To the Editor,
Port Alberni has much to offer in the way of “how things used to be” when it comes to the logging industry. I live very close to McLean Mill and walk through there often. Last Saturday, June 23 my nine- and seven-year-old grandsons came for a visit arriving in the afternoon. I thought it would be fun to take them by train to McLean Mill and have them experience the steam donkey and a rigged spar tree but on checking the timetable at the station saw there were only two trains running at 11 a.m. to the mill: day one on Friday and the second on Saturday, no train on Sunday.
My question is why did we hear the train whistle on Sunday from our backyard when we live within walking distance of McLean Mill if no train was running.
This was yet another missed opportunity for tourist dollars to support the train and McLean Mill.
Gerry Dempsey,
Port Alberni
Editor’s note: McLean Mill Historic Park noted on its Facebook page that a privately chartered event at McLean Mill including a steam train ride would be happening on Sunday, June 24. The train ran for that private event.