Planning and design for the turntable and roundhouse is progressing. Grant Ferguson, Ron Anstey and Singh Biln have completed the layout of the turntable and roundhouse as well as the relocation plan for the structures and equipment currently in way of construction. Sandblast and shore power buildings acquired from BC Rail have been delivered to site and their eventual location finalized. We are set to go!

A lovely sunny morning greeted members and guests as they arrived for the event. The stage was set up adjacent to the large tent and the circumference of the turntable was laid out in yellow tape and orange paint markings so that the size of the area was clear to all. Amaryllis Events had worked with Matt Christianson and Sherry Elchuk and the Heritage Park staff to organize the reception area in the tent and get everything ready. Guests arrived in a steady stream and all was ready to go just after 1100 hours.

MC Don Evans introduced WCRA Chair Craig McDowall, who welcomed everyone to the event. Next up was Mayor Ian Sutherland of Squamish, who welcomed everyone to Squamish and commented on the work of the WCRA in moving forward once again towards its vision. Don Evans then pointed out the two projects and described them for the crowd.

CN Turntable Plaza acknowledges the contribution of CN to the Heritage Park project over the years and would be a $450,000 project when completed. Other funding to the turntable area was from a Gaming Capital grant and from other WCRA donors. The turntable will have both practical use (turn locomotives and cars and access the roundhouse) as well as a community function use as a new outdoor activity venue for things such as concerts. It is expected to be ready to open summer 2006.

The Roundhouse & Conference Centre at the Heritage Park will be a $4 million major construction project, that will be located on the Heritage Park’s south east corner. The new building was announced in March when a $2 million Community Initiatives grant from the Province of BC and a private funding commitment from Lions Gate Industries were announced. The seven stall roundhouse will house the Royal Hudson, the British Columbia and five other precious pieces of the WCRA collection, and will convert to a large meeting / banquet facility by moving some of the pieces out to the outdoor plaza. Completion 2007.

When these two new projects are opened the Heritage Park is expected to draw as many as 75,000 visitors annually to the attraction. The first major conference, the Association of Railway Museums, is booked into the facility for 2009.

Now it was time to do the dig—and Colin Smith—chair of WCRA’s Construction Team and Ueli Liechti of Duro Construction stepped forward and, with the Mayor, donned their safety vests and hard hats. A sparkling new machine had been provided by Duro Construction for the occasion. Each had a turn at manoeuvring the machine through a scoopful or two of earth in the CN Turntable Plaza area (cover photo)—and we are off!



That wrapped up the event formalities, and guests were served a glass of champagne to celebrate and enjoyed the food from the Howe Sound Inn in the large tent. Most went for a ride on one of the three runs made by the BC 33 Budd car with engineer Dave Thethi and conductor Tomo’o Oshikawa, and many joined engineer Len Brown for a mini rail ride.

Construction work will begin immediately. First up will be to preload the turntable site in preparation for digging the pit. Also up will be the clearing of the entire front entrance of the Park. Wilkie Station will move to the Sweet Apple area of the Park, the caretaker’s house over to beside the Brightbill House, the shelter over the British Columbia out to the back of the carshop. During construction, the British Columbia and Colonist car will locate inside the carshop to keep them open to the public but protected from the construction work itself.