The end of the line for one of Manitoba’s final railway turntables

A steam locomotive on the turntable in Dauphin in an undated photo. (Courtesy: Dauphin Rail Museum)

A piece of railroad history in a Manitoba community will soon be lost.

The former Canadian Northern Railway turntable in Dauphin, one of the last ones in Manitoba. will be dismantled this summer, the Dauphin Rail Museum confirmed, following an attempt to preserve and save it.

Turntables were used to move trains into garages for repair and move repaired trains back to the track during the steam locomotive era. The Dauphin turntable dates back to 1906.

“They worked with steam, so you needed water, coal or oil. They just needed a lot more maintenance,” explained Jason Gilmore, president of The Dauphin Rail Museum.

He said many people are disappointed by the news of the turntable’s dismantling.

“We were just following our mission statement – to preserve, interpret and present the rich railway history of Dauphin and the Parkland,” he said. “We tried to do our best, but ultimately, not truly having ownership of it, all we could do is show that there was a lot of people that supported our initiative.”

Dauphin had a 15-stall round house for trains to be stored or worked on, which has now become the City of Dauphin’s Public Works Building. The turntable remains on the land, and was leased to the Railroad Museum.

“It’s 84 feet long, the track portion on that turntable weighing 80 to 90 tonnes, so it’s a big hunk of metal,” Gilmore said.

The museum learned last December that the city of Dauphin planned to completely remove the turntable.

The museum launched a grassroots effort, which included a petition to preserve the turntable that has received more than 400 signatures. The Manitoba Historical Society also supported the effort to save the machinery.

However, a meeting last week with the city to try and save the turntable was unsuccessful.

But a new path is opening. The museum will use part of turntable in a memorial on the museum grounds at the Dauphin Train Station. It would include the turntable motor, part of the track, and a plaque that included the names of the people who originally tried to save it.

“People will be able to learn about the history about this a little bit easier, because it’ll be more accessible,” Gilmore said. “But still, it was our desire to have it kept intact.”

The City of Dauphin sent a statement, saying “The City has focused our communication on a dialogue with our local Dauphin Rail Museum regarding the old CN turntable, and have come to an understanding with them regarding its memorialization off-site.”

The city added it will not be conducting media interviews at this time.

A date for the removal has not been set.