Reprinted without permission from Saint John, NB Times-Globe: Saint John, N.B.

Wednesday October 21,1998

On the Track Home

The last few pieces of the Trans Europe Express will be shipped from here to Switzerland where they will be restored to their former glory.

By GRANT KERR - Times Globe

It has taken more than three years and the co-operation of countries, railways and shipping companies, but the legendary TEE train is heading home. The last remnants of the Trans Europ Express trains passed through Saint John and are expected to leave the port some time this week, bound for Switzerland. After being stuck for two days on the CN tracks behind Vision Volkswagen on Rothesay Avenue, CN gave clearance to move on to Forterm, after receiving payment for the use of CN's tracks and the engines that pull the European coaches. The TEE trains ran as a luxury European line from 1957 until the early 1970s. They had a rebirth in Ontario from 1977 to 1992. Ontario Northland Railway purchased the trains and ran them on the route which connects Toronto to North Bay. After the route's retirement, the remaining eight cars were in danger of being scrapped. "These projects start with a dream. Now we are going to realize our dream," says Kurt Doebeli, the project leader from Zurich, Switzerland who is in Saint John to ensure the train makes it back to Europe. At 35, Mr. Doebeli wasn't even born when the trains first hit the rails in 1957. But he still has a fondness for the train, which was state-of-the-art, far ahead of any passenger train on the rails of this country at the time. And it has taken more than three years of planning and fund raising to get as far as Saint John. Consisting of a locomotive, a compartment car, a dining car and a head end car, the train was geared for business and first class travel. The train's top speed was 140 kilometres an hour. It is a classic example of a push-pull system. The end car looked identical to the engine and the train could travel in either direction at top speed, so there was no need to turn it around. It was outfitted with air-conditioning, had full dining service and is still considered comfortable, even by today's standards. "It was way ahead of its time," said Eric Wicherts who is in charge of getting the train out of Canada. The retired geophysicist once owned his own train coach and had the railway contacts to get the TEE train out of the country. It is the link between the coach-hauled trains of old and the high-speed bullet trains like France's TGV of today, he said. Mr. Doebeli is just as enthusiastic. "The TEE train history is quite a special thing," Mr. Doebeli said. As a child Mr. Doebeli never saw a TEE train but developed a fascination for them when he received a model for Christmas one year and he later designed a pin, which he sold. There was also a model of the Northland Ontario train that he acquired in the late 1970s, which he says is now worth 10 times what he paid for it. It is also historically significant in that it was a pan-European effort. With the engines built by the Dutch and the coaches by the Swiss, the European express made stops in Zurich, Paris, Amsterdam, Brussels and later Munich. Sending the train back to Switzerland will cost TEE train enthusiasts about $250,000, largely for transportation costs. The only thing that is missing from the original TEE set is the locomotive. All of those were scrapped in the 1970s, worn out from the harsh Northern Ontario winter. So instead of a locomotive and an end car, two end cars, outfitted with seats for travellers, are going back to Switzerland. It's going to cost some money to fix up the trains as well. While the train components were being stored in North Bay, thieves broke into the cars and removed all the oak panelling that lines the individual compartments and the mirrors above the seats. But it's still easy to picture the trains in service. The looks are sleek and classic and the interior is still in good shape and comfortable. The individual compartments seat six comfortably and the dining car is airy and comfy. Mr. Doebeli, Mr. Wicherts and Clint Loxton from Northland have been sleeping in the train since it left Ontario last week, ensuring there is no further vandalism. Mr. Loxton worked on the TEE trains as a car man in North Bay, ensuring the coaches were in good working condition. "I am glad they are going back," Mt. Loxton said. "In their day, it was marvelous."