Island Railway still in Limbo

I was looking forward to the new schedule for the VIA Dayliner that had the train heading south from Nanaimo to Victoria in the early morning with an evening return, making it possible to visit the capital city without staying overnight. Unfortunately passenger service was discontinued before the new schedule was implemented due to poor track conditions on the historic railway. The Island Corridor Foundation, a conglomerate of regional districts and First Nations 

communities adjacent to the E&N corridor on southern Vancouver Island, is currently lobbying the provincial and federal governments for $15 million for crucial upgrades and other important repairs needed to get the Dayliner back on track. Not one to turn a blind eye to a photo op, Premier Christy Clark recently pledged $7.5 million toward track improvements. However, the money is conditional. An inspection of bridges along the line must be completed and the federal government must cough up similar funding.

As a member of the Western Vancouver Island Industrial Heritage Society in Port Alberni and a conductor aboard the Alberni Pacific Railway, I’m conscious of the funding challenges in keeping a railway operational. The Industrial Heritage has a legion of volunteers working on the right-of-way within our jurisdiction, which runs from tidewater in Port Alberni, eastward along the Beaufort Range towards Parksville.

To give you an idea of how hard volunteer crews have been working to keep the line clear, here are three photos of a recent rockslide at Mile 27.5 above Port Alberni.

PHOTOS OF THE ROCKSLIDE BELOW

CLASSIC MUSICAL PLAYING IN QUALICUM

Anne of Green Gables – The Musical opened last week at the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach. Loved by millions around the world, this family classic relives the poignant and funny story of Anne Shirley, the spunky, redheaded orphan who comes to Prince Edward Island hoping to find a happy home. The show definitely has legs, running for 46 consecutive seasons at the Charlottetown Confederation Centre of the Arts since 1965. 

This is the second time I’ve had the opportunity to conduct the show as musical director. The first was in 1992 when I was teaching high school in Port Alberni. Then, having access to large numbers of student musicians, I was able to use the full instrumental score complement of 17 musicians. However, for the version I’m currently performing for the Bard 2 Broadway Summer Theatre in Qualicum, I had to rearrange the original score to be played by 5 musicians.

If you’re looking for an evening of top-flight musical theatre I highly recommend you take in the show. For a complete review of the production go to: http://www.bclocalnews.com/vancouver_island_central/parksville_qualicumbeachnews/entertainment/125380418.html

For tickets and further information visit www.b2btheatre.com or call 250-752-4470

Photo above: Pictured above is the 5-piece combo I’m using to accompany B2B’s Anne of Green Gables at the intimate Village Theatre in Qualicum – Larry Miller (baritone sax, clarinet and flute), Claudio Fantinato (alto sax, clarinet and flute), Michael Wright (drums), Brian Anderson (bass) and myself on piano. In the theatre we are situated on a platform high above the stage. Since we can’t see the singers I follow the action by watching a television monitor sitting on my piano. 

OVERWHELMED BY STUFF

My wife Pat announced last week that clutter, related to a lifetime of music making and teaching, had overtaken our home. Sheet music and books were the worse offenders with a spare bedroom, innumerable closets and a garage bursting at the seams with piano and choral scores, shelves of hard cover books and stacks of outdated computers and printers. Even the laundry room was lined with storage containers. Where to start became the query of the day.

Fortunately Pat at some point in the past had cut out a Reader’s Digest article by Stuart Foxman entitled “You Can Be A Clutter Cutter”.  We decided to base our campaign against our accumulated clutter on points of reference in the article. First we had to ask ourselves if our stuff made us feel good, if we really needed it, if it was outdated, if it inspired us or if our life would change drastically if we let it go. Not a problem with the boxes of old computer hardware stored in our garage that had relegated Pat’s car to be parked outside in the driveway for the past eight years. After destroying the hard drives, several computers and printers went straight to the local recyclable depot, destined I reckoned to be picked apart in some far-away land for spare parts or to be melted down. 

