But under new management, the little museum that could will again welcome visitors from Sunday to see its collection of historic carriages and engines, most with links to Canberra's own rail heritage.

Director John Cheeseman said he hoped the museum would again be able to tell the story of how important the railways were in the development of the fledgling national capital.

"Our approach has been to try and promote the local railway and what the effect and impact railway has had on Canberra. We see ourselves very much as a local support area, rather than worrying about cars, trains, models that have run in Sydney or something," he said.

At the centre of the collection is steam locomotive 1210, which in May 1914 hauled the first train into Canberra. In 2017, thieves stole crucial parts from the locomotive which left it inoperable.

The museum had closed in November 2016, when its freight operation - intended to subsidise expensive heritage train trips - failed owing $700,000.

Auctioneers sold off former exhibits and scrap metal in August 2017, but Mr Cheeseman said the museum still had a third of its exhibits and the new management had worked closely with the liquidator to keep the most important items.

"We've focused on going back to what we see as the core activity, which is the museum itself. We're certainly not getting into commercial freight or anything like that," Mr Cheeseman said.

On Sunday, visitors will be able to see how people travelled to and from Canberra before the rise of the car and development of the Federal Highway.

"You've got what is called a composite car, which is the sort of vehicle that early people coming into Canberra would have travelled in. You could travel first class or second class, there was a place for parcels and even an area for coffins if they have to bring a body back from a hospital to be buried in Canberra," Mr Cheeseman said.

"We've also go our 1909 buffet car that people would have travelled down to Canberra in. Almost all the vehicles [at the museum] have some direct connection with Canberra."

The museum also still has a 1950s-era Southern Aurora dining car, which passengers travelling between Sydney and Melbourne would have eaten in.

Mr Cheeseman said the museum held about about 200 artefacts, including maps, items which showed how train drivers used to live the kits they took with them.

While the heritage train trips were not back up and running yet, the museum was working to relaunch them next year.

"For us to try and run that at this time of the year in the current drought conditions, we were worried if we advertised the steam train and took bookings and got a total fire ban and couldn't run it, we'd look like idiots," Mr Cheeseman said.

The volunteer-run museum was working to regain its rail safety accreditation and run trains after the summer season.