Royal Hudson to Squamish

BC Rail King Mar 30, 2002

  1. BC Rail King

    BC Rail King E-Mail Bounces

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    The Royal Hudson #2860, which served with BC Rail for 25 years, and CPR for __ years is now being moved from its Steam Shop home at the BC Rail Steam Shop in Vancouver to the West Coast Railway Heritage Park. The locomtoive has sat inactive for nearly 2 and a half years, and with the new government in power in BC, it was decided not to restore the locomtoive to operating condition. The WCRA will take delivery of the locomtoive in May. At that point they will 'pin point' all the damage and needed reapirs on the loco, and make a repair bill. They hope to retore the locomotive with in the next five years.

    My take on this is negative. The WCRA has proven it is an excellent organization at doing smaller projects, but the Royal Hudson will be too much for them as far as I can see. If they do get donations for the Hudson to start running again, the rest of the park will deteriate, or vice versa. It really is a lose lose situation. The other problem is location. For years now, BC has been expecting an Earth Quake, that has already been dibbed the "Big One." If there really is a quake above about a 5 on the Rictor Scale, Squamish, the new home of the locomtoive will liquify. I know this is wierd, but in this part of North America it is somehting to be taken into consideration, and many have been.

    There has been no word on the former BCR/CPR 2-8-0 3716.

    Dane

    [ 30 March 2002, 01:44: Message edited by: BC Rail King ]
     
  2. fitz

    fitz TrainBoard Member

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    Dane, Seen in better days, 1996 I think.
    [​IMG]
     
  3. E&NRailway

    E&NRailway TrainBoard Member

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    It will be interesting to see what happens. As ,I believe, the WCRA's trackage has lighter rail than the E&N...which is 85 lb. And the ground isn't too stable under the museum also.
     
  4. BC Rail King

    BC Rail King E-Mail Bounces

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    Thats a nice pic... there is even a chnace I was there, as I stalked the Hudson back in '96 (I was 9)

    And yuo're right about the museum, however I think they are building a new track, Front and Centre at the museum to place it on. Aperantly, donations look like they might come in fast, so maybe in 5 years we could see it again! ;)

    Dane
     
  5. BN9900

    BN9900 TrainBoard Member

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    Dane, I have been up in that area a few times, and from what I see they are a very good group..don't sell them short. This project could be exactly what the doctor ordered for them....with the donations they could if managed right, get the locomotive back in running condition as well as maybe expand....lets see what happens first before we make any rash decisions. ;)

    As far the ground and area up there I have no knowledge of that so I can't comment
     
  6. BC Rail King

    BC Rail King E-Mail Bounces

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    They are a great group... I am more worried about internal politics that were never a problem until very recently, and the ability of them to keep the locomotive running, as BC Rail couldnt and their budget was signifigantly larger.
     
  7. Western Valley RR

    Western Valley RR TrainBoard Member

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    I remember the Royal Hudson in the 1980's as I rode in the locomotive from Mission to Maple Ridge. My uncle knew the engineer and set it up when I was younger since I loved trains so much...I tell you it was such a thrill...it's good to see someone is acually going to do something to restore it.
     
  8. rsn48

    rsn48 TrainBoard Member

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    The Hudson was in the local news today with pictures of it being transferred to Squamish. The problem that Dane is alluding to is that with the society in Squamish, money is a real issue as they have a full plate as it is. They have a great deal of stock they are refurbishing.

    Some feel a daddy warbucks will come along and throw some big cash towards Sqaumish for restoration. The problem with this theory is that is more an American thing. Our Canadian rich are much stingier with their money. They just don't donate like they do in the US.

    For us as a family, Dane is my son, the Hudson is a real loss as he sort of grew up with it. He has volunteered on it and ridden that train in the hundreds over the past five years. It is almost like a loss in the family, as hoaky as that sounds. I have ridden it at least 75 times or more, as Dane volunteered on it (was there only volunteer) and his pay was that he could bring anyone he wanted.

    Since he was volunteering on it when he was 11; he was - believe it or not - their technical reference. Can you image some older guy asking a question of the train hosts, them calling their technical referent over the radio, and having an 11 year old show up to answer. It happened many times....lol!

    So for us, the closure of the Hudson excursion train is a real loss.
     

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