Burnaby Central Railway

• Author: WantsToTravelMore
• Accommodation: Burnaby Accommodations

This hobby operating railway in Burnaby, located in Confederation Park Burnaby, is one of those best-kept-secret situations. I was originally introduced to it by a former member of the non profit society that runs it and subsequently wondered “how did I not know this was here?”

When you think model trains, you think, Lionel trains in HO scale. This however is a small scale train you can actually ride. The engineer volunteers who build, operate and maintain the trains and track do so for the sheer joy of watching people, particularly kids, ride these trains.

I suspect those running the non profit society for the railway are people who always wanted to build a train (or two) and this is as close as they can get. Considering you can watch an engineer put coal into a steam engine, it’s pretty fascinating.

I doubt there’s a child alive who wouldn’t enjoy a birthday party here. Which is exactly what I was doing when I last visited. Part of the reason the place works so well for parties is the amount of space for kids to play around in between train rides. It’s also a place where adults can play too. They provide a covered tent area where you can bring your own cake and goodies. They do have a basic snack bar, but for birthdays, a basic picnic mentality works great.

You buy tokens for the train for $2 a piece and you get quite a decent ride through the park land behind the main entrance.

It’s located off Willindon north of Hastings on Penzance Drive.

You can apply for your birthday party of up to 25 children and adults online at their site. burnabyrailway.org

I’m very glad this article has pictures. The simple pleasure everyone had at this remarkable spot can’t be easily described.