Wakefield business owners raise questions about steam train woes
Last Updated: Friday, May 16, 2008 | 11:50 AM ET
CBC News
The owners of some businesses that benefit from tourists carried into a western Quebec village by a historic steam train said they are concerned about the owner's suggestion that the train could shut down for good this summer.
But they said they also wonder about the owner's motives for making that announcement.
The locomotive, which was built in Sweden in 1907 and carries tourists between Gatineau and Wakefield, Que., temporarily put its excursions on hold earlier this week after engineers reported a landslide near the tracks.
The owner of the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train Company, Jean Gauthier, said Thursday that if work needs to be done to stabilize the slope, he may shut the train down for good. However, he is waiting for an engineer's report before making that decision.
According to the Outaouais Tourism Board, the train brings 50,000 to 60,000 tourists into Wakefield each year, generating close to $10 million in revenues.
Marc Fournier, who runs the Confiserie Wakefield, a shop that sells jams and sweets across the street from the train terminal, said he was in "total panic" when he heard the train could stop running.
"For us, it represents roughly 40 per cent of our business so we're not… totally dependent on the train, but it accounts for a huge chunk of what we do," he said, adding that the train brings a lot of indirect business through exposure. For example, tourists may stumble upon the shop while visiting on the train and later contract the store to provide corporate gifts for their business.
Other business owners said they believe they would do well even without the train.
Many said they believe that the steam train company is using the landslide as an excuse to try to negotiate a new agreement with the owner of the rail line, the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de l'Outaouais, or to get some extra help from the provincial government.
John Nesbitt, owner of the Wakefield General Store, said the train's owner isn't happy with the contract he signed with the owner of the rail line, especially provisions requiring the steam train company to fix and replace infrastructure.
Fournier agreed that's no secret.
Gauthier's spokesman, André Guibord, confirmed Thursday that the train company is interested in reopening the agreement signed in January after three years of negotiations.
Jean Perras, the head of the Compagnie du Chemin de Fer de l'Outaouais, said Thursday evening that he's willing to talk to the operators of the train, and did not understand why they had not yet contacted him directly. However, Perras, who is also the mayor of Chelsea, said he wants to wait until he has heard what the engineers have to say before making any decisions.
