Heritage Car "Alexandra"

THE ALEXANDRA PROJECT

UPDATES

The society hopes to restore the Alexandra to its rightful place as part of Nova Scotia's railway heritage. It has been decided to locate the Alexandra at Tatamagouche adjacent to the Rhodes Curry station which now forms part of the Train Station Inn and Museum. In order to accommodate the Alexandra additional track was needed and several cabooses had to be moved.

This web page shows some of the work that has already been accomplished and some of the volunteers who have been involved. It is impossible to mention everyone by name but the society truly appreciates everyone’s help. Click on a photo for a larger image. Photos by Jimmie LeFresne, Rod Desborough and Pat Othen.

We now need to work on the interior of the car - if you have restoration skills please consider volunteering.

8 January 2007

The car had previously been coupled to the dining car and was now covered with a large tarpaulin to protect it from further damage due to holes in the roof. Photos by Jimmie LeFresne.

18 to 20 December 2006

On Monday 18 December the movers prepared Alexandra for transportation by road and after some difficulty in detaching the trucks, lifted the car on to the trailer and the rear dolley. The vehicle inspector requested that the wheels be set further apart. Photos by David Othen

Tuesday was spent making a new attachment so that the dolley could be located further back behind the point at which the railway truck had been located.

Finally early on the morning of Wednesday 20 December the Alexandra left Fort Lawrence with a police escort. It took over an hour to negotiate downtown Amherst but Alexandra finally arrived at the Shell station in Tatamagouche about 6:30 am. On Wednesday morning the Alexandra's trucks were placed on the tracks and in the afternoon Alexandra was slowly moved through Tatamagouche to the Train Station. Finally two cranes lifted the Alexandra back on to its trucks. Photos by Rod Desborough.

The AMHERST DAILY NEWS has very kindly put together a slide show with audio commentary of the moving of "Alexandra".
It is a .MOV file containing photographs by Raissa Tetanish and Sherry Martell that can be viewed if you have Quck Time player installed (it is available free at the Apple site).
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THIS EXCELLENT SLIDE SHOW.
The file is 4Mb in size and may take several minutes to download - BE PATIENT!
USE THE BACK ARROW ON YOUR BROWSER TO RETURN TO THIS PAGE.
Many thanks to Raissa, Sherry, the Amherst Daily News and the Truro Daily News for allowing us to use this slide show.

1 to 3 December 2006

Extra ties were purchased and on the Saturday four people put the ties in place, finished laying the rails and completed the ballasting. The cabooses were then rolled back into place and on the Sunday the electrical wiring and drains were put back in place. Everything is now ready for the arrival of Alexandra hopefully within the next 10 days.

20 November 2006

By the weekend the central portion of track had been relaid and again the cabooses were moved so that the eastern section of track could be relaid. On Monday a dedicated group of volunteers attempted to lay 140 feet of track but only 80 was completed partly because more ties were needed.

13 November 2006

Finally the rails had to be put back and spiked into position.

Rails are heavy

Moving rail

Positioning rail

A second rail

Inspection!

12 November 2006

Now the ties had to be put in place and the ballast packed around them.

New ties

Positioning ties

Levelling ties

Up the tree

Ready for the rails

11 November 2006

It was decided to take advantage of the mild weather and delays in the moving schedule to relay the track in front of the station. The cabooses and dining car were moved to the ends of the track and the central part removed and fresh ballast added.

Track removed

Fresh gravel

New ties

Old rails

Levelled ballast

31 October 2006

Four volunteers went to Amherst to prepare the Alexandra for the move and to salvage ties and other track components

Inspecting track

Jacking up a rail

Removing spikes

Loading ties

Inside Alexandra

30 October 2006

Six volunteers helped remove platforms, move additional cabooses.

Mechanical assistance

Platforms removed

Walkways stored

Site preparation

Alexandra's new home

28 October 2006

Five volunteers removed platforms from alongside the cabooses and relocated the dining car.

Track ready for repair

Disconnecting the dining car

Moving the dining car

Relocated dining car

New location for dining car

27 October 2006

Ten volunteers including five from the local Kitmavik project laid 20 feet of extra track and moved a box car and two cabooses onto the new track to make room for the Alexandra.

Laying more track

Checking laying

Moving a boxcar

Pushing a boxcar

Pulling a caboose

21 & 22 October 2006

Eight volunteers and a canine supervisor attended a track laying party at Tatamagouche. Despite some damp weather the volunteers managed to grade, level and lay 78 feet of track and to move the CBNS 1000 caboose to the end of the new track.

Many thanks to Jimmie & Shelley LeFresne and to theTrain Station Inn for excellent food, much needed beverages and an elegant and comfortable room (caboose) in which to stay.

Track Laying

Track balasting

Tightening the bolts

Grading & aligning the track

The kubota pulls the caboose

Created 25 October 2006 -- Last updated 12 January 2007.