The Heritage Railway and Carousel Company celebrated its 30th anniversary and two-millionth (2,000,000) rider on Aug. 31 as part of the Labour Day Holiday weekend festivities.
Among those in attendance were original Railway ‘Charter’ volunteers, carousel carvers, artists, donors, sponsors and the hundreds of operational volunteers making the waterfront attraction a success. Edna Scott, a driving force for the Carousel component, presented a 2,000,000th rider plaque to Emma Courvoisier and her mother, Kayla.
See the BayToday.ca coverage by Linda Holmes (interviews and photo gallery) and the Fall 2024 edition of Back in the Bay Magazine (to be published Sept. 20) for a keepsake feature spread.
Another highlight was the unveiling of a signage honour for the late Dan Pigeau, the chief mechanic for the HRCC until his passing July 19, with his wife Pat and son Dan part of the ceremony. Pigeau’s death led to a brief suspension of activities and postponement of the 30th anniversary celebration, originally scheduled Aug. 3.
North Bay’s most popular heritage attraction ran daily this summer from 10 a.m. until dusk, a testament to the vision of the original dreamers, former Mayor Stan Lawlor and Dr. Rod Johnston, a local dentist with a passion for trains. The region’s only miniature railway became a reality on July 29, 1994.
Retired members of CP, CN and ONR railways and City of North Bay combined forces with a group 31-strong taking on tasks to propel the dream down the tracks. Also on hand for the ceremony and recognized was Tony Saini, formerly of the City of North Bay Parks Dept., who was intimately involved in the railway’s development and initial carousel installation, assisting Pigeou in his duties beginning in the late 1990s.
One of the four remaining ‘original’ Heritage Railway Company volunteers, Colin Vezina, wrote about its early beginnings. He says the start-up funds, “necessary to purchase a steam-powered miniature locomotive, a gas-powered F-7 diesel-type locomotive with three passenger cars and miniature railroad track, were organized by Stan Lawlor, who raised approximately $125,000 in donations and in addition secured a $25,000 loan from the City Heritage Festival Reserve Funds.”
Vezina, who served on the police services board, says inmates from the North Bay Jail volunteered to help lay the quartermile line, some 5,480 feet of track, plus sidings for the station and shop tracks, during the week of July 25, 1994. In 1996, the volunteers erected a Station, a donated CP Rail van (Caboose) which still remains today, with the Rail Car Barn built in 1998. By 1999, more visionaries like artist Edna Scott, carousel enthusiast, and Barry Jacobs, collaborated with Johnston to bring a full-size refurbished 1908 Carousel to North Bay adding to our Waterfront Railway site. A provincial grant worth $166,000 was secured by city staff to construct a 60-foot building to house the carousel.
Jacobs led the ‘Adopt a Horse’ sponsor and donor campaign to create 33 horses/benches plus three spares for the July 1, 2002 unveiling. Dan Pigeau led the volunteer construction crew and Scott set up the carver ‘stable’ at the North Bay Mall with the North Bay Wood Carvers Club. Renown photographer Ed Eng documented the process and created an award-winning coffee table book with author Patti Fedeli, designer Richard Ference and Scott, as editor who also designed the second Winter Wonderland Menagerie Carousel, which is dedicated to 14 animals of Northern Ontario. The smaller 28-foot Carousel sought out additional sponsors and opened three years later on July 1, 2005.
A full day of activities for children and their families began at 10 a.m. Rides were retro for the day, back to the $1 price, the Rorab Shriners Clown Unit and face painting are featured along with various community mascots.
Writer, photographer and proud father. My mom’s family is from the Soo with its Algoma Highlands, dad hailed from Cobden in the Ottawa Valley and I spent my teen years in Capreol. Summers were at the beach on the Vermillion River and winters at ‘The Rink.’ Born in East York but Toronto never was my thing. Ever since a kid looking out the window on long trips, I imagined living on the highway in a little house with a big yard and trees growing all around me.
