CORNWALL, Ontario – At their budget meeting on Wednesday, Feb. 3, Cornwall City Council passed a motion to donate Locomotive 17 to the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario in Smiths Falls.
Located at the corner of Brookdale Ave. and Ninth St, successive city councils have been aware for several years of the dire need of maintenance and restoration that the locomotive needed. In 2016 it was estimated that the train would require $100,000 in restoration.
READ MORE: Locomotive #17 eyed for restoration
Locomotive 17 is the last remaining train from the time that Cornwall used a tramway in the city for public transportation.
The locomotive was moved to its current location from in front of the Water Purification Plant in 2005 and in 2006, Cornwall City Council passed a by-law to give the locomotive a heritage designation.
Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario had previously expressed interest in acquiring the train for their collection. City of Cornwall administration explored the possibility of transporting the train to Smiths Falls, and came out with an estimate of $50,000.
Councillor Elaine MacDonald put forward a motion to have the train moved to Smiths Falls.
“I want to say I visited the Smiths Falls railway museum and I think it would be a wonderful home for our locomotive. We would always be identified there,” MacDonald said. “It would be a static display in a pretty wonderful spread. I recognize this locomotive would be a loss for us, but it would still be a promotion of our city.”
Councillor Justin Towndale said that he would prefer to see the train remain in the city, and said that he had been in contact with an individual who said they could renovate the train for $50,000 more than the cost to move it.
Multiple councillors including Glen Grant, and Claude McIntosh pointed out that after many years, no group has come forward to raise money towards the maintenance Locomotive 17.
“I can’t understand for the life of my why moving this from Cornwall takes away the history of the City of Cornwall. Nothing in the Smithsonian is from Washington,” argued Councillor Eric Bergeron who spoke in favour of donating the train to Smiths Falls.
Councillor Dean Hollingsworth broke with Bergeron on the issue of Locomotive 17, arguing that history out of sight, was history out of mind.
“When you lose some of those historical reference points, you lose some of your history,” Hollingsworth said. “The Capitol Theatre only exists in the memory of those old enough to have been there.”
Mayor Bernadette Clement said she understood the need to do something, but was not in favour of donating the train to an organization outside of the community.
“While I respect the motion, I’m not going to support it,” she said.
Ultimately, council voted 6-5 to donate the train to the Railway Museum of Eastern Ontario with councillors Elaine MacDonald, Eric Bergeron, Claude McIntosh, Todd Bennett, and Syd Gardiner voting in favour, and councillors Carilyne Hébert, Justin Towndale, Dean Hollingsworth, Maurice Dupelle and Mayor Bernadette Clement voting against.
The cost of transporting the train to Smiths Falls will be taken out of working reserves and paid back next year.
