This morning we woke up to some rain so we donned our rain gear and headed off to Valcourt to go and see the Bombardier Museum. When I was researching the Eastern Townships, this was rated one opt the top 10 things to do in the region. I knew that Bombardier started the Ski-Doo, made some planes and now does the Spider but I had NO IDEA what an amazing story is behind this Canadian company that we can all be very proud of.
Basically, Joseph Armand Bombardier started imagining a way to navigate snow in the winter because, in his township of Valcourt in the 1930s, they were frequently snowed in. His parents originally had high hopes he would become a priest but he had other ideas. Who knew that he would build a world-wide company based out of little Valcourt, Quebec.
He was nothing if not imaginative and adaptable and, over the years, met obstacles and challenges with optimism and ingenuity. Among other things, Bombardier created the snow mobile and got the patent for the cog and belt design which they also used for all terrain vehicles which were used on muskeg and in deep mud conditions. They also produced motorcycles (CanAm) as well as air craft (the Leer Jet as well as the first regional jet), metro trains (Montreal and New York) and eventually built bullet trains (Italy). They even designed and built the torch that the athletes carried in the opening ceremonies of the 2010 Vancouver Olympics. Today, they also build the three-wheeled motorcycle, the Spider.
When you first go to the museum, you watch two multi-media video presentations which are incredibly well done. The first tells the story of JA Bombardier and his time establishing the company. The second tells the story of the Bombardier after JA passed away and his family carried his legacy forward. Today, while the transportation (trains and aircraft) portion of the company has been sold, the family still owns BRP (Bombardier Recreation Products) which include their Ski-Doos and Spiders etc. The main manufacturing factory is still in Valcourt as the family has always wanted to keep the main production in Valcourt, to benefit the community that JA was such a big part of.
After the videos, the museum covers the evolution of the company and almost all of the installations have interactive aspects, making this museum very engaging. It is so well done.
While we were there, Yvan inquired about tours of the factory. The front desk staff hemmed and hawed because they don’t have their regular tours going just yet but one of the managers shuffled some things around and made arrangements for us to go. WOW, was it ever worth it!
We left the museum and drove a few blocks over to the factory and met Colette, our tour guide there. After suiting us up with steel toes, safety glasses and headsets (we we could hear her) and locking all our possessions up in a storeroom (including all cameras and cel phones) off we went for a 1.5 hour tour of the plant. It’s HUGE and they produce both Ski-Doos and Spiders there. They have 350 people per shift and have two shifts per day. Colette we unable to tell us their current production numbers (top secret stuff!) but it must be pretty big. The yard outside is filled with stacks and stacks of boxed up Ski-Doos and Spiders ready to be shipped world-wide. A lot of the production is automated. Many of the little trophies that carry parts and items being assembled around are robots and operate by GPS or by following magnetic strips in the floor. It’s a very high tech assembly line. They also have hand welders as well as robot welding stations and robot riveting stations for some parts of the the assembly. We also saw where they powered coat paint some of the parts. It was so fascinating and it was too bad you couldn’t just find a spot and stay for awhile and really watch how things work. Even with 1.5 hours, we hustled fairly quickly through to see it all.
After we returned to the museum, we finished looking at the parts we didn’t get to including a jet plane flight simulator which was a lot of fun. IT was fairly quiet at the museum and Colette approached us and said that she had time to take us into the restricted archival area which houses many more machines and artifacts that aren’t available to the public to see unless you make special arrangements. Colette sure gave us the royal treatment! We were very grateful and we enjoyed the tour to see the two Ski-Doos that were the first motorized vehicles to get to the North Pole. There were also prototypes of inventions that Bombardier never put into production. They have the custom Ski-Doo JA made for his wife as well as a little car he built for his son when he was 10.
All in all, we ended up spending the entire day in Valcourt. We hadn’t intended to do so but the museum and tours were so amazing, it was well worth the time to stay and take it all in. We didn’t know what to expect when we went but I can say that it’s with very good reason that this is one of the top things to do in the Eastern Townships.
We had originally planned on being over near Lac Megantic this night but we ended up going back to our Motel des Deux Lacs for another night. We stopped by the Metro and bought some charcuterie delectables and the SAQ for some excellent wine and had a fun and laughter filled evening. A great day. It was really nice to not just ride our asses off for a change but actually stop and see something. :) It’s always the dilemma on a long trip... balancing the need to make some miles (as Lynn would say) and actually taking the time to enjoy where you are!
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