MORRISBURG, Ont., Canada — A Canadian Pacific steam locomotive and two cars long displayed in a park near the St. Lawrence River may be en route to a new home, after the St. Lawrence Parks Commission decided restoring the equipment would be too costly.
The restoration of the 2-6-0, a wooden baggage car, and a wooden coach was estimated to cost $1.1 million. While citizens and community organizations have expressed their desire to keep the relics on display, no offers of funding for restoration have been received.
The locomotive, originally Grand Trunk Railway No. 1088, and the cars have been in the park for almost 60 years. According to local news media, a community-led project in the 1990s restored the equipment cosmetically but did not address structural issues. The parks commission does not have the resources to care for the equipment.
The locomotive is a sister to a number of other preserved GT/CPR 2-6-0s, including Strasburg Rail Road No. 89, Middletown & Hummelstown No. 91 and Wilmington & Western No. 92.
A request for expressions of interest for the century-old railway artifacts will now move forward, with more information available on the parks website at http://www.uppercanadavillage.com/train. The divestiture process will close on Aug. 30 at 4:30 p.m.