Wondering what to buy Uncle Jake for his 84th birthday?
Why not consider a railway tie?
The Western Development Museum in Moose Jaw is selling limited edition, personalized railway ties for $100 each.
The ties, which come with a certificate of authenticity and an engraved plaque, are part of a fundraising drive aimed at keeping the province’s last operational steam locomotive on the tracks.
Last year, ultrasound tests determined that WDM Short Line 101, a 95-year-old steam locomotive, has developed thin spots in its boiler and is no longer safe to operate.
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The 11-tonne locomotive, which normally resides at the Moose Jaw museum, was moved by truck to Saskatoon and is now being dismantled, said museum manager Kathy Fitton.
The WDM is seeking bids to have a new boiler designed, constructed and installed, hopefully within the next six to 10 months.
The WDM locomotive was built in 1914 by Vulcan Iron Works of Wilkes-Barre, Pennsylvania.
It worked at the Hillcrest Colliery near Crowsnest Pass, Alta., for several years before moving east into Saskatchewan.
It spent several years at Alsask, Sask., and was later moved to Bishopric, Sask., where it hauled salt at a facility on the south shore of Old Wives Lake, about 50 kilometres southwest of Moose Jaw.
The WDM acquired the locomotive in 1958 and moved it to Saskatoon, then Moose Jaw.
The engine has been operating at the WDM’s Moose Jaw branch for the past three decades, providing regular rides to museum visitors.
This summer will be the locomotive’s first summer off since it took its inaugural run at the museum in 1978.
Museum organizers are hoping it will be back on its tracks by next spring.
“It’s the only operating steam locomotive left in Saskatchewan so we feel very strongly that it needs to be repaired and get back on the track,” said Fitton.
“It’s such a unique form of travel and most of us have never had the opportunity to ride on a steam train,” she continued.
Fitton said the cost of replacing the outdated boiler will total about $100,000.
Museum organizers, who maintain all the branch’s historic displays on a budget of about $500,000 annually, briefly considered foregoing the $100,000 cost and using the locomotive as a static display.
In the end, however, they decided to go ahead with repairs and launch a fundraising drive to finance the project.
Railway ties that are sold to the public will remain under the locomotive’s specially designed track in Moose Jaw.
Buyers will receive a tax receipt and can have a short message inscribed on a personalized plaque that will be attached to their railway tie.
The museum is also seeking corporate donors and has already received a $10,000 donation from the Moose Jaw Steam and Rail Association.
Volunteers from that organization help to maintain the locomotive and drive the train throughout the summer.
For more information, contact the WDM at Moose Jaw at 306-693-5989.
