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Westlock caboose makes final journey

Parts from it will be used to save another caboose at the Alberta Railway Museum
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Crews prepare to transport the Westlock caboose to its new home at the Alberta Railway Museum on May 8

WESTLOCK – For over five decades, the Northern Alberta Railways (NAR) caboose No. 13026 sat on its own set of rails at the entrance to Mountie Park.

But like the Canadian country music singer Hank Snow wrote in his 1950 song, “That big eight wheeler a rollin’ down the track, Means your true lovin’ daddy ain’t comin’ back” the caboose left Westlock May 8 on a flatbed truck headed to its new home at the Alberta Railway Museum.

At this point, we’ve been unable to learn the date it was donated to the Town of Westlock by the NAR, but a photo on page 197 of author and publisher Keith Hansen’s 2009 book The Northern Alberta Railways shows a photo of it sitting alone on a sidetrack with grain elevators in the background. Hansen does not indicate where the photo was taken, but from the caption, it’s obvious the siding was in Westlock. He wrote, “Late on an afternoon in the summer of 1971 the fourth of the NAR’s 4 homebuilts, 13026, was spotted in the east part of yard track 1. Visible in the upper right of the photo is a portion of the Federal Grain Company’s logo, a blue circle containing a red equilateral triangle. In 1972 this became an Alberta Wheat Pool facility when Federal’s 1092 elevators were purchased by the three provincial pools (Alberta Saskatchewan and Manitoba).”

The photo, and lengthy description of the elevators indicates almost certainly it was Westlock, and likely just prior to moving it off the tracks to the location at the entrance to Mountie Park.

Former Westlock mayor Shirley Morie said that the late Dorothy Roberts made all the arrangements to get the caboose “and really pushed,” to have it donated to the community. Always a strong promotor of the town, she was also a town councillor from October 1971 to September 1974, but never sought re-election.

After it was placed on rails at Mountie Park, power, water, and sewer were supplied and it was believed at the time the intention was to have it used as a visitor information booth, but that too, has not been totally confirmed. Whatever the case, it was only used for a short time, and then sat empty over the years, largely neglected.

In most recent years, it had fallen into disrepair, damaged and broken into. The town determined the cost of repairing it was beyond their means. The Canadian Tractor Museum showed interest at one point in having it moved to their site, but again, the cost to repair it was too much. In the end, it was donated to the Alberta Railway Museum, and fronted the $2,500 for the move, which they noted was much more affordable than scrapping it.

On May 8, Inter-Rail Transport, based out of Edmonton, and specialists in moving railroad rolling stock, arrived to load and transport it. Ivan Hall, director, buildings, and bridges for the volunteer group in charge of the Alberta Railway Museum was on hand to watch the loading and later the unloading of the caboose.

Hall said in a later e-mail said the caboose has now joined its sister, No. 13025, and both he and museum president Stephen Yakiments said the wheels, trucks, brake assemblies and other parts from 13026 will be used to replace the worn and condemned parts of 13025, while the fate of the rest of the former Westlock caboose is yet to be determined.

Les Dunford, TownandCountryToday.com

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