Jason Gilmore looks at it as the final chapter of the first stage and the jumping-off point of the next chapter.
On Sunday at 3:30 at the City of Dauphin's Public Works Shop on 22 Jackson Street, it's the final goodbye to Dauphin's Rail Turntable. Most of the 90-tonne turntable is being removed from that site on Monday.
"Basically a small community event to discuss. Given our initiative to save the turntable, many people didn't even realize it existed," said Gilmore. "It's a bit of education and an opportunity to speak on what the plans are moving forward to plan an off-site memorial of the turntable."
Gilmore says they are keeping 15 feet of the turntable to create that memorial, which is likely to be parallel to 1st Avenue NW and the tracks. Fundraising efforts are now underway to help create the memorial. If you'd like to help the cause, you can donate funds at City Hall.
"It goes back to 1993, when there were 17 community members who took their own money to buy that site from CN and to preserve it for historical purposes," commented Gilmore. "Just out of respect for that group, it's important to create a memorial. It's a legacy piece of the 129 years of rail history that we've had in Dauphin."
The 15 feet of turntable being preserved is close to 20 tonnes.
