Since 1996, volunteers have been raising funds for B.C. charities by staging immersive steam-train robberies
Under a June sky that looked like a grey duvet had been yanked over British Columbia’s Okanagan Valley, Jim Davis pulled a rifle, six-shooters and a box of .38-calibre Winchester blanks out of the back of his SUV. As he passed the guns to fellow gang members trickling into the place they call their hideout that Sunday morning, he spun their clicking barrels to ensure they weren’t sticky from disuse.
Now, with pandemic restrictions easing, the robbers, pulling up in pickups and unloading their horses and gear, were getting ready for their comeback on this cloudy Sunday. But it almost didn’t happen. Every year from Mothers Day through the Thanksgiving weekend, the shrieking whistle of the Spirit of Summerland has echoed throughout the valley as it chugged along on its regular scenic tours through the Okanagan’s belly. The special excursion package featuring the hold-up – called the Great Train Robbery and BBQ – is the railway’s most popular. Running 14 times this season, the two-hour trip costs adults $61.50 and $35 for children.
Mr. Davis, the gang’s oldest rider at the age of 64, interjects: “I didn’t even know what had happened because I was out there shooting and carrying on, and somebody told me, “Hey, Wendy’s down – you better go check on her!’” Maintaining a steam train and its tracks, even when it’s not operating, is expensive. A grant of $290,000 from the B.C. government’s major-attractions program last August helped keep the operation viable.
Gerry Conrad, a retired Canadian military helicopter pilot who flew Sea Kings off naval ships, has been a train buff since childhood; his father was a CN Rail engineer. The Peachland resident, who joined the gang 13 years ago and describes himself as a “big voluble person” who “loves to yarn,” plays Sheriff Sam Smith during the train robbery excursions.
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