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The
Rocky Mountain Goat Tuesday, June 08, 2010
Your best source for weekly news and views from the Robsons Valley
Volume 1 Issue 1
Vavenby enjoys first spring train whistle free Other communities still mired in dense process to remove it Laura Keil lkeil@therockymountaingoat.com The clinking and clattering of train trains passed through the commucars still lulls Vavenby residents nity each day. to sleep, but their rest is no longer “There’s still that many now, but disturbed by the piercing whistle of honestly you don’t even notice half trains approaching the crossing. the time a train goes by because Trains no longer have to sound they don’t honk,” Chris Vollans says. their whistles when passing through For years residents had complained Vavenby, a community of 700 resi- of disturbed sleep and the hourly dents between Blue River and Kam- nuisance that interrupted conversaloops. Train engineers still use the tions, TV shows and phone calls. whistle at their discretion and in The rail line runs right through emergency situations. town, intersecting the main road The Vollans have lived 26 years in that funnels traffic from the higha house that backs onto the rail line. way across the tracks to the south “Most of the kids can play out here end of town. now and it doesn’t bothLarry Frisk used to er them,” Gord Vollans “It was just heaven cross the tracks each day says. to get to work. He diswhen they quit.” His son Chris Vollans agrees with the decision Judy Alexandre says the grandchildren to eliminate the whistle would sometimes fling and says not everyone in themselves on the ground when a the community was consulted. train came. “What happens if these lights and “It would scare the crap out of the bars don’t come down and the whiskids,” he says. tle doesn’t sound and a kid is com“They’d scream in the middle of ing down on his bike?” the night.” Frisk does not live near the tracks, The whistle blew right behind but he says the whistle is a small their house. When they inquired price to pay for protecting the lives about stopping the whistle several of residents. years ago, the Vollans learned 32 “Vavenby Stops Whistle” cont’ A3
TransAlta Harnesses Bone Creek
Photo: Laura Keil Vavenby resident Judy Alexandre initated the campaign to stop the whistle in 2004. CN rail had already installed lights, bells and arms to the crossing, so few upgrades were needed and the regional district paid for the safety assessment.
Laura Keil lkeil@therockymountaingoat.com Harnessing the spring run-off: not always as easy as dipping your hand in a creek. Construction began on the Bone Creek hydro project in March which will have the capacity to power 8200
any water, but rather diverts part of it into a pipe buried parallel to the creek. The water barrels down the 6-kilometre tube into the power house. After it passes through the power house, the water returns to Bone Creek, which is kept at a minimum height by forcing some water not to flow into the tubing. Fish are
Project to power 8200 homes at peak
More Inside:
homes at its peak. It is slated for completion next spring. The project is employing about 200 people: equipment operators, carpenters, and skilled labourers. Project Manager Doreen Johnson says they are still looking for skilled labourers for the project. The operation does not remove
Valemount graduation evening photos
kept out of the creek by a natural barrier. The project will sell its power into the grid, not on contracts, as it is not a continuous power source. The water fluctuates between the seasons, and is at its highest with the spring runoff. “Hydro” cont’ A4
The Goat, one on one with Jeannette Townsend