Prairie Dog Central train parked
No summer trips due to distancing rules
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Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 09/07/2021 (1730 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.
The train won’t leave the station.
The Prairie Dog Central Railway, a Manitoba institution since 1970, is halting summer trips.
“It was a very difficult decision to make,” said railway marketing manager Catherine Duffin.
She said the vintage train, which was built in 1883 and is one of the oldest operating in North America, can’t meet social distancing measures, even with the potential easing of restrictions.
“We realized that with the lockdowns and the uncertainty with the pandemic that we just couldn’t run.”
No decision about the September schedule will be made until August.
Paul Newsome, general manager of the Vintage Locomotive Society, the volunteer organization that runs the railway, has been with the railway for 51 years. Before closing after the 2019 season due to the COVID-19 pandemic, he has only ever seen the railway cease its operation one time before, 25 years ago.
The location of the railway has moved three times, first in Charleswood, then in the St. James Station on the CN Oak Point subdivision, and finally, in 1999, to its current location in the RM of Rosser, northwest of Winnipeg.
In 1996, the society was told by the Canadian National Railway that the track where the train operated was to be abandoned. From there, the railway had two choices.
“We were either going to fold up after 1996 or keep on going,” said Newsome.
After that, operations stopped for two seasons while the society kept on chugging. It was able to raise $1.3 million to continue operations, and in 1999, became the short-line railway that exists today, continuing operations each season.
In a typical year, the train runs from May to October, on average a total of 42 times a season.
The team prides itself on the unique and personal experience it can provide to its guests for history, education, and entertainment, including the Train Robbery rides and the annual Halloween rides, explained Duffin.
She, along with Newsome and operations director Jeff Livingstone, see the staff, volunteers, and guests as a family.
“Throughout my time with the Prairie Dog, you get to recognize faces and people who come back.”
Until its reopening, the organization “has by no means become negative or down,” said Duffin.
“There’s just a general excitement out there that when we can run, we’re going to go back to having some good times and making some memories.”
gillian.brown@freepress.mb.ca