20 August 2007
Hudson Empress Makes Stop in Portage
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Crowds gathered yesterday afternoon at the CP Rail Station in
Portage la Prairie to witness the arrival of Canadian Pacific's Hudson Empress when it rolled into the city at 4:32 p.m. on its way to
the Midwestern United States via Western Canada.
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Portage la Prairie Manitoba - Approximately 800 people
came out to see a slice of history traverse down the tracks to Portage la Prairie's CP Rail train station yesterday.
Canadian Pacific's Hudson Empress and coaches made a stopover in Portage on its way to the mid-western United States via
Western Canada.
The 28-metre Hudson Express (Editor's note: This looks like a typo plus there are other strange references in the
reporter's text below.) steam locomotive with additional coaches arrived at approximately 4:32 p.m., only two minutes off schedule,
much to the delight of crowds who had anxiously anticipated its arrival since 2 p.m. "We're bringing back history with this
stopover in Portage. It's a great benefit to those who remember the locomotive days and a good introduction for the next
generation," said Vic Edwards, president of Portage Heritage Inc. and co-chairman of the Save the Canadian Pacific
Railway Station project committee.
The event drew crowds young and old, including those who have never seen a steam locomotive and those who have a history with the
trains. "It's been a long time since I've seen one. I used to work for them back in the 1950s. Started working on the water tank
in '55 then I went on to building some of the tracks. We were known as the bridge gang," said Peter Hamm, a resident of Portage.
"A lot has changed since they went from steam to diesel in the mid '60s."
Hamm said he is glad to see Portage making an effort to keep the steam locomotive coming into the station. He dressed up for the
occasion in a '50s-style outfit that employees of Canadian National Railway wore back in the day. Every 10 minutes he
could be caught checking a gold pocket watch hanging from a fob linked to the inside watch pocket of his vest, eagerly waiting for the
train to arrive.
Others didn't work for the rail line, but carried other memories of the days when locomotive was one of the main means of travel.
"I've been a train buff since I can remember. It goes back to when we were kids in Britain. Trainspotting is considered to be a
little creepy now, but back in my youth, all of the boys in our neighbourhood would live to watch the trains and collect the train
numbers. It was very exciting for us," said John Skeggs, a retired economist and self-described train spotter from
Ottawa. Skeggs planned a trip to visit friends in Portage that just happened to coincide with the locomotive stop. "It's great to
see they are still in operation after so long," he said.
Skeggs said what makes seeing the steam locomotive special for him is being able to see the mechanical functions of it underneath and
the steam-power coming out the top. In the modern diesel-powered trains, their mechanical operations are not
as visible.
Two buses dropped off approximately 110 people who were to board the eastbound train for Winnipeg and picked up disembarking train
passengers headed back to Brandon. "We're excited to be boarding. It will be a first time for me and I think I'll enjoy it. We've
been looking forward to going together for a while now, It will be fun to look outside at all the people here from the observation cars
and wave out to them," said Brenda-Lee Wallentiny.
Wallentiny was waiting in line with her husband, Greg Wallentiny, who works as an engineer specifically on steam locomotives on a fleet
based in Winnipeg. The couple came to Portage by bus to ride the locomotive back to Winnipeg.
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