A seven-car train made up of pri- vately-owned diners and sleepers from the United States made an unsched- uled stop at the old CP Rail Station downtown Castlegar on July 4. The luxury train — with about 60 people from Chicago, Los Angeles, St. Louis and other U.S. locations — rode the rails while on a eight-day excur- sion from Duluth, Minn., visiting this area’s leading heritage attractions. On arrival in the West Kootenay, the U.S. tour train visited Slocan City on Friday, then came to Castlegar the same afternoon when it followed the historic CPR line to West Robson to take the American visitors to Celgar Pulp Co. Ltd. for a tour of the pulp mill. Proceeding without publicity, by arrangement with the CP Rail,the train then slipped out of Castlegar for an overnight stay at Birchbank Friday night. The next day, July 4, after a morn- ing visit in Trail — where it took the touring group up the Warfield Hill — the American excursion train returned to Castlegar, then moved on to Nelson. “The object is to run the train where passenger trains never go,” said Mark Johnson, a Blueberry resident who caught the train home Friday evening from the pulp mill. Indeed, this was the first train run- ning through Castlegar since 1982 when the Royal Hudson was in the area on excursion. The July 4th train was greeted en- thuiiastically by a group of local youngsters who sighted the unusual train and followed it to the CP Rail Station Museum. The train surprised a number of vis- itors to the historic Station, run by the Castlegar and District Heritage Soci- ety. While some of the American visitors got off the train in Castlegar, for a side excursion in a rented car to Kaslo, the train continued on its way to Nelson for quick afternoon viewing of Nelson's heritage project — the newly restored Street Car No. 23 that began running July 1. The same evening the train left for Yakh near Creston on its return trip across the border at the close of the USS. national holiday. Aside from the 1982 passage of the Royal Hudson, the last train to stop at the historic Castlegar station was in 1976, according to railway personnel servicing the tour. Daily passenger service between Nelson and Trail (via Castlegar) was discontinued in 1949. In 1958, mainline service from Van- couver via the Kettle Valley was cut, and in 1988 the CP Rail was given per- mission to abandon its West Robson- Midway branch line. For more Station and railway histo- ry, please pick up our new Station brochure at the Heritage Society's of- fice located in the CP Rail building. The Castlegar and District Heritage Society played host to some special visitors on July 4 as American tourist rolled into town abroad a train as part of their Independence Day celebrations. The special cross-border vacation marked the first time a train travelled to Castlegar in some 10 years. Robson’s Bullock earns BSc Christopher Bullock, son of Elmer and Veronica Peller- ine of Robosn, recently grad- uated from the University of British Columbia with a Bachelor of Applied Science degree in Bio-Resource Engi- neering. 5 He qualified for a B.C. Sci- ence Council Graduate Re- search in Engineering and Technology award. Bullock is currently working towards attaining his Masters Degree in Environmental Engineer- ing. 125 Birthday, we're on top of the world. ‘The Human Development Report (1992) ranks Canada No. 1 in the world for quality of life. Published by the United Nations Development Programme, the report is based on the life expectancy, education levels and purchasing power in 160 countries. Canada ael 125 years to celebrate ‘ i Wednesday, July 15, 1992 AQUANAUTS — FX PASTLEGA, ov ANAUTS ANNUAL SWIM MEET Saturday & Sunday July 18th & 19th CASTLEGAR AQUATIC CENTRE Best of Luck Aquanauts Vb Castlegar Savings Credit Union “Your Community Financial Centre” CASTLEGAR 601-18th Street 365-7232 SLOCAN PARK Highway 6 226-7212 Best of Luck Aquanauts at Your Swim Meet. PROFESSIONAL ADVICE FROM DEPENDABLE PEOPLE SOLIGO, KOIDE JOHN & PICHE 615 Columbia Ave., Castlegar * 365-7745 Best of Luck... From the Management & Staff Yes a, 1432 Columbia 365-6028 Good Luck Aquanauts! \ 337-1810-8th Ave., Castlegar 365-6161 Good Luck Aquanauts! From all of us Re .. COLUMBIA AUTO SERVICE ns 850 Columbia Avenue Phone 365-5422 Castlegar co AQUANAUTS! Please Bring This Coupon To The Dia Queen For A FREE Small Soft Drink v With Any Food Order. esr | = IN NO JOB TO BIG OR TO SMALL Located on Pipeline Pit Road In The PH. 365-5522 CASTLEAIRD PLAZA We're Proud of You Aquanauts! LOCALLY OWNED & OPERATED 365-2430 + 693-2430