1947-1971
|
Giant of the Rails Put Through
Paces
5935 which recently made her
trial run from Montreal to Smiths Falls. She will be assigned to the
Calgary-Revelstoke run in the Rockies.
| |
Reaching for the throttle and
eyeing the steam dials, engineer H.A. "Nippy" Wynne prepares No.
5935 for the final pull from Chesterville to Smiths
Falls.
|
To the inexperienced eye it seemed to be only a routine
freight movement. Just a big engine pulling a long train along the Canadian
Pacific's main rail line from Montreal to Smiths Falls, Ont.
But most railwaymen would have murmured, "Well, there she goes - the last
of her breed. Goin' through her paces before she tackles the Big Hill".
The engine was the CPR's number 5935, a giant, oil-burning Selkirk,
expected to be the last steam locomotive acquired by the Canadian Pacific, with
diesels the thing of the future. Slated for service through the Rocky Mountains
between Calgary and Revelstoke, the locomotive was being tested in operation
before final acceptance by the Company.
| |
Seated in his van, W.J.
Creighton of Ottawa checks oil reading.
|
Constructed by Montreal Locomotive Works, 5935 is the 36th of a class of
locomotives that are the biggest in the British Empire. Streamlined to perfection
and boasting ten drive wheels, 5935 is capable of pulling 700 tons through the
Rockies, but on the relatively flat country between Montreal and Smiths Falls
she can handle over eight times that weight.
On this particular day she had almost a mile of freight cars stretched out behind
her, 84 of them to be exact, and only two were empties. The load totalled 4,490
tons, and she took it easily over the 120-mile run from Montreal's
Sortin Yards to the Eastern Ontario rail center.
| |
Company officers
inspect No. 5935 at Montreal Locomotive Works. They are, from left:
B.W. Roberts vice-president of purchases and stores, N.R.
Crump operating vice-president, Sir Frederick Carson executive
vice-president MLW, R.E. Taylor general superintendent of
transportation, H.B. Bowen chief of motive power and rolling stock, L.B.
Unwin vice-president of finance, F. Benger assistant chief of
motive power and rolling stock, C.P. Madely manager MLW.
|
Two experienced engineers were riding the steam snorting giant besides Engineer
H.A. Wynne, of Smiths Falls, who was actually operating the controls. Seated
beside the engineer in the spacious cab was 72-year-old Albert
Amsden, travelling engineer with the Montreal Locomotive Works, whose experience
with engines dates back to the days of the wood-burners.
Throughout the trip his trained eye was peeled on the valves and registers in
the cab, making sure that the last of the Selkirks was functioning properly in
every respect.
W.J. Creighton, of Ottawa, locomotive road foreman for the Quebec district of
the CPR, sat comfortably in his cupola throne. His van was riding directly behind
5935. His trained ear could pick up the slightest effort expended by the engine
when starting up a grade, but mostly he just remarked: "Clear
block", or "Feel that power!"
At St. Clet and Chesterville, the engine stopped for a thorough inspection by
the three engineers. Each time they went over her with a fine tooth comb, and
each time they seemed pleased to report "Everything OK!"
Once again at Smiths Falls they searched for defects, but not one could be found.
5935 had come through. Within a matter days she would be stripped down and sent
west deadhead, ready to conquer the Big Hill.
©
2005 William C. Slim
http://www.okthepk.ca
|
|
|
