Alberni trains could return this summer

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Members of the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society are pushing city council to help them get back on the rails.

With a community-focussed business plan in hand, the group appeared before council on Monday asking for $60,000 for operations this year plus $143,000 to repair two crossings along harbour road.

IHS Vice-President Richard Spencer said he is hopeful the city will support their plan.

“We definitely are optimistic to get everything back up and going. We’ve met the requirements with technical safety, so we are ready for this to happen and we definitely feel like we have a good opportunity to pull this off and we definitely feel that council is that is on side with some concerns that are being addressed,” he said. “We definitely are looking at providing some community events down at the round house that include train rides. After multiple years of work done to the steam locomotive we do have to show that off at some point so we are looking at possibilities for having events where the steam locomotive can be fired up.”

Spencer said the diesel locomotive will pull a few cars 3 days a week, 3 times a day, and rides on the Crew Speeder will be offered when volunteers are available.

He says they forsee a time when a full run to McLean Mill with the steam train will be restored.