Our guest speaker tonight is a long time member of the Vintage Locomotive Society (better known as the operators of No. 3 - the Prairie Dog Central).
Fred Headon's academic background had him majoring in Geography with a minor in History. The former dominated his teaching load with the latter being second during a 35-year career with Seven Oaks School Division. Now retired, he focuses on grand kids, writing, travel and model railroading where he is currently serving as the Canadian District Director for the National Model Railroad Association. Fred is also a founding member of Midwestern Rail who operates the Winnipeg Railway Museum on tracks 1 & 2 at Union Station.
Fred was here tonight to tell us about the history of rail passenger service in Winnipeg and Manitoba.
A passenger train was in fact the first rail in Winnipeg when the Countess of Dufferin arrived in St. Boniface from Emerson in 1877. This line was later extended to East Selkirk. The following years brought many competing lines into the city as rail passenger service enjoyed its heyday. The first transcontinental railway was completed in 1885 with the driving of "The Last Spike" in Craigellachie, B.C.
In 1898 there was a competing North - South line built on the West side of the Red River and soon a second transcontinental line was built. By 1923 there were two trains per day in each direction on both cross-country lines.
Local service saw Winnipeg connections to Edmonton and Regina. Many small communities in the province were served by branch lines. Of note, Steinbach stands out as never having passenger service - by choice. The Friday night "daddy" trains brought city dwellers to the shores of Lake Winnipeg with day trippers accounting for up to 30,000 people per day enjoying the communities of Winnipeg Beach, Gimli and beyond. The Greater Winnipeg Water District had a train going East to service the aquaduct but due to its charter had to have passenger service. It evolved into fishing trip specials taking anglers to the lakes of the Whiteshell. The Trancona rail yards had 5,000 employees that needed to get to work each day, so they had their own shuttle trains from Union Station.
By the 1960's passengers had become secondary to the freight concerns of trains as passenger revenue fell off. Then in the 1970's mail service went elsewhere. Passenger trains were forced to evolve if they were to servive at all.
In 1976, the federal government made VIA rail a subsidiary of C.N. and by 1978, C.P. rolling stock went into VIA as well. The stainless steel "Bud" cars of VIA have been remodelled twice and it is now marketed as a "Land Cruise". Now the transcontinental goes through Winnipeg twice weekly with some maintence shops in the city. The only other rail service left in Winnipeg is the Churchill train which is based here. And, of course there's the Prairie Dog Central, running from Mothers Day to Labour Day from its base in North Winnipeg. In fact, the station relocated there from St. James was the impetus of the rail station preservation movement.
Other rail experiences in Winnipeg are the live steam locomotive in Assiniboine Park and the private Assiniboine Valley Railway just West of the park. The CPR station on Higgins has been repurposed and a visit to Union Station to see the refurbished dome and take in the rail museum is always a pleasure.
Questions
Bob asked Fred if he's experienced the rails in other parts of the world. Fred rode from King's Cross to Hull, England last year and has had a few trips on Amtrak in the U.S.
Roh asked if VIA rail is subsidized. Yes.
Iain wanted to know Fred's opinion on electric trains for city commuters. Fred questions city council's decision to use bus rapid transit over light rail but admits that he may be a bit biased.
Chuck wanted to know what's to happen with the engine currently rotting in Assiniboine Park. Mid-Western Rail has taken ownership of the engine which was the last regular steam passenger engine to go through the city. They've done some asbestos removal but otherwise don't have the funds to restore it and its future is unknown.
Fred was thanked by Peter with a donation in his name towards ShelterBox.
