Port Alberni Vancouver Island British Columbia - A small crew of volunteers are working at restoring an old rail coach that once carried passengers up and down Vancouver Island.
 
In virtual disrepair, the 1882 coach has belonged to the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society for more than twenty-five years.
 
With so many other projects taking precedence, it sat in the Society's centre at the former arena and was used as storage.
 
Now it is getting a facelift, in hopes of bringing back its former classic appearance.
 
Volunteer Jan Jansma said interest in the project sparked about two years ago.
 
During the antique truck show at the IHS Centre, visitors were curious and started wandering through.
 
"They thought it was neat, nice and old, so on account of that, Tommy Maher started to get his scrub brush going," Jansma said.
 
Soon after, Jansma and Fred Raven got involved.
 
"The plan is to fix it up halfway to show what it used to be like and leave the rest unfinished to show the contrast," Jansma said.
 
Originally, the coach belonged to the Canadian Pacific Railway.
 
When the E&N Railway discontinued passenger service on Vancouver Island in the early 1950s, it was no longer needed.
 
Jansma said the director of the rail company acquired it and used it as a summer cabin on his farm.
 
When the family wanted to remove it from the property, it was sent to Ladysmith.
 
"They used to have a beautiful display of railroad equipment in Ladysmith, but it fell to the wayside, so Port Alberni got it," Jansma said.
 
During its time on the rails, the coach was an elegant means of transportation.
 
Rather than benches for passenger seating, it was complete with comfortable vintage chairs and tables.
 
Unique patterns are still embossed on the sides above the windows and fancy cloth, now tattered, was used as finishing on the roof and siding.
 
It is now a matter of time and elbow grease to bring the fixture to life.
 
It was first cleaned up and stripped of paint.
 
The windows had to be removed to repair the framing that had some wood rot.
 
Jansma plans to rework some old cloth he found in his basement to replicate the finish for the walls and roof.
 
It was fabric that the Somass Mill used to put over lumber to protect it from dust and would have been discarded.
 
"I was going to use it for picture frames, but that never materialized, so we'll use it for this," he said.
 
He is also donating an old spittoon he purchased for 25 cents at a garage sale.
 
Jansma's only concern is coming up with the funds to restore four of the six original chairs that were left.
 
Two are still in good condition, but the rest need complete re-upholstering.
 
"It will cost about $3,000 to take them all apart and redo the gluing so we have brand new sturdy chairs," he said.
 
Jansma said projects like this help maintain the history of the region.
 
"We travel all over the world and appreciate the old style of living, but sometimes we forget we have a lot of history right here," he said.

Kristi Dobson.