CORNWALL, Ontario – The Kinsmen Club of Cornwall has a special history with Locomotive #17, and they have weighed in on the controversy surrounding the train’s future.
For successive years, Cornwall City Council has contemplated spending money on restoring the train, but has chosen to delay time, and time again. With every delay, the train deteriorates more and more. During the 2019 budget process, Council had the opportunity to invest approximately $150,000 in the restoration of the train, along with moving it to a new location.
Council once again decided to hold off on investing in the train, but also voted down a proposal to sell or scrap this piece of Cornwall’s history.
Later that same week, Council learned that a museum in Smiths Falls was interested in acquiring the train, but have held off on making any final decision.
Now, some members of the Kinsmen Club want to see the train not only cared for, but cared for in Cornwall.
The train was given to the City of Cornwall by the Kinsmen Club in 1974. The Kinsmen spent $1,000 to buy the train at the time and spent an additional $1,000 on refurbishments.
“I think the city let down the service club that donated the train,” said Kin Wes Libbey. “They’ve failed to recognize this part of Cornwall’s industrial history.”
Libbey wants to see the train restored, and he wants to see it stay in Cornwall.
“The danger of it going to Smiths Falls is that it might not be top of their priority list,” he said.
Fellow Kinsmen Peter Morgan agreed that the train should be saved.
“I think it should be saved and stay in Cornwall because there are so many things we have lost of our history,” said Morgan.
In 2006, when Locomotive #17 was moved from the Water Purification Plant to the corner of Brookdale Ave. and Ninth St., Cornwall City Council passed a by-law to give the train a heritage designation.
Libbey’s wife Carole said that Locomotive #17 his a piece of history that reminds Cornwall of it’s roots in electrical innovation.
“Engine 17 is a visible symbol of the City of Cornwall’s Progress Fund. The Progress Fund came from the sale of Cornwall Electric,” said Carole Libbey. “Historically, Cornwall was destination for people to come and see industrial innovation using electricity. The electrification of the cotton mills and the street railway. Electricians from here went on to work on the electrification of the Parliament Buildings in Ottawa.”
