After an hour of discussion, Prince George city council voted to consider the costs of operating the Little Prince train during budget talks.
Tracy Calogheros, Chief Executive Officer of the Exploration Place, attended council to ask for more funding and support for the train.
While the Exploration Place is the operator of the historic train, a six-tonne Dickie crica 1912 that is now unique in the world, it actually belongs to the city.
It was donated to the city in 1971 and operational in Fort George Park by 1975 with the Exploration Place taking over operations in 2009.
Calogheros explained to council that to operate the train for four days per week the Exploration Place would need a $100,000 per year commitment for three to five years, as well as a new work shed and storage shed.
The city currently funds the train at $25,000 per year, which only sustains operations for one day per week.
With 2.2 km of track, it is Canada’s shortest railway but transports over 20,000 passengers per year, with three passenger cars, seven licensed engineers and three licensed conductors.
Calogheros explained that the Exploration Place’s financial situation is extraordinarily fragile and the museum board doesn't want Exploration Place to operate the train unless it can pay for itself.
It made a surplus of $17,343 last year but that was the first time it made a surplus since 2012 and that number does not account for Tracy or engineer John Calogheros’ time.
“If this train is going to continue to operate, the city's going to have to get serious because we can't carry it any further,” said Tracy Calogheros during her presentation.
She emphasized that the train is not an amusement park ride, but a six-ton steam engine that operates under Canada’s passenger rail rules.
Calogheros also explained that the train is stored in a Quonset hut that was assembled backwards in the 70s by volunteers.
Water runs down the hut and into the space itself where it pools and then freezes and thaws, which causes damage to the train and creates an unsafe work environment for staff.
A new storage and work shed building for the train was on the city’s capital plan for 2020 but was delayed because of COVID-19.
“I have been waiting for a decision for a decade and I've been putting my staff in harm's way by allowing them to work in that space,” said Calogheros. “I would ask that this city decide whether this train is important enough to warrant proper funding or whether we should really be rolling it up.”
Coun. Kyle Sampson made a motion to staff to get a report back with options for the city to consider. Much discussion took place about possible grant funding sources and whether more information could be ready before budget discussions on January 22.
Coun. Garth Frizzell made an amendment to have information on the cost of operations, and not the work shed and storage shed, be ready before budget.
Coun. Brian Skakun asked "how we got here" and why this item appeared on council’s radar just two weeks before budget discussions.
“I'm telling you what it's going to cost you to operate your train. This is not the museum's train. I'm not here with my handout,” said Calogheros. “I've been telling this city council since 2009, that it is vastly underfunded so my perspective is we got here because I wasn't listened to.”
When it came to a vote, the amended motion “that the request for funding and support of the Little Prince Train, be referred to administration for options and information and the operational budget come back in time for budget discussions,” passed unanimously.
