The province of Manitoba announced today it will be granting $32,500 to the Swan River Historical Museum for their train project.
The funding is a result of a successful application to the Building Sustainable Communities program.
The train at the museum is a 1/8th scale replica of a working railroad that visitors will be able to ride around the heritage village. The locomotive and a few cars were on display Thursday with sample rides for the people at the press conference.
When complete the first loop will be over 3000 feet long. A level crossing will be installed across the museum access road and a train station will be built as well. The hope for the train station is that it will double as a photo location for weddings in the Swan Valley.
“We’re gonna drive you through history on the train.” said the Fundraising Chairperson for the museum Bill Gade. “It’ll get a lot more people to the museum, even today we had some people out at the announcement that live here, they’ve been here for years, but they haven’t been to the museum in 20 years, some of them. And this was something exciting enough to get them to come back and take another look.”
Swan Valley Chamber of Commerce President Jonny Wintoniw said that the town will benefit from this train. “Restaurants will see more visitors, hotels will see more overnight stays and our retailers can see increased traffic as visitors make Swan River a destination for their vacation- from seeing Magnet Hill to visiting our lakes and soon, riding our very own passenger train at the museum.”
Phase One of the train project is now fully funded. The grand opening of Phase One is expected during Manitoba’s 150th Birthday celebrations in 2020.
Phase Two of the train project is proposed for next fall and will include a winter celebration component.
