The McLean Mill Society is going to have to come up with $300,000 to fix two train trestles among other things if it wants to see the iconic No. 7 Baldwin steam train run from Uptown Port Alberni to the national historic site next year.
This is just the first and most immediate phase of a proposed $1.2 million rail maintenance plan that City of Port Alberni CAO Tim Pley unveiled at the Aug. 14 council meeting.
Once we picked our collective jaws up off the floor, we had to ask: how did the situation become so dire, and so quickly? Did the previous operators not have a maintenance plan in place? Was there no warning?
Most importantly, who is to be held accountable for this situation?
The steam train has only run a couple of times this year, including a short run to kick off the ‘Race the Train’ leg of the Tri-Conic Challenge on July 1. The rest of the train runs from the Port Alberni Train Station to McLean Mill have been done by one of the lighter diesel engines, which the BC Safety Authority permitted to cross the Roger Creek and Kitsuksis trestles.
Although mill operators were optimistic at the beginning of the tourist season that the train situation was temporary, it doesn’t seem that way now.
The city has already committed to keeping McLean Mill operating with the formation of the society, and further solidified it with the announcement this week that they’ve signed a pair of leases with the society for operation of the McLean Mill as well as occupancy at the Port Alberni Train Station.
Much as the cost of the proposed rail maintenance plan comes as a shock, one can hope it is another piece of the ‘getting themselves organized’ puzzle dropping into place.
The pressure is on the mill society to come up with a source of funding for the maintenance—especially next year.
As city CAO Tim Pley said in his presentation, ‘if you want to be in the rail business, you have to commit to be in the rail business.’
— Alberni Valley News