Ernie Mahoney - http://www.lowdownonline.com/

CHELSEA: The Friends of the Steam Train hosted their first public
meeting, December 6, since the association's launch this autumn.
Andre Groulx, president of the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Railway, was the
feature attraction, speaking on various rumours/ concerning the steam
train.

Mr Groulx told the small audience he is pleased to operate, on
behalf of his father-in-law Jean Gauthier, one of the most important
tourist attractions in West Quebec. "Of the 350 tourist trains across

On Thursday December 6th at the Chelsea COMMUNITY Centre in Old Chelsea, at 7:30 p m the Friends of the Steam Train will hold a social with a featured speaker, André Groulx, manager of the HCW Railway, the operator of the steam train. The topic will be "The Steam Train - The Inside Story".

All are invited.

Coffee and other refreshments will be served.

Infos: John Trent - 827 - 827 - 1025

Municipalities, Quebec to pay for engineering study
BY DAVE ROGERS - Ottawa Citizen

The operator of the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train has reached an agreement in principle with the municipalities that own the line to keep the train on the tracks for the next 25 years.

Outaouais municipalities told it’s unacceptable to expect owner of popular attraction to foot bill for yet-to-be named improvements
BY DAVE ROGERS, Ottawa Citizen Nov 12, 2007

The president of Tourisme Outaouais has urged Gatineau and Chelsea to sign a 25-year contract with the Hull-ChelseaWakefield steam train to prevent one of Canada’s tourism gems from disappearing from the region.

From The Editor's Desk
By Nikki Mantell
http://www.lowdownonline.com/

It is absurd. Pure madness.
Why would the Chelsea mayor want to push away one of the best thing that has ever happened to this region? It boggles the mind.

The mayors of Chelsea, La Peche and even Gatineau should be falling all over each other doing everything they can to help the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train Company and keep a good thing chugging down their tracks. Instead, it appears as if the Compagnie de chemin de fer de

The Low Down To Hull and Back News - Nov 7
http://www.lowdownonline.com/

There may be no more steam train in 2008 if its operators and area mayors do not come to an agreement on the Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield Steam Train’s lease to use the municipally-owned
tracks.

The train company has cancelled its marketing campaign for the 2008 season and its marketing director has quit, unsure whether there will be a future for the train in this area.

Dave Rogers
The Ottawa Citizen (link to original)
Thursday, November 08, 2007

The Hull-Chelsea-Wakefield steam train -- recently touted by an influential travel website as one of Canada's great tourism gems -- could be shut down because of an impasse between the train's owner and the municipalities of Gatineau and Chelsea.

(Gatineau, le mardi 6 novembre 2007) - Le Conseil d'administration de la CCFO refuse de déposer une entente qui assurera la continuité du train touristique en plus de tarder à remettre par écrit leur plus récente série de demandes. « Nous avons besoin d'analyser leurs demandes maintenant car il y déjà six mois que nous avons demandé d'en finir une fois pour toute.

An Up-date Report

Generally unbeknownst by the citizens of the Outaouais, our municipal politicians have now been negotiating with the HCW Train Company for three years without yet signing a new contract. The latest wrinkle is that when La Pêche and Chelsea recently appeared ready to sign a new contract, officials of Gatineau and Chelsea decided to add a new clause to the contract about bridges and culverts - even if this would appear to be a municipal rather than a Train Company responsibility.

The owners of the Train Company have become enraged and are threatening to sell the Wakefield train business to another operator or to sell the train itself to another locality.

Now we can show our appreciation for the steam train by proudly displaying the logo of its Friends, now available on a colour bumper sticker.