A dedication ceremony on Tuesday, July 14 marked the conclusion of the Sunrise Rotary Paint The Train Project.

Surrounded by a crowd of project volunteers and supporters, City of Cranbrook Mayor Lee Pratt, Sunrise Rotary President Trent Taylor and Tom Kirk, chair of the Cranbrook History Centre, snipped the ribbon in front of the restored and re-painted engine 4090.

To quote Rotarian Dan Schellenberg: “The Alco-style FA2 engine, manufactured in Montreal in 1952, now rests proudly in its space at the King Street crossing, after being restored from a worn out appearance to its current gleaming state with fresh coats of durable epoxy paint and precision detail work on lettering and emblems.”

Work, which began on the project in 2010, involved many hours of volunteer labour as well as generous support from the business community, contractors, and funding agencies. Sunrise Rotary fundraising was complemented by grants from the City of Cranbrook, Columbia Basin Trust, the Downtown Business Association, Cranbrook Arches Committee, Cranbrook and District Community Foundation, and Columbia Kootenay Cultural Alliance.

For those interested in more information about this project, stop by and read the storyboard and view the progress pictures displayed at the site.

Above photo: Left to right – Daryl Richardson, Frank Vanden Broek, Mike Burnham (hidden), Tom Kirk, Mayor Lee Pratt, Sunrise Rotary President Trent Taylor, Bob Bjorn, Dewayne Penner, Allan Davis. Photo courtesy Bill Gibbon

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