A lot of people have hobbies. Some collect stamps, some take photos, some do artwork. Then there are people like Albert Schreiner and Jane Lakness who go riding around in old speeder rail cars.
“When CN was taking these things off the track, I got mine out of Edmonton,” said Schreiner, owner of a speeder. “There was a guy who had them advertised in the paper, so me and a friend bought three of them.”
Schreiner bought his about 20 years ago. Back then, they were seen as obsolete and practically useless. Since Schreiner likes to collect antique items and used to be a farmer, a machine like that was right up his alley.
But even after he took it for a few test drives, there wasn’t much else Schreiner could do with it at the time, so he gave it to a museum just outside of Humboldt. It was by luck that five years ago he heard about a company that does speeder excursions.
The company is called the North American Railcar Operators Association (NARCOA). It has co-ordinators who get in touch with private rail lines and sets up dates and times when people can go on their tracks for an excursion. Anybody who owns a speeder can sign up for an excursion, meet up at a designated spot, and then spend a day or two riding around in their vehicles on the designated tracks. The dates, times, routes, etc. is all organized by the co-ordinator, so all the participants have to do is show up with their mini rail cars, follow the crowd, and enjoy the view.
The only catch is anyone who participates first has to be a member of NARCOA. Schreiner and Lakness pay for an annual membership as well as the insurance, all of which adds up to about $135 in U.S. dollars. That’s not even including the money they spend on overnight accommodations, food, and whatever other costs that are incurred. Considering these costs, both Schreiner and Lakness still take a year off from their respective jobs every year, choose an excursion, and go on vacation around Canada.
“It’s the country. You get to see different aspects of it, like it’s behind the scenes,” said Lakness. “There was one place we went through where the trees were shaped like a tunnel because the trains had gone through it. You don’t see that going down the highway.”
While Schreiner paid about $600 for his back when he bought it, now they retail for anywhere between $3,000-$10,000 and up, depending on the model.
In spite of their value, Lakness says finding private track for them to travel on is getting more and more difficult for the co-ordinators. Still, between the U.S. and Canada, there’s still enough track to keep NARCOA in business for quite a few years to come. Until it gets to be too difficult or too expensive, both Schreiner and Lakness will continue to go on cross-country trips in their little “jigger.”
“You see a lot of nice scenery and you meet a lot of nice people,” said Schreiner. “People in towns just come to greet you or take pictures. You can be driving alongside of the highway and it’s unbelievable the number of people that stop to take pictures.”
