Phase 2 of the railcar preservation project at the Cranbrook History Centre is still ongoing as some railcars are set to move to Edmonton.
“We have some of the cars that are surplus to the collection going to Edmonton and in fact where they are going is where they were originally constructed for,” said Cranbrook History Centre chair Bob Whetham.
“We won’t be able to restore them but this group in Edmonton will.”
Phase 2 of the project consists of putting up another roofed section over the cars.
“The biggest challenge we have right now is completing the protection over the rail cars, what we call the train shed basically,” he said.
“We have the first phase completed. We have nine cars under cover which is really important because the cars are fragile and they have been exposed to the weather for many years.”
Construction is slated to begin in the fall.
“We’re hoping to start construction this fall and have a roof over the remaining part of our collection by next year.”
The Cranbrook Archives, Museum and Landmark Foundation had recently received a $1 million grant from the B.C. government.
