A proposed major tourist attraction focused on the railways and ground transportation is gathering some steam in Red Deer, says the president of the Forth Junction Heritage Society.

Paul Pettypiece said the society is getting interest about its proposed project that is expected to take 20 years to develop. Members have been circulating their message around through word of mouth since earlier this year.

This fall, Forth Junction will increase public awareness by meeting with various groups including Tourism Red Deer. The society will also have a booth at a model railroad show at Westerner Park. A major membership drive will be launched.

Pettypiece said the society is also seeking charitable status so it can begin fundraising.

Also in the works is a feasibility study, which Pettypiece said will be needed before any fundraising takes place.

“We want to make sure we’re ready when the City (of Red Deer) and (Red Deer County) is ready,” said Pettypiece. “But the timing isn’t ready with so many factors, including the economy. But I am confident it will happen.”

Forth Junction proponents would like to see several projects centred on the history of the railway history.

One attraction, dubbed The Crossing, would include shops, a children’s theme park and ground transportation museum in the heart of Riverlands, west of Taylor Drive, and the Railyards district, west of Gaetz Avenue and north of Ross Street. It would also feature Canada’s largest historical model railway museum, which would look at the history of how the city and region looked from the late 1890s to the mid 1980s, as well as a glimpse into the future.

Visitor accommodations modelled after historic rail stations, plus a family and nature park, would be found at The Junction on a piece of yet-to-be-identified land in Red Deer County.

Forth Junction also hopes to build a replica of The Chinook — a passenger train that ran from the 1930s to the 1950s between Calgary and Edmonton. It may go on the county parcel or next to the old Canadian Pacific Railway station near 51st Avenue.

The society has a website, forthjunction.com.

Pettypiece hopes to have a more concrete plan, as well as actual locations, in the next couple of years. “We want to get the support of the city and the county,” Pettypiece said. “Both have to have planning in place before any land can be procured.”

The society has about 15 members, including historian Michael Dawe, Steve Parkin, transportation enthusiast and the owner of a historic full-sized transit bus, and railway buff Darcy Colenutt.

ltester@reddeeradvocate.com