To the Editor,
Re: APR needs $1.2M in repairs: Pley, AV News, Aug. 17
Few reading this ever experienced the draw of steam. But I did!
Let me reminisce. I watched my grandfather roll logs with a peeve to the carriage, which conveyed them into the mill. I heard the growl of the steam engine as it powered the blade through the logs. I experienced the sound of a steam driven hammer mill as it pounded the sacks of grain my father had brought in, into flour.
I marvelled at the sound of the steam engine—the cry of its whistle, the cadence of puffing smoke, the expulsion of excess steam, the aura of heat around it, and the spinning of wheels by an inexperienced or angry engineer. I remember the giant oil cans used by the engineer, a steam toy received as a Christmas gift, firemen whose only break from shoveling fuel was during a station stop, and the belching of the engine while taking on water, impatient to charge on to the next station.
All this and the call of “all aboard” still resonates with me to this day.
An old man, yes, but the fascination of steam remains. Having it is special to our community. Can we afford to lose it? Just ask all the kids who run to the tracks at the sound of the engine’s whistle.
Lyman Jardin,
Port Alberni