One oft-heard prediction finally came true last week when Orangeville's

unique structure, the former CPR restaurant/bunkhouse, was destroyed by fire.

The only part of the predictions that was ultimately missing was the fire's apparent cause. The predictors generally assumed that its status as a usually unoccupied derelict would lead to its becoming a victim of arson or vandalism.

Instead, the cause was apparently electrical - a malfunctioning pod light, and although unoccupied at the time, the building had functioning smoke alarms and was occasionally used as the site of an office for Cando Contracting Ltd., operator of the town-owned Orangeville Brampton Railway and the Credit Valley Explorer tour train.

Sadly, although the town had purchased the former CPR line between Orangeville and Streetsville in 2000, and the tour-train service had begun in 2004, Orangeville council never got around to plotting a future for the building once used to serve food and drink to passengers on the main CPR line between Toronto and Owen Sound and its branches to Elora, Teeswater and Walkerton, as well as to house train crews who had to spend a night in the main divisional point.

The scene as the fire started to take hold Instead, all that was done was to board up the first-floor windows and the main entrance to the restaurant, so that the facility wasn't even accessible to patrons waiting to board the trains when the weather was inclement.

Inquiries since the March 21 fire have established that the building was "fully insured" (whatever that means) and that in the circumstances it will be left to Town Council to decide what to do with the proceeds.

If history is any indicator, the most likely use of the money will be to apply it to the town's 2006 budget to accomplish a tiny reduction in property tax increases - a move reminiscent of the Mike Harris government's sale of Highway 407 to create the false impression of a balanced provincial budget - rather than to use the site as a complement to the spectacularly successful tour-train venture, appropriately billed as "Southern Ontario's Most Scenic Rail Tour."

All that remains from the conflagration is the old structure's basement and brick chimney. But the poured-cement foundation will clearly support a new structure of some sort and the only question that should be dealt with is what would be the most appropriate structure and its long-term function.

In this corner, the answer is pretty obvious: the new building should serve as both a memorial drawing attention to Southern Ontario's branch-line railways and a source of income from tourists generally and patrons of the Credit Valley Explorer in particular.

Ideally, the longrange planning should call for use of the basement as well as the main floor, for displays of rail-related artifacts (many of which are currently stored at the Dufferin County Museum and Archives), as well as a gift shop with rail-related souvenirs and perhaps a small coffee shop, ticket counter and waiting room area related specifically to the Explorer.

An important feature should be a small second-storey apartment for use by the person or couple who would manage the facility for the town, and whose regular occupancy would serve as insurance against vandalism or another fire.

Hopefully, the main attraction on the first floor would be at least some of the HO-scale models of the Orangeville rail yards and smaller stations and/or yards at Fraxa Junction, Alton, Elora, Cataract and Forks of the Credit, among other places created by Richard Wakefield of Komoka, formerly of Mississauga. (You can view them on the Model Railroading portion of the family website, www.mcswiz.com .)

Asked Monday whether he'd be interested in seeing the displays become a feature of the new facility, he quickly came back: "Running or static?" Clarifying, he said he was "definitely interested" in the idea and was sure Orangeville would get strong support from other rail history buffs.

As they say, every cloud has a silver lining.