UPDATES

The City of Alanville story dates back to 2021, and surprisingly, not much changed during the 2024 edit. Looking further into Mr. Clack's life, I discovered that the miniature city of Alanville had helped launch a very long and distinguished career. I hope I have represented him well. What I could relate to most about this story was Clack's love for Victoria and Vancouver Island. For this reason, it was honourable to share more details of his life dedicated to improving the city he loved most by connecting modern-day Victoria to its enormous history. I hope I have represented him well here. Thanks for following along! 🚂Papertown Conductor

The story of the Canadians in Ortona was one of my first big war stories, and it happened because of the fantastic photos and film footage I came across during my other research. It's never fun researching war stories, but war, unfortunately, has everything to do with our human story of the past. There's no getting away from it. However, to find that these men, mostly from British Columbia, had a Christmas dinner in the middle of battle was worth the research. What was especially interesting to me is that behind a grate in the old chapel where the soldiers dined is a 16th-century Byzantine-style fresco of the Madonna and Child, known as the Madonna of Constantinople, who, as the story goes, appeared to a Muslim Turk who then converted to Christianity at the sight of the Virgin Mary...a fitting piece of art for a Christmas meal in the middle of a battle. "1944::War Diary of an 18-Year-Old Nazi Paratrooper" Clip: The Windsor Star (1944) Windsor, Ontario The following clip was probably the most interesting find but was not included in this Christmas story. I felt it was worth sharing, nonetheless. Thanks for following along! 🚂Papertown Conductor

Of course, one of my first and favourite stories about Vancouver Island is Alice. I accidentally found the photo of Alice performing off Harling Point and thought, "Wow, what a great experience to watch orcas playing within feet from shore." The more I researched her story, the more I fell in love with Alice, just as thousands of islanders did in her time. However, there was a profound sense of guilt during the research just for being human. Although the whales' captivity happened in a different place and time, it was still tough to read. But then, if they hadn't captured the whales and held them in captivity for the scientists to study, would we know now what we didn't back then? Even if the only lesson learned was that whales do not belong in captivity? It's a bittersweet story, but it's worth the read—as far as whale stories go. Thanks for following along! 🐳 🚂Papertown Conductor