Snoopy.

10 September 2011

New Locomotive Arrives at CP Station

Portage la Prairie Manitoba - The historical Canadian Pacific Railway Station located off Third Street N.E. in Portage la Prairie will be having a new addition to the centre.
 
On 6 Sep 2011, the station will be getting a donation of a 25-ton diesel locomotive, known as "Snoopy," that will be on display at the centre, which is being renovated to become the future Canadian Pacific Railway Station Heritage Park and Interpretive Centre.
 
"We're getting this 19 foot 2 inch (unit). The previous owners, the operators of it, have dubbed this unit Snoopy," said Vic Edwards, who is president of the Portage la Prairie Heritage Inc. and chairman of the Save the CP Station Committee. "Snoopy is a diesel locomotive used in the transport of goods."
 
Snoopy was built in 1948 by General Electric. Winnipeg Hydro, the current owners, are making the donation to the CP Station in Portage.
 
The locomotive will be moved from its present location at Pointe du Bois, Manitoba, in the Slave Falls area to Portage.
 
"Hydro had deemed it as excess and they no longer required it," said Edwards. "I got the tip from Prairie Dog (Prairie Dog Central Railway in Winnipeg, which is a vintage locomotive organization) who are getting a larger unit from them at 35 tons. This is a smaller one, 25 tons. I wrote a letter to Hydro and asked them if they would mind sharing with us, the smaller one, to put on display by the CP Station. It would be there for part of their heritage."
 
A short span of rail tracks have been set up outside the CP Station where Snoopy will be on display once it arrives.
 
Snoopy will join an old caboose and a mail/baggage rail car that are currently part of the CP Station project units on display.
 
The CP Station organization has purchased the services of a crane operator and a transport company to help move Snoopy to its new location in Portage.
 
The Summerfeld Hutterite Colony in the local area is going to be helping to lift the unit to place it on the tracks by the station.
 
"It was not a priority of ours," said Edwards of the gift from Manitoba Hydro. "But when somebody gives you something for nothing, it becomes a priority. We are open to anyone who wants to assist us financially. We reciprocate with tax deductible receipts."
 
With the new locomotive unit to put on display, the CP Station group is progressing with its plans to eventually have the CP Station open to the public as a historical interpretive centre.
 
Work is still in progress on restoring the interior of the station and installing bathrooms.
 
The project to restore the CP Station has been many years in the works so far, since the station caught on fire in 2002 as a result of vandalism.
 
Angela Brown.