While the Little Prince has been the cute cherry-on-top of Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park for decades, the investment it requires to extend its timeline brings gravity to its whimsical ambience as its hiatus sheds light on the historical role the locomotive played in developing the community as we know it.. CFURadio looks at whether the sister miniature rail operation at the Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum can capture stranded passengers, and seeks to understand what the big obstacles are for the Little Prince in the meantime. Photo Credit - Ian Gregg

July 1, 2026

While many local park goers have noted the small steam powered locomotive at Lheidli T’enneh Memorial Park known as The Little Prince, not as many are familiar with the complexity of its current existence: maintaining a 100+ year old high pressure iron steam engine, navigating municipal ownership, non-profit operation, provincial oversight, and archaeological processes required ahead of any serious track repairs to name a few.

It may appear to be a fun novelty, but as a licensed Canadian railway engine that needs to meet national standards, time has not been kind to the machine and the track it rolls on. The steel rail road in the park may appear to be stationary, and good luck to anyone trying to move it, but after 50 years of expansion and contraction it has moved an inch too far, leaving Chief Engineer Sean Allen to slow the boil, while Executive Director of the Exploration Place Museum & Science Centre, Alissa Leier advocates for investment and coordinates the archaeological, construction, and compliance requirements required to get the Little Prince rolling into the future.

In the meantime two other, smaller-scale miniature locomotives, operate on electricity at the Central BC Railway & Forestry Museum, along with two other gasoline driven engines. CFURadio asks that museum’s team if it is their day to shine, as the Little Prince hides in the shade of the dilapidated culvert that serves as its storage shed.