The West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish has received another block of funding.

This time in the amount of $47,500 from the Federal Department of Canadian Heritage. It will supplement an earlier $25,000 grant from Heritage BC and the privately donated funds currently being raised from an online fundraiser.

Currently the museum is able to store seven pieces of equipment inside the CN Roundhouse during the winter months (when the building is not being used as an event venue) to keep them out of the elements. However there are numerous other pieces of equipment that are left exposed to the weather.

Craig McDowall, President of the West Coast Railway Association (WCRA) says they are raising funds to build a shelter over what is known as the ‘Garden Tracks’; “the better plan to preserve them [rolling stock] from the exterior point of view, is to build a roof or a pavilion over the top of those three tracks for the first couple of cars, which will go a long way to preserve the coaches during the winter heavy months”.

McDowall says it is a seven figure fundraiser that will take one to two years. He hopes the structural plans will be developed this fall for the project and that footings can also be started to get construction off the ground.

The facility is the second largest rail museum in the country, with over 80 pieces in the collection.

Filed under: BC, Museum, Railway, Squamish, West Coast Heritage Park, West Coast Railway Association