19 September 2010

Rail Station to Get New Displays Soon

Portage la Prairie Heritage Inc., received these cabooses
from Canadian Pacific Railway to make one full caboose
that the organization plans to display at the CP Rail
station heritage site.

Portage la Prairie Manitoba - Cabooses used to mean the end of a train but two cabooses that have just arrived in Portage la Prairie mark the beginning of a transformation.
 
Portage la Prairie Heritage Inc. has received delivery of two cabooses donated by Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) to display at the Canadian Pacific Railway Station heritage site.
 
Heritage Inc. is in the process of renovating the old CPR station to turn it into a museum.
 
Vic Edwards, chairman of Heritage Inc.'s board of directors, said one of the cabooses has been severely damaged by vandalism and will be used for spare parts for the other caboose, which is in much better shape. That caboose will eventually be on display on the east side of the old CPR station.
 
Heritage Inc. will need some help to do that.
 
"What we're looking for now is mechanically inclined mechanics," he said recently.
 
CPR declined to comment on the donation, saying even though the cabooses had been delivered and the deal was all but done, the legal paperwork isn't quite finished yet.
 
"I'm hoping it will be (done) early next week," Kevin Hrysak, with CPR's media relations said.
 
To volunteer with Portage la Prairie Heritage Inc., call Edwards at 428-3101.
 
Rob Swystun.