in May 2010. The 1892 layout is expected to be completed
over the winter of 2010.