May - 1950
of Important Diesel Program
First of 58 Streamlined Diesels for Schreiber Division
N.R. Crump, vice-president of the Canadian Pacific Railway, took delivery at the end of March from Montreal Locomotive Works of the first two units of a $12,000,000 total order for 58 streamlined locomotives with which the Company will dieselize its 517 mile Schreiber division between Cartier and Fort William on Lake Superior's rugged north shore.
In a brief significant ceremony, Mr. Crump formally accepted the first units of the largest order for this type of diesel equipment ever placed by a Canadian railway from Sir Frederick Carson, executive vice-president of the Montreal Locomotive Works, which will supply 44 units of the total order of 58. Other C.P.R. Officials present included G.N. Curley, general manager of the eastern region Toronto, L.B. George, assistant chief of motive power and rolling stock, and F.A. Benger, also assistant chief of motive power and rolling stock.
Marking a further step in its fast developing dieselization program, the deliveries see the Canadian Pacific embarked on dieselizalion of a long and important section of main line track. Already the Company has completely powered its subsidiary Esquimault & Nanaimo Railway on Vancouver Island with internal combustion engines and steam has given place to diesel on the 171 mile section of the important Montreal-Boston run between Wells River, Vermont, and Montreal.
The two latest road switcher locomotives, Mr. Crump pointed out, together with two more of the same type, are the first of the order. The balance of the order will include 20 streamlined 1,500 horsepower road freight "B" units. The "A" units are capable of working alone or in conjunction with the "B" units for added power. Delivery of these powerful locomotives will be continuous throughout the spring and summer. As such, he said, they mark the start of a new industry in Canada, the production of diesel locomotives in Canada by Canadian workmen using Canadian materials. They are also the first of their kind to be built on a production basis in Canada.
Seventy Canadian firms, declared Sir Frederick Carson, in handing over the two units, supplied materials used in the new Canadian-built diesels, the Canadian General Electric Company supplying all electrical components. Nickel from Sudbury, steel from Sault Ste. Marie and Hamilton, copper from Noranda, aluminum from Arvida, and lead for the batteries, from Trail, British Columbia, illustrated the extent and diversity of Canadian products used in construction, Sir Frederick said. The main structure of the 124 ton locomotives, he said, is of Canadian rolled steel, nickel is contained in all high tensile parts such as floor frames and trusses, valves, camshafts, crankshaft, and in the stainless steel manifold cover. Pistons are of Arvida aluminum.
Those who inspected the new diesel road switchers as they ran off the assembly line saw a compact, 55-foot-long unit adaptable to freight and passenger train operations as well as to terminal and yard switching, powered by 1,500 horsepower engines and the entire weight of 124 tons carried on four pairs of driving wheels to give maximum tractive effort. Most versatile of modern diesels, the units may be coupled together and operated in multiples of two, three, or four units, providing up to 6,000 horsepower for heavier main line operation.
Realizing that the Schreiber division cuts through one of the coldest parts of Canada the diesels have been winterized after consultation with Canadian Pacific Railway engineers and the National Research Council at Ottawa.
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