Exporail scores big with Rocket Richard exhibition

Montreal Gazette
September 7, 2007

Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, presents "Rocket" Richard: The Legend - The Legacy, a very fitting tribute to Montreal Canadiens iconic number Maurice Richard. The exhibition comes courtesy of the Canadian Museum of Civilization and features 100 objects of hockey memorabilia, including jerseys, milestone sticks and pucks, trophies, skates, the original copy of his retirement speech, and NHL contracts. While hockey fans can step to the front of the line, the exhibition offers a little something for everyone. So what's a hockey exhibition doing at a train museum? "We have the environment that the Canadiens would have travelled in during the time of Rocket Richard," said Kevin Robinson, Exporail's coordinator of programming. Robinson is referring to the Neville Sleeper, which was built by CP at the Angus shops in 1921 and stayed in service until 1967. "The railways were the key link to travel in those days," Robinson said. "Everyone from Elvis to Elizabeth Taylor travelled by train back then - even the Montreal Canadiens. The transition to airplanes didn't happen until the sixties." Robinson offers another fun trivia fact to tie in the exhibition - that Richard worked as a machinist at Angus Shops during his twenties before his hockey days. CP employees always knew when the Canadiens had a road trip, he added. "They added extra sleeper cars just for the Canadiens," Robinson said. "The porters, conductors, the station agents, all the employees would do their best to make sure the train was spic and span and on time. They were very proud of the Canadiens." The exhibition continues until Nov. 17.