Train museum closed, future of building uncertain

Friday, 17 December 2021 09:21

Train museum closed, future of building uncertain

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The late Earl Patterson working on his train set in the Boissevain Train Museum. The museum is closing, but Patterson’s trains will continue to be displayed elsewhere.

Although the longtime train museum in Boissevain is closed, the final future of the building has yet to be decided.
The Boissevain Model Train Museum has been a destination in the community for several years, located right by Tommy Turtle on the south end of town. The building was once the tourist booth and at one time housed the economic development office. However, recently the building has had problems. Boissevain-Morton Head of Council Judy Swanson said there was a breakdown of the water supply to the small building. As this was how the building, which is not insulated, was heated, this has had a larger impact on the situation. In order to keep running in the winter, they would have to switch over to natural gas or another type of heat, which would be quite expensive. Swanson added the building was never originally intended to be open year round.

There were three model train sets in the facility. One was owned by Stan Peck and one by Jake Rempel. The third, once owned by the late Earl Patterson, is now owned by the municipality. It has been moved over to the Wildlife Museum next door. Swanson said the others have either been removed or are in the process of being removed. She added they were given the option of keeping them there over the winter, but said the cold could have a bad impact on these sets.
As for displaying all three in the Wildlife Museum, she said they are quite technical and something that might be too difficult for students to use on their own during the summer tourist season. They will continue to display the Patterson trains.
As for the building itself, Swanson said Council has not yet come up with a decision on what will happen. She added they would be in conversation with the Boissevain-Morton Arts Council about the Whitewater Lake mural that is around the building, to see if they think it can be saved or moved should the building come down.
In the future, Swanson said they would like to see a playground developed in that general area, as there is nothing like that on that end of town.

by PAUL RAYNER, Recorder staff

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