Assiniboine Valley Railway 2.51

Assiniboine Valley Railway is a private 1:7.5 scale ridable miniature railway located in the community of Charleswood near Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg, Manitoba, Canada.The track gauge is. Construction started in 1995 and operation began in the fall of 1996. The railway is owned and operated by the 75 member Assiniboine Valley Railway Club, Inc. with some of the equipment privately owned by members. The railway club president and owner of the land was William Arthur Taylor until his death in 2013. Presidency then transferred to vice president and co-founder Len La Rue. The network of tracks and "Charleswood Station" is located on a private 9acre property.AVR is open to public for riding during the second weekend of the month between June and October. As of April 2012 the railway had nine operating locomotives, including three steam locomotives and 53 cars, with eight more cars under construction.HistoryIn the early years of the railway, Christmas lights runs were operated every night from 6:30 pm till 9:00 pm. from the second weekend of December to the first weekend of January. Christmas lights were used along the line, their numbers growing from 98,000 in 2009 to more than 100,000, reaching 101,213 by December 9, 2012.