SALUTING THE DIDSBURY BUSINESS COMMUNITY
The Didsbury & District Chamber of Commerce joined the country in celebrating the 28th annual Small Business Week, October 14 - 20, 2007. Small Business Week is a national celebration organized by the Business Development Bank of Canada (BDC) in cooperation with the Canadian Chamber of Commerce. It pays tribute to the significant contribution that small and medium-sized business owners make to our economy and gives them an opportunity to network with those interested in small business and dedicated to its development.

Vintage train ride a
step back in time

By MAURICE TOUGAS
Examiner staff

STETTLER – In these days when speed is of the essence, when everybody has to get wherever they’re going in the least possible time, a trip on the ol’ No. 41 is a throwback.

No. 41 is the 79-year-old steam engine that makes the 70 kilometre jaunt from Stettler to Big Valley dozens of times a year as part of the Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions steam tout. It’s a modest jaunt by car, but with No. 41 pulling nine cars weighing in at 672 tonnes, and hitting a top speed of only 18 miles per hour, it takes a good hour-and-a half to make the journey. Time is not of the essence on this trip.

Alberta Prairie has been running this unique venture since 1990. Its appeal is clearly to the older crowd who appreciate the pace – the style of entertainment on board is not of the rock ‘n roll variety – but there were still plenty of families with young children among the 180 or so people on board when we took the trip last Friday.

The train departs from Stettler, a pleasant little town about two hours southeast of Edmonton. As the train slo-o-owly chugs out of Stettler station, a grizzled character who calls himself Gabriel Dumont introduces himself to everyone on board, finds out where they’re from (visitors from various U.S. points, Holland and France got a nice round of applause when introduced), and hands out his card. “Gabriel Dumont” it says. “Warden of the Plains. Buffalo Hunter, Fur Trader, Voyageur, Teamster, Sharp Shooter, Horseman, Gambler, Ferryman, Patriot.” (Dumont, for those of you shaky on your Canadian history – who isn’t? – was a Metis leader who was one of Louis Riel’s right-hand men, among other accomplishments of a remarkable life.) This Dumont is outfitted in the full frontier look, with the incongruous addition of a cordless microphone.

As the train meanders along through the Central Alberta landscape, visitors are free to roam from car to car. A bar car, the Lone Star Saloon, at the front of the train is hopping, with passengers singing and clapping along to old time country tunes. A few cars back, a busy car is packed with souvenirs, snack food, pop and liquids of more substance for adults. (Interestingly, they can only serve alcohol when the car is in motion.) An open air car, with no windows and no seats, is a welcome breath of fresh air. For the smaller kids, there’s a small area set aside with some Duplo building toys, and in the back, you’ll find some arcade games. They’re older games – by arcade game standards, they’re museum pieces – but they’re only a quarter and still have plenty of amusement value left.

The train stops only to be “robbed” by a gang of armed, horseback riding desperados. It’s all pretty much tongue-in-cheek: the chief desperado points his gun at the lower regions of a male passenger, and warns if you don’t hand over some money, he’s gonna get it. Getting impatient, he says “hurry up … have you ever tried wearing a slicker in 30 degree weather?” Fortunately, Gabriel Dumont rides – or actually, walks – to the rescue, guns a blazin’.

By 4:05 p.m., you’ve arrived in Big Valley, an important rail town back in the early part of the last century, a desolate spot on the map today. It’s the only stopping off point on our trip, and the two hours you spend there is more than enough time to see the town. In fact, you can walk up and down Big Valley’s main street in about 10 minutes. On this sweltering day – my guess is the temperature was in the 30 C range – it appeared virtually every one of its 275 residents were inside. There’s a small, faux rustic shopping and craft area, but otherwise Big Valley is unremarkable.

Dinner is served at the town hall. On this day, it’s roast beef with mashed potatoes, gravy, and a couple of salads. Nothing extravagant, but the beef was perfectly cooked, and the dessert delicious.

Two long hours later (memo to Alberta Prairie: shorten the Big Valley stay) we’re back on the train for the trip back to Stettler. An enthusiastic, talented couple, Richard and Deborah Popovich, entertain from car to car with a lively selection of standard 1920s tunes. The older passengers enjoyed the songs and Richard’s banter; he had them in stitches at times.

Does this all sound kinda corny? Sure, it is. But no matter. The passengers on ol’ No. 41 seem to have had a wonderful time going back in time.