Come ride a train

Andrea Roberts
Times Contributor

 

Aspen Crossing hosted its Inaugural Tour of the railway on May 15.
Those invited to the grand opening got to experience the train ride firsthand with entertainment and appetizers.
The tour was the dream of Aspen Crossing owner Jason Thornhill, who says that part of the tour is about learning about Alberta when the trains were used to pull grain.
The event started with a prayer, before Thornhill officially opened the train with ceremonial champagne smashing against the caboose. Guests then boarded upon the conductor’s shouts of “All aboard.”
Guests found a seat in one of the three cabins and were told that appetizers would be served soon while a live band performed railroad songs in the last cabin – also the bar car.
The tour, which consisted of a 22.5 kilometer track, took roughly three hours to complete. It departed from Aspen Crossing heading towards Arrowwood, where it was stopped by outlaws who boarded the train.
The train then headed towards Blackie where the train stopped at a makeshift graveyard, where the outlaws buried their “stolen loot” before having a shootout with the Sheriff and his lady companion. The stolen loot was money collected from passengers that will go to the restoration of the Mossleigh elevators, which the train passes by and will hopefully become part of the tour.