W.H.N.Rossiter collection
Getting underway with 45 cars, engine No. 2409 is seen
heading east out of Lambton Yard with First 902, the hot Windsor to
Wells River, Vermont, manifest freight on April 17, 1945. No. 2409 has
just left Lambton yard where the east and north trains were made up.
The dividing line between the top and bottom yards, or Lambton Yard
and West Toronto Yard, was the Runnymede Road hump, just a little west
of the floodlight tower behind No. 2409. To the right of the train,
Lambton roundhouse can be seen in all its smoky glory.
No. 2409 became an engine of some notoriety after running away on its
own on the night of November 8,1948. Spotted under the coal chute at
Lambton after a run from Trenton, the brake was set, the locomotive
was on centre and the throttle closed and locked. Around 11:00 p.m.
the locomotive mysteriously took off, heading west out of the yard and
was able to thread its way through several switches before thundering
out onto the main line with no running lights. Having gained considerable
speed, as it raced into the curve leading to the Number highlevel bridge,
the engine derailed and turned over, sliding on its left side for over
50 feet, tying up the main line to Windsor. At the scene next morning,
the throttle was observed to be wide open! According to newspaper reports
at the time, it was said that a leaky throttle was responsible but to
most observers it looked as if someone had deliberately sent No. 2409
on its merry way. Luckily this incident took place shortly after No.
19, the Canadian, had passed the yards about 10:20 p.m. on its
way to Detroit.
At the time of this event, No. 2409 had a rather strange appearance.
Unlike all other engines of its class which had the headlight sunk into
the smokebox door, No. 2409 was sporting the standard style bracket
and headlight mounted on the outside. The reason is unknown but I would
assume that temporary repairs had been made at some outside point after
the engine had suffered damage in a previous mishap. After the Lambton
affair, it went to the back shops for repair and emerged in the normal
style as seen above.
A class G3g 4-6-2 Pacific built by CLC in 1942, No. 2409 was
assigned to Toronto and London in both freight and passenger service
during the late 1940's and into the 1950's. On January 2,1957, assisted
by No. 1221, No. 2409 hauled No. 21, the Chicago Express, from
Toronto to London on what was to be the final use of steam on that train,
three years after it was dieselized. The engine's last assignment was
in freight service out of London on the Windsor Subdivision in the spring
of 1959. Eventually sent to Angus, it was scrapped there in 1964.