Another Steam Engine used by the Canadian Pacific Railway

The engine pictured in this post card is known in Canada as a “Pacific”. It was built in 1906 but it shown here arriving in Vancouver, British Columbia around 1932 pulling a passenger train. It is a G-2 class engine and its wheel arrangement is 4-6-2. It is called the Pacific type of engine because the first ones of this type were being shipped to a small pacific island called New Zealand. The trailing “2” in the wheel arrangement made it possible to build a larger firebox for more pressure for greater speed and power. Needless to say, these became very popular engines in the railroad world (who wouldn't want a bigger firebox?). Canadian Pacific had 498 4-6-2s and their class was represented by the letter G. The G-1s, G-2s and G-5s, by virtue of size and service, were light Pacifics. The G-3s and G-4s, on the other hand, were larger engines for heavier duties. The first two series of Pacifics, the G-1 and G-2 classes were out sourced by various builders between 1906 and 1914 They differed from one another in only one major particular feature: the size of the driving wheels. While the more functional G-2s were given 70" driving wheels, the less numerous but faster G-1s had 75" wheels, giving them somewhat less tractive effort, but higher speed capability. Their cylinders were 17 ¼ by 28 inches. Practically all of the G-1s and G-2s survived more than forty years, and many saw more than half a century in service. That the light Pacifics were in many ways one of CP Rail's ideal types was underlined in 1944 when the first G-5 4-6-2s appeared. Emulating the earlier engines in size, weight and capacity, 102 G-5s were produced between 1944 and 1948 bringing the total number of light 4-6-2s on company lines up to 307.