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The railway men came with heavy equipment earlier this month. This was not a sneak attack; the gardeners had been warned. A backhoe clawed at the brambles. Some vegetable plots were ripped to pieces. Lettuce lost their heads. Zucchinis were terminated. Tomatoes squashed.

The hammer had come down. War was declared on old Arbutus Corridor.

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Canadian Pacific Railway Co. owns the corridor, a narrow, 11-kilometre strip of track and right-of-way that cuts through Vancouver’s leafy west side. Trains haven’t been seen along the corridor since 1999. No matter, the CPR says “track improvements” are needed. Vegetables don’t fit the picture. The vegetables must go.

The CPR has plans for the line, or so it would have people here believe. What’s coming? “General freight rail operations,” says a spokeswoman in Calgary, where the company is headquartered.

No one really believes that. The CPR has been calling folks at Vancouver City Hall, offering to sell the corridor for $100-million. The city countered with a $20-million offer, which it considers fair.