ARMCHAIR ARCHIVES – A ray of sunshine from the land of rainbows

 Ideas come and go for projects that would bring tourism to Kamloops and the region. Most never get off the ground but the point is, we keep thinking them up. I’ll bet you didn’t remember, or never knew about, the Rainbow Railroad proposal, a proposal that came even before the resurrection of 2141. I wrote the following column for the Kamloops news, published May 9, 1986.

FROM SOMEWHERE deep in the hinterland — namely Barriere-Little Fort — has come an idea.

You know, one of those plans for doing something exciting for our area.

People have been searching desperately for a reason for other people to want to visit Kamloops and area and, so far, the pickings have been slim. The question is often asked, what do you offer a friend or relative, after the Wanda Sue?

Well, our folks to the north, who, at the moment, are a rather shy bunch, are working on an idea that could be the biggest thing to hit the Thompson-Mainline since the Overlanders.

They envision putting in place, by next year, a travel experience that could make this area the excursion designation in B.C. It would plug into hotels, businesses, restaurants, art-cultural groups, and almost every community between Kamloops and Clearwater.

It’s simple, but it can’t fail. It’s expensive, but it can’t lose.

The idea is in the rough stages, so don’t hold me to details, but it’s based on a train trip — via wood-fired locomotive — between Kamloops and Wells Grey Park.

On a typical day, a visitor would be picked up at his hotel by a van, taken to a siding on Indian Band land (band chief Manny Jules is interested in the idea), and shown reconstructed winter lodges, the restored St. Joseph’s church, and perhaps other historic-cultural attractions.

Heading north, the little-train-that-could, pulling a half dozen coaches, would stop at a ranch,  maybe in McLure, for some horseback riding, perhaps a mini-rodeo.

In Barriere, the art co-op and historical society would do their thing.

At Chu Chua, the berry farm.

Continuing to Little Fort, the tour group might look at a trapper’s log cabin, or a recreation of the fort, and take an opportunity to shop for some local crafts.

After an overnight in Clearwater, there would be a tour of Wells Gray park, and then a leisurely return to Kamloops.

It’s ingenious because it benefits so many groups and communities, while offering visitors a great time. History, culture, shopping, scenery, comfort, variety… what more could a visitor want?

How would it operate? Through the yet-to-be-formed Rainbow Society (after the rainbow for which the North Thompson is known), a non-profit organization that would sell $1 memberships and use the profit for community projects.

Deep in our hearts, all of us have always wanted to run a railroad. Who could resist being part of such a thing? Nobody, whether it be you or me, the railroad or the banks (“any bank would be out of its gourd” to turn down financial support for the idea,” says one enthusiastic supporter).

It would be strictly a Canadian, preferably B.C., adventure, operated locally by the public.

There’s more to be heard about this in the near future. Community meetings will be called soon to discuss it. In fact, it doesn’t look like the idea is going to stop with the North Thompson. As the folks behind it — who are just folks, not entrepreneurs — get it together, there’s going to be a lot of attention paid to the Rainbow Railroad.

* * *

I don’t suppose an editor should be so unsubtle in bragging about the people who work for him, but the newsroom troops did the city proud with that special Chuck&Di edition last Saturday evening.

I haven’t had so much fun since the pigs ate my little brother. Except for a few predictable glitches that make an editor momentarily ponder the virtues of suicide, an edition with which so many things could have gone wrong went incredibly right. In order to start the presses at 5:30 p.m. and still include all the day’s events, military precision was required, and that’s what was given.

The phone calls, personal comments and even mailed notes from people thanking us for the edition make it all worthwhile.

Mel Rothenburger has been writing about Kamloops since 1970. He is a former mayor of the city, former school board chair, former editor of The Kamloops Daily News, and a former director on the Thompson-Nicola Regional District board. He was awarded the Jack Webster Foundation’s lifetime achievement award in 2011 and was a 2019 Commentator of the Year finalist in the Webster Awards.