Listen Live
Listen Live
HomeNewsPrince George will explore options for keeping Little Prince running smoothly

Prince George will explore options for keeping Little Prince running smoothly

Prince George City Council has agreed to look into what it will take to keep Exploration Place’s Little Prince train in good shape.

Images of the current train shed, from Exploration Place’s presentation to Prince George City Council

CEO Tracy Calogheros says the building currently used to house and maintain the train was built incorrectly in the 1970s and has issues with flooding and leaks. She says it’s not big enough to store the amount of wood needed or for the engineer to perform maintenance on the engine. The cost of its replacement will depend on what kind of structure council decides on to replace it.

“Replacing the Quonset hut is relatively inexpensive,” Calogheros says. “It’ll look the same but be bigger and it’ll solve all the problems. That you could probably do for $50,000 – 60,000 but if you want to build a structure that’s going to have all of the modern conveniences – electric & security, those sorts of things – your price is different.”

Her presentation focused on the shortcomings of the current building and contained some ballpark figures but few details.

- Advertisement -

“It’s more risk management than it is a straight-up quote. That’s the engine itself. The building – it’s a city asset. Until they decide how big a building they want, what they want it to look like, how many features they want in it – it’s impossible to get a quote on building a new building.”

Calogheros is also asking council to invest in a reserve fund of up to $100,000 to cover emergency repairs. The Little Prince is now over a century old and so unique – as the only 24 gauge steam engine operating in North America – that all repairs and parts have to be custom made.

Currently, the outer skin of the engine needs to be replaced but Calogheros says other issues could arise at any time.

“I could come to them tomorrow with catastrophic failure on that train and say to them, ‘I need 80 grand for x,y, z. It won’t be in any of their plans. There’s no way to predict it. I think that having a significant chunk of money sitting aside, just in case, makes sense.”

The Little Prince is a well-loved attraction for both tourists and locals. In 91 days of operation last year, the train carried nearly 26,000 passengers.

- Advertisment -
- Advertisment -
- Advertisement -

Continue Reading