Kamloops steam train fanatic works to pass experience onto future generations
Jordan Popadynetz was just five years old when the Kamloops steam locomotive #2141 made its inaugural trip on the Spirit of Kamloops Tour in 2002, and it’s a day he will never forget.
“I still have it burned into my memory of the train coming down the platform and the whistle blowing,” he said. “The steam came out and I was engulfed in this cloud of steam while holding my mom’s hand, all I could see was white. I say right then and there, it got into my blood.”
Popadynetz is the leader of railway development at Kamloops Heritage Railway whose society is undergoing a massive effort to get the train back touring since being parked due to COVID in 2020, and for him, it’s a chance to pass his love for trains onto future generations.
“I’m here to look after the train, celebrate it with the community and get it running again,” he said. “The #2141 is something that will forever be in my heart, it’s not just special to me but to the entire community.”
Born and raised in Kamloops, Popadynetz said he always had a love and fascination with trains that began as a child through watching the cartoon Thomas the Tank Engine.
After falling in love with the #2141 on its inaugural tour, Popadynetz become an advocate for the beloved relic, and hosted various fundraisers throughout his school life to help the heritage society keep the locomotive maintained and operating over the years.
The #2141 arrived in Kamloops in 1961 and sat as a static display at Riverside Park until 1994.
“It was the darling play toy and beach towel drying rack and generations of children played on it, it touched the hearts and souls of many generations.”
From 2002 to 2020, the locomotive did local rail tours and tours out to Vinsulla and Armstrong before being parked due to COVID.
Popadynetz started volunteering with the society in 2011 and was part of a two-year restoration project on the locomotive a few years later.
“In those years I was a volunteer, and they had to inspect the entire boiler of the engine, put new boiler tubes into the engine and ensure the 100-year-old train was still safe and capable of operating.”
In 2015 he was hired by the society as an assistant manager and soon after became the manager of events experiences in rail tour operations. In 2019 he moved to Calgary.
“I moved thinking the railway was up for success and then the pandemic hit and the #2141 was parked,” he said.
Popadynetz is back with the society to help get his beloved #2141 back on the tracks. The next step is a full inspection of the locomotive and preparing the whole train for service, including building new open air cars, restoring a parlour car and putting safety training in place for staff and volunteers.
The other steam train doing tours in the BC Interior is the Kettle Valley Steam Railway in Summerland and the society there has been helping Popadynetz’s team on the project.
“Kettle Valley is an organization we look up to,” Popadynetz said. “They’ve been operating for many years and have provided us a lot of support since beginning this project, helping us to really understand what we need to get running again.”
The Kettle Valley Railway puts on historical train tours with its steam locomotive #3716 along the remaining 16 kilometres of track, and also has an interesting history.
When the Canadian Pacific Railway arrived in the BC in the 1880s, southern BC still needed a connection to coastal markets, according to Summerland.com.
During the 1890s, an American railroader J.J. Hill was advancing rail lines from Spokane in Southern BC while the CPR was extending lines through other parts of the province.
In the early 1900s, the two companies worked together to construct the Kettle Valley Railway to connect Midway to Penticton and beyond.
Part of that meant challenging work laying track through the Coquihalla and the construction of the Trout Creek Trestle Bridge at 238 feet above the canyon floor in Summerland in 1915.
The track through the Coquihalla closed in 1959 due to natural disasters, however numerous other branches remained in operation.
Expanding roads and air travel led to closing passenger services on the KVR in 1964, and all freight transport shut down in 1989.
“We’re working closely to support each other, to ensure the succession of steam skills and create something really magical for the BC Interior with these two trains.”
When asked what it is about a train that excites so many people, Popadynetz said trains, and especially steam trains are magical.
“A steam train itself really does have a heart and soul, it’s living and breathing and when it’s fired up and chugging down the tracks, you can hear its heartbeat in the chug chug and hear its voice singing in its whistle.
“We’re doing this to keep it going, to train the next generation and give the same magic I experienced when I was five years old to the next five-year-olds.”
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Popadynetz extends a thank you to the Kamloops community, CN Rail and all supporters helping with the project that aims to open a tour to Vernon and back in 2026.
“It takes a village to get a train going, but this is our little engine that could and we think she can.”
The Kamloops Heritage Railway society is in need of donations to keep the project moving forward, and will be reaching out for volunteers in a few months.
Go here for updates on the Kamloops Heritage Railway project, to make a donation or volunteer.
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