A steam locomotive built by wartime brides in Montreal in 1944 and brought back to life by 15 volunteers will be unveiled on Saturday, July 26 in Capreol.
The 93-foot, 300-tonne engine that tore along the track at 120 miles per hour is "an awesome beast on the track," said Randy Prescott, one of 10 surviving children of Esther and Harold Prescott, former mayor of Capreol and locomotive engineer.
Harold "hammered CN for 10 years to get the locomotive for Capreol," Randy said.
Besides stepping inside the train and touring the Northern Ontario Railway Museum and Heritage Centre, visitors can enjoy a fundraising barbecue with 85 members of the Prescott family starting at noon. Organizers will also have rock painting for the kids.
The alluring town offers a feast for train lovers, history buffs and those who like the north. It features the former CN superintendent's house built in 1916, complete with a model train room and a schoolhouse on wheels that used to stop in northern towns for a week at a time.
Randy thanked the businesses, including Greg MacDonald
Equipment Services, that made the restoration of the locomotive
possible. "It was an awesome, awesome gesture on their parts,"
he said.
 
To learn more, go to
www.railroadtown.ca
.
