Updated: August 22, 2007 (Check
"Railway News" for updates, look for the symbol:
)
If this page does not display correctly, hit ctrl+F5 or refresh. Sign my Guestbook!
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Updated: August 22, 2007 (Check
"Railway News" for updates, look for the symbol:
If this page does not display correctly, hit ctrl+F5 or refresh. Sign my Guestbook! |
|
|
This page contains site updates and news articles that I have collected from all sorts of sources. For a good site that has daily railway news articles from around the country go to: Cordova Bay Station Headlines
I went through all the links on the Railway Links page and updated or removed any that were dead. Hopefully they all work now. I also added a few new ones. New Listing for the Other BC Locis page:
New listing for the Southern BC page:
New listings on the Forgotten Locomotives page:
Also, I've replaced a number of photos with more recent photos for a number of engines on the Vancouver Island and the Southern BC pages. So, why hasn't there been a website update for so long? Well I was extremely busy - mostly with University, however that is now finished and I graduated on June 2, 2007 with a bachelor's degree in Business Administration co-conferred by Okanagan College and the University of British Columbia - Okanagan. Last summer I was again a fireman on the train at Fort Steele. It was a great summer, and I got to do a little engineering as well. While I was out there, I was able to take a few trips out to Alberta on my days off. I visited a number of museums that I highly recommend. These are:
This year was pretty hectic too with my BBA wrapping up. In April I was asked to help out with the Royal Hudson's first major excursion since the boiler was repaired. The excursion was part of the 50th birthday celebration in White Rock. Being on the support crew, I got to ride the train from Squamish down to Vancouver. Then on Sunday from Vancouver to White rock and back to Vancouver, and then on Monday, back to Squamish. It's an event I'll never forget. Thousands of people were along the tracks all the way from Squamish chasing the train and taking photos. The crowds were massive in White Rock. While helping with lubricating the locomotive for the return trip I was asked by a few people to even sign their programs - I felt like a celebrity. It's great to see #2860 running again and hopefully we will see some more trips in 2008. Right after the very busy weekend with the Royal Hudson, I had to head back to Kelowna to write a couple of final exams, and on Friday right after I got home from my last exam, I was off on another trip with my sister and parents. This was a gift from my sister to me and my parents for reaching some milestones. We were headed for Reno, Las Vegas and Disneyland! While in the Reno area we went to visit the Nevada State Railroad museum and have a chat with Chris DeWitt, their restoration supervisor. It was good to see Chris again after my last trip to Reno which was five years ago. If anybody has been in their restoration shop before, they are still working on the McKeen Motor Car but they are hoping to complete it soon. We then headed up to Virginia City. As part of the big Virginia & Truckee Railroad rebuild project, the tracks are now extended past Gold Hill. The line is supposed to be operational all the way to Carson City in 2010. We also noticed that the V&T locomotive Dayton was relocated for display to Virginia City from the NSRM in Carson City. It's now in a nice little display building. After Reno we headed south to Las Vegas but we spent only one night there. This being my first time in Vegas, let me tell you the place is a zoo compared to Reno. Reno is much more homely. We spent the evening walking part of he strip and since it was late, the only outdoor show we got to see was the Fremont Street Experience. Quite interesting as technology goes. The next day we went to Hoover Dam and then off to Los Angeles. Before going to LA we stopped at Calico, the ghost town that Walter Knott took apart and moved to Knott's Berry Farm. It's an interesting place to visit. then we headed to the coast and the Happiest Place on Earth. We did all the major attractions in the southern California area, i.e. Universal Studios, San Diego Zoo, Seaworld, USS Midway Aircraft Carrier Museum, and of course Disneyland. On our last days at Disneyland, my dad and I went for a cab (tender) ride on steam locomotive #2 the E.P. Ripley. Built in 1955 specifically for Disneyland, it was the first engine Walt Disney had at the park and the one he personally engineered around the park grounds while Disneyland was still being constructed. It was a great ride and we had a good chat with the crew. If you want to go for a tender ride, just ask a conductor if it's possible. The only times they don't do tender rides are when they are taking on water and doing a blow-down. also, they can only take extra people on their larger locomotives like the E.P. Ripley. You might also be able to take a ride in their fancy parlour coach, the Lilly Belle.
It was time to head back to BC and about a week later, time to head to Fort Steele for preseason maintenance. This was probably my last year at Fort Steele as I'm now looking for work with my BBA. It was a great experience working there and I met a lot of great people. I had the chance to be fireman again on the father's day weekend. Surprisingly, with the bad weather that we had, there were over 200 riders that day. I might return in the future if they are short handed on a weekend. The summer tourist season will soon be drawing to a close, however if you still are traveling around BC, visit and support one of our heritage railways. That's it for now, until the next update, which will hopefully be a complete revamp of this website... see you down the track. |
