P.O. Box 1064 Ridgeway Ontario, Canada L0S 1N0 (905) 894-8451 We Are The Friends of CN 6218! Help us Preserve this
Locomotive! Why Do
We Care? It’s all about People and our National Heritage! This locomotive lets us literally touch the lives of
the people who went before us, and is a tribute to them and their many
accomplishments. ·
This country was developed into its present form by people using the
railways. The prairies were settled
by rail. The urban areas developed
and were supplied by rail. Even the
Lake Erie cottage areas were enabled and shaped by available railroad
transportation. ·
Canadian Confederation was driven in part by
railways. The Confederation
agreements included provisions for railways throughout the country. ·
Canada was (and is) defended by railways. Since 1867 they have moved troops and
supplies for every one of our nation’s wars. Even before
Confederation, the Canadian militia
who engaged the Fenian invaders were brought to Ridgeway by railway train,
on one of the routes this locomotive later operated on. ·
At the turn of the last century Fort Erie, like many
others, was a rail town and over
half of the people here depended on the railroad for their livelihood. Today, almost everyone here has an
ancestor who was a railway man. This probably includes members of your
family, regardless of where you live. ·
CN 6218 is a symbol of all of the railway workers who
shaped our community and our nation. ·
We need to honor their commitment today so that our
symbol of Canada’s rail history will
be preserved for future generations.
