by Omer Lavallee
The last instalment of Collectors' Item gave an account of four narrow-gauge
open-bench gas-mechanical railcars once used on the Lake Louise
Tramway. Since its publication, a number of readers have asked about the only other rolling
stock that the line possessed, two closed passenger cars built after the Tramway had been
in operation for thirteen years. Road numbers given in Collectors' Item 23 for the freight
cars, 49 and 50, should have read 48 and 49.
Like the earlier rolling stock, the two larger cars, road numbers 50 and
51,
|
were built at Angus Shops. A special 3
foot 6 inch gauge track had to be laid in the shop yard so that the cars could be tested
before shipment to Lake Louise. (Editor's note: Item 23 indicated the gauge was 3
feet.) They were completed in May 1925, in time to be used during the hotel season in that
year, and were powered by six-cylinder 150 horsepower Sterling
"Seabull" engines. (Editor's note: Should this not read "Seagull"
engines?) In form, they resembled contemporary electric street railway cars. Possessing more
than double the power of the original rolling stock they were used to provide the basic
service from the time of their introduction, though the older, open cars continued to be
pressed into service on the frequent
|
occasions when the 43-seat
per car capacity of the new equipment was exceeded. On one occasion, car 51 operated over
the line with an over-capacity load of 68 passengers and their baggage. Like
the 40 series cars, Nos. 50 and 51 were withdrawn from service at the end of 1930, and were
scrapped in 1931.
|
