Members of Cloverdale鈥檚 Heritage Rail are hopeful they鈥檒l soon recieve some very good news.
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society (FVHRS) has crossed all their t鈥檚 and dotted all their i鈥檚 on contracts with B.C. Hydro and Southern Railway of British Columbia. Now they are just waiting patiently for the two companies to punch out their own contract details. Once everything is signed, Heritage Rail will be allowed to start running their trains up to Sullivan Station again.
鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting for some good news about when we can get back on the mainline,鈥� said John Sprung, chairman of the FVHRS board of directors. 鈥淲e鈥檙e waiting for them to make a decision. It鈥檚 out of our control.鈥�
He said Southern Railway owns the freight rights for the old B.C. Electric Railway track and has a long-term lease on it. Hydro owns the passenger rights鈥攈ence the need for the two to sign some paperwork, since FVHRS will run passenger service on the rail line that Southern leases. FVHRS recently signed a five-year corridor consent agreement with Hydro, which gives Heritage Rail the right to run a passenger train to Sullivan.
He said once they are allowed to use the mainline again, they鈥檒l start planning their Halloween train. Because they need to plan for several weeks in order to get the Halloween train on the tracks, they'll need to know within about three weeks if they can run on the mainline again. The mainline is integral to what FVHRS offers families for their Halloween special train.
鈥淭o do it properly, we need to run to Sullivan,鈥� Sprung explained. 鈥淲e need the mainline. It works well with things to do in the car while we're going there and coming back.鈥�
He said if they don鈥檛 get notified of mainline access within that time frame, then the Halloween train will not run. And that only has to do with the time needed to plan the event.
鈥淲e fully expect to get (access), it鈥檚 just a question of when,鈥� Sprung added. 鈥淏ut (the Halloween train) is a wonderful event. A lot of people look forward to it and it鈥檚 always a lot of fun. I鈥檓 never sure who has more fun, our guests or all of our volunteers.鈥�
He did, however, note the railway鈥檚 Christmas train and adventure is good to go as the railway doesn鈥檛 use the mainline for their Christmas train. The Restoration Car Barn becomes Father Christmas's workshop and FVHRS only runs the Christmas train down their Cloverdale spur. Planning for Christmas in Cloverdale, as it was in 1924, is already underway.
鈥淲e鈥檙e very hopeful that things are going to go well and we鈥檒l be back on the line very quickly,鈥� Sprung explained. 鈥淏ut it does take time. There are a number of steps involved.鈥�
Cloverdale Station Summer Music Festival
This was also the first year the railway held a summer music series. The Cloverdale Station Summer Music Festival hit the platform at the Heritage Rail train station at the end of June and runs until Sept. 1.
鈥淲e鈥檇 like to thank the City of Surrey and its Cultural Grants program,鈥� noted Sprung. 鈥淭hey helped sponsor our summer music festival this year.鈥�
Sprung said the music fest has been a big hit and has attracted more visitors to Cloverdale Station this summer. (Sprung also hinted the festival will likely be back next year.) Twenty performances were spread out over 10 weeks, with each band/artist playing two sets, one at 11 a.m. and one at 1 p.m., on each Saturday and Sunday.
Remaining performances for the Cloverdale Station Summer Music Festival include:
Aug. 24: The Shannon Lee Quartet
Aug. 25: Peace Arch Chorus
Aug. 31: Mark Hildebrand
Sept. 1: Kat Moon Band
The Heritage Railway Adventure experience is available eight times per weekend, four times on Saturday and four times on Sunday.
The Fraser Valley Heritage Railway Society operates the railway out of Cloverdale Station and the Restoration Car Barn at Hwy 10 and 176A Street, in Surrey鈥攚hich they now call the Cloverdale Heritage Railway Campus.
For more information on the Heritage Railway Adventure, the summer concert series, the Halloween or Christmas trains, or to buy tickets, visit .
