Train running behind schedule as Fort Edmonton Park opens
Fort Edmonton Park opens to the public for its 41st season Saturday, but visitors will have to wait a few weeks to ride the park’s popular steam engine train.
Crews have been working since last September to replace all the rails and several thousand ties on the tracks, said Suzzette Mellado, a spokeswoman for Fort Edmonton Park, but the work is not finished.
“It’s the first full replacement since the train started running 37 years ago,” Mellado said.
Final checks and inspections are still required before passengers are allowed on the train. It is expected the steam engine — which once appeared in The Assassination of Jesse James, an Alberta-shot film starring Brad Pitt — will be back to work before the end of May.
Aside from the lack of a locomotive, all other attractions are ready for this weekend’s opening.
This season, the park has doubled the number of First Nation and Métis interpreters to 12 from six.
Fort Edmonton Park, the City of Edmonton and the Confederacy of Treaty Six First Nations signed a memorandum of understanding and co-operation in January on the portrayal of First Nations’ history in the park.
Mellado said the additional hires are “one step of many” the park is taking to enhance aboriginal programming. There will also be four new teepees for visitors to explore.
“There’s lots of work to be done, but we wanted to start something right away,” she said.
This year, for the first time, visitors can buy an all-inclusive admission that provides access to nearly all rides and attractions, saving the hassle of purchasing tickets.
Fort Edmonton Park opens May 16 at 10 a.m.