In mid June, my younger daughter Elena and I took a ride on the Prairie Dog Central Railway – and quite an enjoyable journey it was. The theme for that Sunday was the musical “Wicked”. Costumed actors, posing as the six main characters from “The Wizard of Oz” and its spin-off, walked through the railcars interacting with the passengers and occasionally breaking into song.
The roughly hour-long ride begins at Inkster Junction Station, just northwest of Player’s Golf Course off Inkster, and proceeds north to Grosse Isle. At Grosse Isle, the passengers got off while the train was being turned around. The local Grosse Isle Heritage Committee has provided a themed gift shop, kiosks for food, ice cream and drinks, a large tent where we could sit in the shade – it was a very hot day – and play areas for kids.
I also had the opportunity to engage in conversation with a wood carver by the name of Fred Gross who had a table in the back of his van displaying some of his works of art: miniature railway engines, woodland animals, fish, and Canadian flags to list a few. Fred related that he has been a woodcarver for over 40 years and has sold his carvings to people from all over the world.
I couldn’t help but notice that there was a group of teenagers with camping gear occupying the platform in front of the old train station. Upon inquiry, I learned, as I kind of expected, that they were a scout group that had come out on the Prairie Dog Central to Grosse Isle the day before, camped out overnight and were waiting to go home again.
The entire experience is a trip back in time, before planes, even before cars and trucks, to an era when the railway was the main source of transportation between towns and cities and every community of any reasonable size had a railway station.
And the Prairie Dog Central experience is authentic. According to Events and Community Engagement Director Brenda Bourns, the locomotive was built in Scotland in 1882 for the CPR. It is Canada’s oldest active vintage locomotive. It was sold to the City of Winnipeg in 1918 and was used largely by Winnipeg Hydro for the next 40 years. The engine was put out to pasture in 1961 and sold by the City to the newly created Vintage Locomotive Society in 1968.
According to historical information on the Prairie Dog Central Railway website, the new railway service was inaugurated on July 11, 1970. From 1970 to 1974, the train operated out of Charleswood along Wilkes Boulevard on the former Canadian National Cabot Subdivision. From 1975 to 1996 the train then operated out of St. James and the old St. James Station immediately west of Polo Park on the Canadian National Oak Point Subdivision and ran to Grosse Isle and back.
In 1996 the Society was advised by CN that the Oak Point Subdivision was to be abandoned and in addition to that, the Transcona shops (where the train was stored and maintained) could no longer support the Prairie Dog Central Railway operations. Consequently, soon after 1996 the Prairie Dog Central Railway ceased its train operations for two seasons and the Society embarked on a major fundraising campaign raising $1.3 million dollars to purchase the Oak Point Subdivision.
The St. James Station – which was built in 1918 – is listed as a Heritage Building by Parks Canada. Under special approval, the Station was relocated to its current location at Inkster Boulevard and Sturgeon Road along Prairie Dog Trail.
Operations began shortly thereafter travelling from Inkster Junction Station to the Manitoba community of Grosse Isle for a stopover before heading back to Inkster Junction Station.
In addition to the locomotive, Brenda Bourns notes, the train consists of five passenger cars of different vintages and capacities and a caboose. “Families and other groups can book individual rail cars or the caboose for special events,” she reports.
The locomotive and rail cars are maintained by a corps of volunteers – most of whom are retired CN and CP employees – with the help of a few student volunteers.
For this year, under the leadership of new CEO (as of last November) Jeffery Bannon and Bourns, there has been a noticeable upgrade to the Prairie Dog Central’s amenities and overall operation.
Whereas in past years, the railway offered 40 rides, this year, the goal is to reach 76 rides.
“We have only had to cancel one,” Bourns notes.
In addition to the usual “Great Train Robbery”, the railway is offering a “Wine and Charcuterie” outing, a trip with five comics provided by Yuk Yuks on board and another featuring several alumni Winnipeg Bomber along for the ride.
For kids, there were “Harry Potter”, “Toy Story”, “Power Rangers”, “Spiderman”, “Barbie”, “Princess Power” and superhero themes over the summer.
Some readers may be interested in a planned ride highlighting local breweries and distilleries scheduled for August 28 providing the organization gets its liquor license in time.
Also this year, for the first time, Prairie Dog Central is offering concessions in the form of snacks, drinks, popcorn and chips, both on the train and within Inkster Station. In the Freight Shed, passengers can buy branded merchandise – clothing, souvenirs, and train memorabilia or get their photos taken – for free – against themed backgrounds.
On the side of the station is a new children’s play area – with inflatable games and activities for kids while they wait for departure.
The Prairie Dog Central’s season runs from the beginning of May until Halloween.
Bourns adds that management is working on a new and ambitious project – the resurrection of the “Moonlight Special” that used to take Winnipeggers to Winnipeg Beach and back on weekends in our parents and grandparents’ day.
Readers who may be interested in booking a ride of the Prairie Dog Central can go to www.pdcrailway.com or buy tickets at tickets@pdcrailway.com.