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Volunteers aim to keep a 1882 steam locomotive chugging along in Manitoba

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WINNIPEG – A steam locomotive made in 1882 and billed as Canada’s oldest operating one is in need of some tender loving care, and the volunteers who have kept it running on a vintage railway north of Manitoba’s capital are raising funds for the fixup.

Steam Locomotive No. 3, as it’s known, is neither efficient, fast nor energy-conscious compared with more modern locomotives. Shovelling coal into a fire to create steam leads to a lot of dirt, noise and thick black smoke. But for volunteers such as Paul Newsome, a train being powered by steam is unlike any other.

“A steam locomotive is alive, it feels alive. It makes noise, it smells and it responds to what you do to it,” Newsome, general manager of the Vintage Locomotive Society, said in a recent interview in the repair shop where No. 3 sits with its front section open, awaiting replacement tubes.

“You can see the results if you put in a lousy … fire, the steam doesn’t go up. It responds. And it’s almost human. As dumb as that may sound, it’s almost human.”

Newsome, 73, got the bug as a young boy. His grandfather was a railway man with Canadian National and retired in 1954. Newsome was taken along on his grandfather’s retirement ride, and he got hooked.

“Just to be involved with the steam locomotive after steam had quit being used on CN and CP in 1960 … was everything to me.”

Newsome’s career was in labour relations, but his passion for trains led him to volunteer on the vintage railway. Since 1970, he has given time and energy to the Vintage Locomotive Society, which had acquired No. 3 in time to have then-prime minister Pierre Trudeau take a ride as part of Manitoba’s centennial celebrations.

No. 3 was made in Scotland and delivered to Canadian Pacific via the United States, because the line through Canada north of Lake Superior had not been finished. In 1918, the locomotive was sold to Winnipeg Hydro, which kept it going until 1961.

The Vintage Locomotive Society acquired the locomotive in 1970 and has used it in the ensuing decades to take passengers on history-themed rides north of Winnipeg on its rail line, the Prairie Dog Central Railway.

Visitors sit in early 20th century coaches and get a taste of what travel was like on the bald prairie landscape before highways. The volunteers on the train can face heavy work. Shovelling coal can be hard labour. Newsome worked the fire and other tasks on the train until 2013 when health issues required him to ease up.

Passengers are taken one hour north to the Grosse Isle, where another volunteer organization runs a small historical village of period buildings.

“It helps the younger generation connect with a little bit of what life was like for their grandparents or even great-grandparents, coming from farming communities originally,” Donna Ridgeway, president of the Grosse Isle Heritage Site, said.

“Not many get that opportunity to go in an old house where everything wasn’t convenient or (see) what a school was like when all the grades were together.”

No. 3 is not running this year. A diesel locomotive has temporary taken its place.

No. 3 needs to swap out its entire set of 187 metal tubes — maintenance that is required every 15 years on steam engines. The tubes bring gases heated by the coal fire to the boiler, where water is heated to create steam. The steam creates pressure which, via pistons and rods, makes the wheels turn.

The repair work is expected to cost at least $150,000. The Vintage Locomotive Society’s budget took a severe hit during the COVID-19 pandemic when it couldn’t operate for two years. The group has set up a GoFundMe page, among other avenues, in hopes of raising the required money.

“So far it’s working out well, but we’ve got a little ways to go just yet,” Newsome said.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published July 26, 2024

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.

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Here is how to prepare your online accounts for when you die

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LONDON (AP) — Most people have accumulated a pile of data — selfies, emails, videos and more — on their social media and digital accounts over their lifetimes. What happens to it when we die?

It’s wise to draft a will spelling out who inherits your physical assets after you’re gone, but don’t forget to take care of your digital estate too. Friends and family might treasure files and posts you’ve left behind, but they could get lost in digital purgatory after you pass away unless you take some simple steps.

Here’s how you can prepare your digital life for your survivors:

Apple

The iPhone maker lets you nominate a “ legacy contact ” who can access your Apple account’s data after you die. The company says it’s a secure way to give trusted people access to photos, files and messages. To set it up you’ll need an Apple device with a fairly recent operating system — iPhones and iPads need iOS or iPadOS 15.2 and MacBooks needs macOS Monterey 12.1.

For iPhones, go to settings, tap Sign-in & Security and then Legacy Contact. You can name one or more people, and they don’t need an Apple ID or device.

You’ll have to share an access key with your contact. It can be a digital version sent electronically, or you can print a copy or save it as a screenshot or PDF.

Take note that there are some types of files you won’t be able to pass on — including digital rights-protected music, movies and passwords stored in Apple’s password manager. Legacy contacts can only access a deceased user’s account for three years before Apple deletes the account.

Google

Google takes a different approach with its Inactive Account Manager, which allows you to share your data with someone if it notices that you’ve stopped using your account.

When setting it up, you need to decide how long Google should wait — from three to 18 months — before considering your account inactive. Once that time is up, Google can notify up to 10 people.

You can write a message informing them you’ve stopped using the account, and, optionally, include a link to download your data. You can choose what types of data they can access — including emails, photos, calendar entries and YouTube videos.

There’s also an option to automatically delete your account after three months of inactivity, so your contacts will have to download any data before that deadline.

Facebook and Instagram

Some social media platforms can preserve accounts for people who have died so that friends and family can honor their memories.

