Public Relations and Advertising Department
Windsor
Station Montreal Que. H3C 3E4
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Volume 11 Number 16
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Dec.
9, 1981
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Conservationists Lack Private Funding
to Help Restore Old Business Car
By Paul Thurston
Business Car Retired: Scott Hanville,
assistant supervisor at Dundas Valley Conservation Authority, admires Business Car No.
3.
Toronto - Business Car No.
3 has been put out to a very big pasture.
A 2,000-acrewilderness area
operated by the Hamilton Region Conservation Authority is the setting for the car's Retirement
and HRCA officials hope that restoration work will add some glitter to No. 3's golden age.
After nearly 50 years of CP Rail service the car was donated to the HRCA in 1977.
Today it shares a private siding with a former Canadian National rail diesel car at the Dundas
Valley Trail Centre, about 115 miles west of Hamilton, Ont.
The centre is part of
the 2,000-acre Dundas Valley Conservation Area, a wilderness park with 20 miles of
hiking trails. Dundas Valley is one of five HRCA recreation areas which attract a total of 500,000
visitors a year.
LONG-TERM PLANS
Brian Laing of the HRCA says
the long-term plan is to turn the former superintendent's car into the centerpiece of
a railway oriented display.
"Volunteers have agreed to do upholstery,
carpentry, and other types of work, and there seems to be no shortage of people willing to put in
time", said Mr. Laing. Although the interior of the car is basically sound, moisture and cold
have taken their toll.
Lack of funding remains the big stumbling block as the HRCA
does not receive grants for restoration projects. However, plans are being made to approach
prospective donors for financial support.
Built at Angus Shops in 1929 and christened
Manitoba, the car was assigned to the office of the general superintendent at Winnipeg and roamed
the Prairies for close to 40 years.
The car was one of a series of nine built by CP
Rail for general superintendents who managed railway districts which in many cases corresponded to
the political boundaries of Canada's provinces.
In 1961 the name was traded in for a
number after extensive administrative reorganization of the railway's operating department, and
seven years later the car was reassigned to Northern Ontario. It was retired from service on the
Schreiber division in 1977.
This CP Rail News article is copyright 1981 by Canadian Pacific Railway and is
reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of
the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.
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