Railway Heritage Day rolls into Saskatoon

Keith Flory (right) working on his custom-built miniature steam engine. (Hallee Mandryk / CTV News)

Railway Heritage Day brought in many visitors to the Saskatchewan Railway Museum on Monday.

“We try to showcase as many of the exhibits that we can as we can in terms of both Canadian Pacific and CN and VIA Rail. And we’re actually running two of the big pieces of equipment today as well,” said Bill Rafoss, one of the board members of the Saskatchewan Railway Museum.

Guests of all ages stopped by to learn about the history of trains and simply appreciate how cool they are.

“It’s just kind of a fun place to be. And that’s kind of what we’re in for. A lot of our visitors are either seniors who grew up around the railway or their, kids under the age of six or seven, and they just like to climb on trains and have fun,” Rafoss said.

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Those associated with the museum were happy to share their expertise and enthusiasm with the public.

“People are coming from all over. We’ve had people from Alberta, we’ve had people from Manitoba as well as throughout Saskatchewan coming out and looking at a bit of our railway history,” said PJ Kennedy, who chairs the streetcar committee of the Saskatchewan Railroad Historical Association.

Kennedy spent the day showcasing a 1927 streetcar like the ones which used to occupy the streets of Saskatoon.

“When we look at the streetcar system, people went to work, people went to hockey games, people went to the university; there was a loop at the university that still exists,” Kennedy said.

“So it was really a big part of our history as Canadians, and particularly here in Saskatoon.”

Those in attendance also had the opportunity to take a ride on a miniature steam engine, built and operated by Keith Flory.

“I’d tell my wife I’m going to go in the shop for a couple, three hours, whatever. And, next thing I look at my watch. That can’t be. It’s 2:30 in the morning or 3:00 in the morning. So I went and spent all night in this stupid thing,” Flory said with a laugh.

The steam engine has been a passion project of his for more than two decades.

“About 25 or 30 years ago, I decided to buy a lathe and a milling machine. And I’ve always wanted to build a steam engine...When I first started it, I had no idea what was actually going to run,” Flory said.

It is safe to say that Flory’s hard work paid off. Folks of all ages were smiling as they took a ride on the steam engine.

“Just kind of a trial and error thing, but we do have issues with the brakes. Sometimes the water feed pumps. But as far as the actual engine, it’s been running flawlessly for probably 6 or 7 years now,” Flory said.