New heritage park under construction in Arden

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Published on Thursday, November 13, 2014

By Kate Jackman-Atkinson

The Neepawa Banner

The early days of the railway are being remembered in a new park in the Village of Arden. Last month, volunteers from the community’s Heritage Committee installed a refurbished railway push cart in the heritage park at the north end of town.

In 1885, the railway came to Arden and in the construction of rail lines, push carts were used to bring in supplies, such as railway ties and haul away damaged or unneeded material. The cart in Arden is from the 1930s or 1940s and was donated by Ken and Ava Harris of Minnedosa. Ken retired from a career with CP Rail and has a collection of railway memorabilia.  

The cart itself wasn’t the only donation to the project; the municipality made a donation of gravel for the display site, while CPR donated the ties, spikes and plate that were needed to complete the display. A plaque will be installed soon.

“The train was very important to Arden.  We had a train station and people used to take the train into Neepawa [for the day],” said Heritage Committee member Rod Shuttleworth.  He explained that members from the committee took the push cart apart and removed the rotten wood.  Prior to its installation, it was reconstructed using new materials. 

The push cart joins the ox cart already at the park and Shuttleworth said that they plan to continue to develop the area.  

This is just one of the projects undertaken by the small but active committee.  Earlier this year, they installed new signage along Highway 16 for the community, making it easier for passing motorists to see.