Doyle says council doing its part to save landmark locomotive

By Mark Squibb / July 7, 2023

Councillor Danielle Doyle disagrees with social media accusations that the Town is not doing enough to save Carbonear’s landmark locomotive.

“I do think that those are incorrect statements for people to be making,” said Doyle. “While the public is not privy to some of the conversations and emails and context going on behind the scenes, I think it’s very important for people to know that the Town has been working diligently and has looked for quotes and has experienced a lot of difficulty in getting companies to commit to giving them prices. And I find it very unfortunate that instead of people working together to try and be proactive and trying to problem solve ways to save the train, I feel that people have been attacking council for not doing their part when I feel council has done due diligence in this area.”

Doyle said council hasn’t been helped by other groups, and the matter needs to be addressed publicly.

Councillor Malcolm Seymour agreed with Doyle.

“The EDTO (Economic Development and Tourism Officer) and the rest of staff here have been diligent in many, many, many ways trying to raise money for this,” said Seymour. “It just can’t come from taxpayers.”

He said a petition to ‘Save the train’ that recently circulated and garnered as many as 1,500 signatures, had very few that were actually from local folks.

“There were probably 30 people on that list from the Carbonear area, and the rest were from down in the States,” said Seymour. “I want to save the train too. But at the end of the day, we got to do it in a manner where taxpayers do not bear the brunt of this.”

Council estimates the cost of restoration would be around $100,000 — a price council says it’s not willing to pay out of pocket.

Council unanimously voted to scrap the CN Locomotive 803, a relic of the bygone days of railroad travel, back in November citing safety concerns, but quickly rescinded that motion following a public outcry.

Should no decision be reached by the end of summer, council plans to return to its original plan of scrapping the locomotive.