31 October 2008
Where is this Caboose Headed?
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Grand Bay-Westfield Mayor Grace Losier, in front
of the caboose that has stood in the centre of town for more than a decade.
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Grand Bay-Westfield New Brunswick - The charming caboose
that has been greeting visitors to Grand Bay-Westfield for more than a decade shouldn't feel abandoned by a town that no
longer needs it.
The town has decided the caboose is no longer needed as a tourism information centre.
In fact, the reddish brown railcar may have caused a friendly tussle between two communities in the northwestern part of the province
that want it for their own.
Earlier this year, Grand Bay-Westfield Grace Losier said town council decided that since the caboose was no longer needed
as the town's visitor information centre after Brundage Point River Centre opened in the summer of 2007, the town would sign over
ownership to a local resident who might have a vision to use it for a small business.
 No local proposals panned out, so this week Losier announced the city of Edmundston would be arranging for a crane and flatbed truck
to pick it up for the Madawaska County community.
She said months ago she had spoken to Edmundston Mayor Jacques Martin about the transfer of ownership and since then Edmundston city
staff has been working with town staff in Grand Bay-Westfield to make the arrangements.
Because Grand Bay-Westfield would be be giving the caboose to Edmundston as a gift, it would be the city's responsibly to
transport the structure to the province's northwest.
The electricity to the caboose has been turned off and the wires disconnected, and is now awaiting removal to its new home, Losier
said.
The issue of when it will be departing her town came up at Grand Bay-Westfield council this week, but there were no
details about when the caboose would hit the road.
The story took a bizarre twist on Wednesday when the Telegraph-Journal contacted Mychele Poitras, Edmundston's
communications officer, to find out more on the future use of the caboose.
She said while the city was interested in Grand Bay-Westfield's caboose to further develop its old CP rail station into a
tourist destination and visitor information centre, it lost out to the town of Saint Quentin, located about 100 kilometres east of the
city.
"They have a similar project there and I believe they got it. When we found out we said Saint Quentin is getting our caboose",
Poitras said. "(But) if we can find a caboose, we're going to get a caboose."
Meanwhile, heads are shaking in Saint Quentin.
It's true that the town has a huge development plan underway to also expand its train station and visitor information centre to
reflect the rich rail heritage there, says Saint Quentin town clerk Suzanne Coulombe, and yes it is arranging for pickup of a caboose
in the coming days, but it's not coming from Grand Bay-Westfield.
Coulombe said the town has purchased a caboose previously owned by CNR from a private citizen in the Tide Head area in the northern
region of the province near Campbellton.
"We're supposed to receive it next week", Coulombe explained. "But we could use another one. Maybe I will mention to
our mayor that there might be a caboose up for grabs in Grand Bay-Westfield", she said, laughing about the
confusion.
The 90-year-old Grand Bay-Westfield caboose, reddish brown in colour and trimmed with yellow, belonged to
Canadian Pacific Railway.
Like all wooden cabooses, it was removed from service in the 1980s.
It was purchased and installed by Grand Bay council on River Valley Drive as part of a community improvement program before the area
amalgamated to become Grand Bay-Westfield a decade ago.
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