Rail preservation and museum news in brief:
Work begins on CN 6060
Work has begun to restore Canadian National No. 6060, the semi-streamlined 4-8-2 which had a heralded excursion career beginning in 1972 but has been inactive since 2011 and stored in Stetler, Alberta. The Rocky Mountain Rail Society is working to restore the locomotive, built in 1944 at the Montreal Locomotives Works, and initially planned to begin boiler repairs once it had raised all the necessary money, estimated at C$650,000. The Jasper Fitzhugh Newspaper reports that the organization instead is going to begin the process by removing about 100 staybolts, at a cost of about $50,000. To date, the society has raised and spent about $182,000, with $132,000 of that spent on mettlaurgical tests and developing a repair plan. “We realize in the current economic situation it will be difficult to complete the project,” spokesman Rich Graydon told the newspaper. “We hope that our project will provide jobs for Albertans and demonstrate our commitment to doing our part.” For more information, visit the 6060 website.
Lake Superior Railroad Museum, North Shore Scenic Railroad to reopen
The Lake Superior Railroad Museum, Duluth Union Depot — which hosts the museum and a number of other attractions and organizations — and North Shore Scenic Railroad are set to reopen after COVID-19 closures on Wednesday. The Depot asks visitors to wear masks at all times. The North Shore Scenic has made a number of changes to operations because of the coronavirus, outlined here. For more information, visit the depot, railroad museum, and North Shore Scenic websites.
Canada’s Exporail now open
Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum in St.-Constant, Quebec, near Montreal, has reopened on a five-day-a-week schedule on a reservation-only basis. The museum is now offering timed tickets via its online ticketing system and has instituted a series of measures to address the COVID-19 requirement. Some parts of the museum remain closed including the interior of vehicles, the locomotive simulator, and train rides. The museum is open Wednesdays through Sundays from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., with the last admission at 3 p.m. Visit the museum website for more information.
