Jasper’s Harry Home has been an icon of railroading in Jasper. Now the octogenarian wants to revive his 75-year old 6060 Steam Engine as a heritage tourism attraction.

May 1, 2019 // The Jasper Local archives

Harry Home wants to rekindle a fire that’s been extinguished for far too long.

The 85-year-old railroader is once again blowing the whistle for his beloved steam engine, the 6060; Home wants to bring the famous mountain engine back into service.

“This engine is world famous,” Home said. “We’ve got a lot of heritage here that I want to preserve.”

Home’s own railway heritage also runs deep. He remembers his first ride on a steam engine like it was yesterday. His father, an engineer based in Hanna, Alberta, let him hop aboard.

“It scared the blazes out of me,” Home said. “I burnt my hand on the throttle, but the engine moved about three feet. I was hooked right there.”

That was eight decades ago. His enthusiasm for steam engines hasn’t waned, even if it is hard to describe.

“Steam engines have a soul,” he says.

Harry’s own soul stirs a little when thinking about what it would mean to get the 6060 back on the rails. Since 2011 it’s sat idle, but for 13 years before that, Home took passengers back in time via a 25-mile run near Stettler, Alberta. The success he enjoyed with Alberta Prairie Steam Tours makes him think that the 6060 could once again be a boon to the province’s historical tourism industry.

“There’s real potential for continuing this on as a heritage initiative,” he said.

Constructed in 1944 and retired from active service in 1959, the 6060 was Canada’s largest operating steam locomotive. This year, it turns 75-years-old. 

But Home’s no spring chicken himself. He knows the clock is ticking if he wants to celebrate the milestone in the cab of the 6060.

“As long as I’m on the right side of the grass I should get my knowledge passed on,” he said.

And his knowledge is extensive. As he pours over one of many Locomotive Encyclopedias which adorn his basement office, Home points out the repairs to the 6060’s firebox which will need to be signed off on. The job—plus the other necessary upgrades required by the appropriate authorities—will cost an estimated $750,000. He’d like to get it done this year, to coincide with the 100th anniversary of CN.

“As a railroading community we’re attempting to provide a special salute,” Home said.

This wouldn’t be the first time the 6060 was restored. In 1980, after falling into disuse, CN gifted the 6060 to Home and the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. Funds were raised, a volunteer mechanical crew was organized and six years later, Home was rolling into Vancouver station just in time for the 1986 Steam Exposition. 

Now, 32 years later, he wants to once again get the old girl operational.

“It’s part of me,” he says. “Railroading is a way of life.”

Home, who has seen the Pacific and Atlantic oceans from the cab of his beloved 6060, knows there’s a lot of work ahead to get the firebox lit up again. But his own fire is blazing hot for the opportunity.

“I’m an eternal optimist,” he laughed. “I want to see it running.”

Check out the two-part 1986 Shaw TV production on Harry’s dream to revive the 6060 for the Vancouver Expo below

Bob Covey // bob@thejasperlocal.com