However, reams and reams of sheet music are proving to be another matter. Turfing arrangements and scores I’ve written and played in my college years I admit is proving stressful. Determining what to keep is excruciating. I’m fearful that I’ll make a wrong decision and chuck something that I might need at some time in the future. However, I have made a start and the rotten summer weather is keeping me at it. Meanwhile, at this writing, Pat is agonizing over what to do with a vast collection of thank you cards she has received from students over the years. At this writing she can’t bear to throw them out. Decluttering our lives is proving to be not only traumatic, but very hard work.

ALBERNI PACIFIC RAILWAY HELD UP AT GUNPOINT BY BEAUFORT GANG LAST WEEKEND

PHOTOS ABOVE: News Flash - Port Alberni’s notorious Beaufort Gang held up the Alberni Pacific Railway’s 2pm run to McLean Mill last Saturday. Conductor Kevin Hunter was taken hostage when no payroll was found onboard. However, Conductor Hunter was released unharmed when the robbers failed to find anyone willing to pay his ransom. The public is being warned that the marauding gang is on the loose again this summer and train trips to the McLean Mill National Historic Site are a likely target. Check www.alberniheritage.com for further information.

Anne of Green Gables opens July 6th

It’s been several months since I’ve written a blog. However, now that I’ve finished a major music project, I’ve found some time to return to dabble in my online scribbles. The project I’d been working on the last couple months involved reducing the orchestral score of Anne of Green Gables to a five-piece instrumental combo to accompany Oceanside’s Bard to Broadway’s production of the musical this summer. Using a computer program called Sibelius, I arranged my instrumental choice of piano, bass, drums and woodwinds so I could hear the music played back to me before I actually printed the parts for the musicians to play from. A far cry from the days where I’d plunk out my ideas on a piano followed by a rehearsal with the musicians to check for any wrong notes. And to think I was one who thought computers would never amount to a row of beans when they first appeared. Now I don’t know how I’d exist without this wonderful musical tool.

If you’re interested in taking in the B2B production, which opens on July 6th at the Village Theatre in Qualicum Beach, I’ve attached the show’ poster below. Also part of the summer series is the comedy murder mystery spoof Murdered to Death. Full details for both productions can be found online at http://www.b2btheatre.com/

Biking in the Okanagan

The last two weeks I’ve been in the Okanagan with my wife Pat as she adjudicated piano examinations for the Toronto Conservatory of Music. I hauled along my mountain bike and spent many days riding various sections of the Kettle Valley Rail Trail. The most scenic part of the trail is the Myra Canyon section which is located high above the City of Kelowna and is classed as a must ride for bike enthusiasts from around the world. In 2003 a disastrous forest fire swept through this area and sadly most of the historical railway trestles went up in smoke. However, through the efforts of the Myra Canyon Trestle Restoration Society, supported by major government and local funding efforts, all the trestles have been rebuilt to historical specifications.

Andrew McCulloch was the chief engineer who designed the Kettle Valley Railway which ran from Hope through southern BC to the West Kootenays. Starting construction in 1910 at Hope, in Myra Canyon McCulloch literally hung the railway on the steep canyon walls, taking some seven miles of track to reach across a chasm of less than one mile. It took 20 wooden trestles of various lengths and heights to do it. 

After a disastrous forest fire in 2003 the wooden trestle of Myra Canyon have all been rebuilt to historical specifications.

Several tunnel dot the Myra Canyon section of the Kettle valley Rail Trail. 

Note the wooden railings that have been added to the trestles keep cyclists from 

riding off into space.

On the western bench beyond Penticton at Summerland a 10-mile section of track of the Kettle Valley Railway was saved when the railway was shut down in the 1970’s. Now a popular tourist operation, a steam locomotive hauls trains along the historical roadbed throughout the summer.

Splendidly maintained Loci #3716 on the Kettle Valley Railroad at Summerland. The locomotive was built in 1912 and worked for many years in the Crowsnest Pass area of BC. Saved from the scrapper’s torch at the end of the steam era, #3716 was restored back to operating condition in 1975. Fondly remembered for its trips hauling the Provincial Museum train in the late 1970’s and as the backup locomotive to the Royal Hudson excursion train out of North Vancouver, #3716 looks magnificent working the tourist trains through the upper bench orchards above Summerland.