When users of Facebook or Instagram die, parent company Meta says it can memorialize the account if it gets a “valid request” from a friend or family member. Requests can be submitted through an online form.

The social media company strongly recommends Facebook users add a legacy contact to look after their memorial accounts. Legacy contacts can do things like respond to new friend requests and update pinned posts, but they can’t read private messages or remove or alter previous posts. You can only choose one person, who also has to have a Facebook account.

You can also ask Facebook or Instagram to delete a deceased user’s account if you’re a close family member or an executor. You’ll need to send in documents like a death certificate.

TikTok

The video-sharing platform says that if a user has died, people can submit a request to memorialize the account through the settings menu. Go to the Report a Problem section, then Account and profile, then Manage account, where you can report a deceased user.

Once an account has been memorialized, it will be labeled “Remembering.” No one will be able to log into the account, which prevents anyone from editing the profile or using the account to post new content or send messages.

X

It’s not possible to nominate a legacy contact on Elon Musk’s social media site. But family members or an authorized person can submit a request to deactivate a deceased user’s account.

Passwords

Besides the major online services, you’ll probably have dozens if not hundreds of other digital accounts that your survivors might need to access. You could just write all your login credentials down in a notebook and put it somewhere safe. But making a physical copy presents its own vulnerabilities. What if you lose track of it? What if someone finds it?

Instead, consider a password manager that has an emergency access feature. Password managers are digital vaults that you can use to store all your credentials. Some, like Keeper,Bitwarden and NordPass, allow users to nominate one or more trusted contacts who can access their keys in case of an emergency such as a death.

But there are a few catches: Those contacts also need to use the same password manager and you might have to pay for the service.

___

Is there a tech challenge you need help figuring out? Write to us at onetechtip@ap.org with your questions.

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Police suggest speed a factor in fiery EV crash that killed four in downtown Toronto

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TORONTO – Speed was considered a factor in a fiery overnight crash in downtown Toronto that killed four people and injured one woman, officials said Thursday, underlining the challenges firefighters face when batting electric-vehicle battery fires.

The Tesla car was travelling at a “high rate of speed” when it lost control, slammed into a guard rail and then caught fire along Lake Shore Boulevard east of Cherry Street shortly after midnight, Toronto police Deputy Insp. Phillip Sinclair said Thursday.

“There is some evidence to suggest that speed was a factor,” he said.

Sinclair described the crash as “heartbreaking.” All four people who were killed — three men and one woman — were in their 20s and 30s, he said.

The surviving woman was pulled from the car by a motorist who stopped to help, he said. The woman, in her 20s, was sent to hospital with non-life-threatening injuries.

“Thanks very much to that bystander. We have been speaking to them, and obviously they are also deeply affected by this incident — a very horrific scene for that bystander to step in,” Sinclair told a press conference Thursday morning.

Toronto’s deputy fire chief said the crash underlined the challenge firefighters can face when trying to put out electric-vehicle battery fires.

“The intensity of the fire is directly linked to the battery cells in the Tesla,” said Jim Jessop, speaking alongside Sinclair.

“But I want to be very clear: we have all attended collisions where we’ve had horrible car fires as well that are gasoline powered.”

One of the major risks in electric-vehicle fires, he said, is when the battery gets into an uncontrollable self-heating chain reaction, or what’s called thermal runaway. The battery can sometimes reignite up to weeks later, he said.

Firefighters at the scene put the car’s battery cell in a dumpster and filled it with sand, then moved it from the scene for safe disposal, he said.

“We don’t want to speculate on the intensity of the fire until the investigation is complete, but certainly it did cause extra care and concern in transporting the vehicle and the battery cell that had been ejected (from the vehicle),” Jessop said.

Talk of battery fire risks comes as the city’s transit agency considers a possible ban on e-bikes and e-scooters from its vehicles. A staff report going before the Toronto Transit Commission’s board says the risks are particularly associated with lithium-ion batteries in uncertified or misused devices.

Research findings from EV FireSafe, a group backed by the Australian government, suggest electric-vehicle battery fires are uncommon and happen less often than gas-powered vehicle fires.

Jessop said Toronto Fire is being “very proactive” in preparing for a future where lithium-ion batteries, the type found in everything from cellphones to cars, are even more common.

He said the service has a working group to help inform its response to public messaging about battery fires and tactics for safe disposal by firefighters.

“It’s something that you know we’re going to have to deal with and continue to deal with as this technology expands … and it’s something that, you know, we’re going to continue to work on,” he said.

Lake Shore Boulevard, the major arterial road along the city’s waterfront, was closed in both directions between the Don Valley parkway and Cherry Street for several hours ahead of the morning rush hour. One lane reopened in each direction later in the morning.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

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Parents charged after police say malnourished, abused baby taken to Winnipeg hospital

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WINNIPEG – Police in Winnipeg say they have charged the parents of an infant who was brought to hospital with suspicious injuries.

Police were called in late September when a man and a woman arrived at the emergency room with a baby girl who was unresponsive and had multiple injuries.

The child abuse unit investigated and found the injuries were the result of malnutrition and abuse.

The girl’s parents were arrested on Tuesday and are in custody.

Both are charged with failing to provide the necessities of life.

The father also faces a charge of aggravated assault.

This report by The Canadian Press was first published Oct. 24, 2024.

The Canadian Press. All rights reserved.



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