All aboard! Assiniboine Park's mini steam train is back on track

The miniature steam train that had been out of commission at Assiniboine Park is rolling again.

Tim Buzunis, owner and operator of the popular Winnipeg tourist attraction, credits a company in the United States with looking throughtheoriginalblueprint of thetrain that hasrun loops next to the zoofor 54 years.

"I was very down and low on the weekend, but now I feel re-energized and ready to go," Buzunis said.

The mechanical issuethat kept the coal-fired engine out of commission this year turned out to be minor: He was1/30 of an inch off in an adjustment he needed to make to the engine. "It's amazing how little something that small could affect so much," he said.

Only days before, Buzunissays, he felt dejected. He sank $16,000 intorepairs over the winter and wentwithout $25,000 in sales.

Dealing withcontinuous repairs in recent months, he was convincedthe train had to beshipped to the United States to be fixed, at a cost he couldn't guess.

His salvation came while doing online research when he discoveredtheblueprint for the engine washeld by a theme park in North Carolina:"Thank God for the internet."

Buzuniswon't make up the income he's lost, orthe school tours that went elsewherein June. He's says he's lost about 50 days of business, at least a third of his season.

Hollywood and hockey stars

But he's happy to have histrain back, which he says matters tothe many passengers he's met since takingownership of the family-run business in 1988.

"I know the train is loved by a lot of people," he said."I've had as many as four, fivegenerations [of some families]ride this train."

He countsactors Richard Gere, Ed Asner and past and presentWinnipeg Jets likeTeemu Selanneand Blake Wheeler as some of his famous riders.

"I do run it with love and a lot of respect for my father, who started it," he said.