Trains are an obsession for father and son David and Mark Zulkoskey.
This was the topic of the Coffee and Conversation at the Prince Albert Historical Museum on Sunday as they presented “Iron Roads: The Railway History of Prince Albert and Area.
“We love trains, (and) I think people need to be more aware of what we had here,” David said. “I always think that Joni Mitchell song from Big Yellow Taxi. ‘You don’t know what you’ve got till it’s gone.’”
In David’s portion of the hour and a half presentation he discussed the start of railways in Prince Albert beginning in 1890. Mark took over for the latter half discussing from the early 1990s onward.
“Most of the focus will be on the current railway that’s operating on in Prince Albert—Carlton Trail Railway, which is a regional railway,” Mark explained
“A lot of people don’t realise CN and CP, which are the big Class 1 railways, they haven’t operated here in over 30 years. Carlton Trail is a unique railway in that it’s an American owned company, but it’s actually one of the only operations that they’ve actually been able to keep viable in the entire country.”
David talked about when the railway first arrived which did not have many photos and then dealt with several areas after. He said the lack of photos doesn’t mean there isn’t a lot of ground to cover.
“It’s about 107 years, so I’m going to look a lot at the servicing facilities that we had here in Prince Albert and that we still have,” David said.
He also looked at where railways were located in Prince Albert through former locations of stations.
“There’s some very interesting locations that no longer have a railway presence,” he said.
The two also brought parts of each of their massive railway memorabilia collections, including train bells, weight cards from the Prince Albert Roundhouse as well as books and model trains.
Throughout the presentation the duo discussed how Mark was able to help David get access to train yards.
“I was kind of his reason to get into trains,” Mark said. “I was the excuse. He used me as leverage, so when I was young, I often would go with him and accompany him to the rail yards. When they see a young kid interested in trains, you get invited to do things the public doesn’t.”
David’s love of trains came from when he was a collector after Mark was born.
“Originally I collected model soldiers and then from there I always thought I’d like to have a train and I didn’t have a train growing up,” David said. “When Mark was born I had started the model railway, and then, of course, then you start appreciating the real railways around us.”
Mark has gone on to become a noted photographer of trains and each of them have been able to access local railyards through timing and luck.
Mark also enjoys the fact that rail life permeates many other parts of life.
“One of the unique things is you can’t shake a stick without hitting somebody that knows somebody that worked for the railroad,” Mark said.
“It employs a lot of people—or has historically employed a lot of people—so one of the things that draws people to the railway is often that family aspect of it as well. There’s the historical piece to it, but there’s also those social ties that bind people to the railroad.”
The event was packed with people and went over the allotted time because David and Mark engaged the crowd with their two slide shows. David was pleased to see so many people interested in the topic.
“People are impressed by the size,” he said. “Things like steam engines, they’re like a living beast. It’s the iron horse, o they’re attracted to the colour of it. Oftentimes, it’s the size of it and even the sound of the train.”
Mark noted how important the railroads are to Prince Albert’s history in general.
“The significance of the history of the railway for Prince Albert is not only helping the city to become developed, but also in supporting our city in an economic standpoint, (and) then the historical pieces of what remains here. We have the last roundhouse that was built. It’s also one of the last actively used Roundhouses,” Mark said.
According to some research Mark recently completed, the roundhouse on 15th Street is probably one of four active servicing turntable roundhouses in Canada.
“People don’t realise the historical significance and the fact that historically these things have become redundant or not necessary,” he explained. “Yet here we’ve actually made it work and I think it’s a testament to that Prairie spirit of making whatever we have at our disposal work and operate.”
David said that the history and current railroad activity should be of interest to everyone.
“I mean that’s the thing to appreciate what we have here and to recognize the past and to be aware of the presence that the railway had in the different areas of the city where you don’t even see track anymore,” he said.
The next Coffee and Conversation is on Sunday, April 12 at 2 p.m. with Fred Matheson on 95 Years-The History of Ted Matheson Men’s Wear.
michael.oleksyn@paherald.sk.ca
