Old Time Trains

Rolling along at 60 m.p.h. near Whitby, the first section of the Toronto area, CPR employees' picnic train heads for Cobourg at 8:20 a.m. on July 17, 1954. This train comprised 12 wooden cars and was followed by a second section, hauled by No. 2305 with a similar consist. G3d 4-6-2 Pacific No. 2333, was built by MLW in 1926 and, at that time, was the CPR's top passenger power. These engines were originally built as hand fired locomotives with small eight wheel tenders of 8,000 gallons and 12 tons capacity, but were later fitted with stokers and equipped with large 12 wheel tenders carrying 12,000 gallons of water and 21 tons of coal.

No. 2333 was chosen by the CPR to represent the company at the "Fair of the Iron Horse", a railroad exhibition held by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Halethorpe, Maryland, near the city of Baltimore. This epic rail spectacle was held from September 24 to October 15, 1927. During the pageant when the locomotives steamed past the grandstand, No. 2333 was in such illustrious company as the British locomotive, "King George V", CNR's new Northern type 6100, NYC's Hudson No. 5205, Pennsylvania Railroad's K-4 No. 5474, B&O's No. 5300 "President Washington" and many more modern and antique locomotives.

When the Fair closed, No. 2333 returned to Toronto where she was placed on display for a couple of days. One of the senior fitters at John Street told how her firebox was loaded with booklets from the Fair on her return. Who wouldn't like to have one of those in his collection? It seems that No. 2333 spent most of her life in Ontario and saw much passenger service in the 1920's and 1930's. She was not at John Street in 1946 when I started with the company but I believe she was at Lambton in freight service. However, in 1953, Nos. 2333 and 2336 appeared at John Street and were assigned to the Toronto to Sudbury Trains Nos. 27 and 28.

In the summer of 1953, there was a plague of caterpillars in the north woods, causing considerable trouble since the covered the rails and caused wheel slip. It was decided to equip Nos. 2333 and 2336 with a steam jet device to blow these pests off the rails. Half inch piping was installed along the left side of the boiler above the running board, from the steam turret in the cab down to the engine truck, where it divided into two jets located in front of the lead wheels. The jets were controlled by a valve on the fireman's side. These engines ran with this feature for a short time and the pipe can be seen in the photograph.

Just after this shot was taken, No. 2333 was returned to Lambton and later assigned to London, where she was in freight service on the Galt and Windsor Subdivisions. By early 1957, she had returned to Toronto and was in the Lambton to Cartier freight pool, in which she ran until early 1958. In June of that year she was scrapped at Angus.

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Old Time Trains © 2009

Rolling along at 60 m.p.h. near Whitby, the first section of the Toronto area, CPR employees' picnic train heads for Cobourg at 8:20 a.m. on July 17, 1954. This train comprised 12 wooden cars and was followed by a second section, hauled by No. 2305 with a similar consist. G3d 4-6-2 Pacific No. 2333, was built by MLW in 1926 and, at that time, was the CPR's top passenger power. These engines were originally built as hand fired locomotives with small eight wheel tenders of 8,000 gallons and 12 tons capacity, but were later fitted with stokers and equipped with large 12 wheel tenders carrying 12,000 gallons of water and 21 tons of coal.

No. 2333 was chosen by the CPR to represent the company at the "Fair of the Iron Horse", a railroad exhibition held by the Baltimore and Ohio Railroad at Halethorpe, Maryland, near the city of Baltimore. This epic rail spectacle was held from September 24 to October 15, 1927. During the pageant when the locomotives steamed past the grandstand, No. 2333 was in such illustrious company as the British locomotive, "King George V", CNR's new Northern type 6100, NYC's Hudson No. 5205, Pennsylvania Railroad's K-4 No. 5474, B&O's No. 5300 "President Washington" and many more modern and antique locomotives.

When the Fair closed, No. 2333 returned to Toronto where she was placed on display for a couple of days. One of the senior fitters at John Street told how her firebox was loaded with booklets from the Fair on her return. Who wouldn't like to have one of those in his collection? It seems that No. 2333 spent most of her life in Ontario and saw much passenger service in the 1920's and 1930's. She was not at John Street in 1946 when I started with the company but I believe she was at Lambton in freight service. However, in 1953, Nos. 2333 and 2336 appeared at John Street and were assigned to the Toronto to Sudbury Trains Nos. 27 and 28.

In the summer of 1953, there was a plague of caterpillars in the north woods, causing considerable trouble since the covered the rails and caused wheel slip. It was decided to equip Nos. 2333 and 2336 with a steam jet device to blow these pests off the rails. Half inch piping was installed along the left side of the boiler above the running board, from the steam turret in the cab down to the engine truck, where it divided into two jets located in front of the lead wheels. The jets were controlled by a valve on the fireman's side. These engines ran with this feature for a short time and the pipe can be seen in the photograph.

Just after this shot was taken, No. 2333 was returned to Lambton and later assigned to London, where she was in freight service on the Galt and Windsor Subdivisions. By early 1957, she had returned to Toronto and was in the Lambton to Cartier freight pool, in which she ran until early 1958. In June of that year she was scrapped at Angus.