Northern Ont. railway group chugs forward with steam engine train revival project

A local group aims to restore the city's abandoned 503 Steam Engine, seeking $2 million to return it to service for tourist rides or as a static display.

A new committee is hoping to fire up an old steam-engine locomotive that’s been sitting around for decades in North Bay and turn it into the city’s newest tourist attraction.

The Nipissing Railway Historical Society is working on the ‘Steam Tourist Train project – Fire Up 503’ to get the train back on the tracks for tourist rides.

Committee director Bill Ferguson hopes to see the old 503 steam engine back on the tracks.

“This is a railway town, right? We’ve had three major railways here,” Ferguson told CTV News, while walking around the locomotive.

“We don’t have a lot of symbols (about) our railway heritage. If you drive across the north to other communities, you’ll find locomotives in much better condition. You’ll find other pieces of equipment. You might even find museums dedicated to the railway.”

Decommissioned decades ago

Before it was decommissioned when the Ontario Northland Transportation Commission shifted to diesel engines in the 1950s or 1960s, the 503 was a mixed-use and yard locomotive.

Ontario Northland sold the engine to the city for a dollar.

It ended up in a few locations, one being Lee Park on Memorial Drive, before it wound up beside the bus terminal on Wyld Street near the beach volleyball court, where it currently is collecting cobwebs.

Ferugson said that parts of the train have been stolen over the years.

“So a group of individuals got together and said, ‘We’ve got to do something about this,’” he said.

There are two ideas in development: put it back on the rails as a tourist ride between North Bay and Bonfield for special occasions like Mother’s Day, Father’s Day and Canada Day; or, at the bare minimum, restore it for a better static display and move it somewhere else in the city.

It’s estimated it would cost $2.7 million to refurbish the old engine, complete with a new boiler, new tubes and new controls.

‘Pretty exciting’

“Over the next year, we’re getting the business plan worked out, looking at operating rights,” Ferguson said.

“We would need somewhere to drive it.”

City councillor Gary Gardiner would like to see the 503 on the rails again. The city’s municipal heritage committee is currently exploring its options.

“Whether we would transfer that asset to the 503 Fire Up committee, or we would retain ownership and provide a memorandum of understanding as to how it operates,” he said. “I think it’s pretty exciting.”

If the locomotive can be restored, the goal is to get the train ready for rides again within the next four years. If that can’t be done, the society does have a backup plan.

“We do have lines on a couple of other locomotives that could be used instead,” Ferugson said.

But until he knows more about the future, he plans to keep the revival plan chugging along.