Steam, On the Way Out

The two locomotives on the front of this post card are a very good

demonstration of the how the old steam locomotives worked right along side the new diesel locomotives until the latter completely took over. These two are both working Canadian Pacific Railway passenger routes. They were photographed by J. F. Orem at the Drake Street roundhouse in Vancouver, British Columbia. The steamer is number 2862, an Hle-class "Royal Hudson" 4-6-4. It, along with three other Hudsons, has just brought the "Dominion" train in from Revelstoke, B.C. The other engine is an FP7, number 1418. The FP7 is on display at a riverside park in Medicine Hat, Alberta today. Their paint is faded and rust is bubbling up here and there, but these fine old engines still impress. It was built in 1952 at the General Motors Diesel plant in London, Ontario. This picture was taken in May of 1956; the last steam locomotive used by the CPR (a Selkirk 4-10-4) was delivered to them in 1949. The last Selkirk was taken out of commission ten years later. Some information about the FP7 was taken from this website: https://www.bigdoer.com/19344/old-things/cpr-fp7s-1418-and-1424/b>

The post card was published by Steamscenes out of West Vancouver, British Columbia. They do seem to still exist. I can find all sorts of businesses selling the Steamscenes 2021 Calendars. But, I cannot find any corporate information on line. I am not sure if this is a parent company or another company in the U.K. with a similar name:http://www.steamscenes-cadeco.co.uk/index.htm

Is that a Crown that I See - The Royal Hudson

After 15 years of active service, the Royal Hudson 2860 – which you see on the front of this post card - was retired in April 1956.

The Vancouver Railway Museum Association wanted to preserve the locomotive so they acquired it in 1964 after it had been sitting outside the Weston Shops in Winnipeg. The Museum was not successful in this endeavour and gave the locomotive to the Province of British Columbia. It was completely restored (and a few external modifications made) so that it returned to service on June 20, 1974. It was used by the province to operate summer seasonal (May to October) steam excursions between North Vancouver and Squamish. In that first season of operation almost 50,000 passengers rode into history. The excursions ended in 1999. Currently the 2860 is still owned by the Province of British Columbia, but is on permanent loan to the West Coast Railway Association and is housed securely under cover at the West Coast Railway Heritage Park in Squamish, B.C.

In the 1920s the Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) was using 4-6-2 Pacifics for many of their service routes. While the Pacifics were adequate in the 20s, the increase in load weight for their freight routes and the need for speed on their passenger routes led to the desire for a new locomotive that would be both lighter and have greater horse power. After considering several options, the CPR looked to the New York Central Railroad. The CPR ordered the first batch of Hudsons in 1929. The grate in the firebox was 25% larger (80 square feet) so the locomotive could develop 275 pounds of boiler pressure. To be efficient, the It used an efficient Elsco feed water heater; they utilized Type E superheaters for extra steam capacity. Their driver wheels were 75 inches for both speed and power; the locomotive weighed in at 194,000 pounds and delivered 45,000 pounds of tractive effort. The first set of 20 locomotives were ordered in 1929 and were coal burning, some of which were later converted to oil burners. The second set of 10 locomotives were modified to gain another 12,000 pounds of tractive effort. The third set of 30 locomotives included the one on the front of this post card.

These locomotives were so successful that one locomotive would take the train from Toronto to Fort William and turn the consist over to another Hudson. That locomotive would take the train to Calgary (1,250 miles) where the consist would be hitched to a Selkirk locomotive to get it through the tough part of the Rockies. At Revelstoke, the trains would again be hooked up to a Hudson for the final 380 mile trip to Vancouver.

ROYAL HUDSON
In 1939 King George VI and Queen Elizabeth became the first reigning British Monarchs to visit Canada. They were given a 31-day tour of Canada by rail. A special 12-car train was assembled and the role of lead locomotive was given to the Hudson. The train went west via the CPR main line and came back east via the Canadian National line. The king, it turns out was a bit of a railroad buff and spent an amount of time in the locomotive with the crew. He said that he was impressed with its performance and by the fact that only one locomotive was used to travel to the west coast and back with no stoppage for mechanical problems. So, when the CPR applied for the status of adding "Royal" to the name Hudson, it was easily granted. Thus you see on the front of the engine on this post card, a little crown.

The post card does not tell us who the publisher is, but the picture comes from the Steamscenes collection of J. F. Orem.

Staying with the Theme…

The theme is “Steam Engines Used by the Canadian Pacific Railway”. The engine pictured in this post card is known in Canada as a “Royal Hudson”. If you look carefully, you can see a crown on the front left of the engine, just above the steam cylinder attached to the running board. (You probably won’t be surprised to learn that these crowns became collectors’ items to the unscrupulous).

This post card belongs to the same series as the previous two. The picture of the engine was taken about 1957 while the engine was in Vancouver, British Columbia. Most of the information you will read below comes from the website: http://www.rrsites.com/royalhudson/ The term “Hudson” for a 4-6-4 wheel arrangement comes from the fact that the first steam engines to have the arrangement were made for the New York Central Railroad. Their main line in the state of New York travelled along the Hudson River; thus, the name Hudson for the engines. The New York Central had the largest fleet of 4-6-4s. The second largest fleet belonged to the Canadian Pacific Railway; they manufactured 65 of them in their Montreal Locomotive Works in Quebec beginning in 1929. The first few engines (Numbers 2800 to 2819) are referred to as “Standard Hudsons”; the rest (Number 2820 to 2864) are known as “Royal Hudsons”. The entire lot belongs to the H1 Class (from H1a to H1e) of steam locomotive. The cylinders are 22 by 30 inches; the Driving Wheels are 75 inches in diameter; the Boiler Pressure was capable of 275 pounds which was able to produce a Tractive Effort of 45,300 pounds.

All of the best features of North American locomotive design were incorporated into the Hudson. A real effort was made to give them really clean cut lines. The Hudson achieved great success as a high speed passenger locomotive, quickly making previous types obsolete. Her top speed was in excess of 90 mph! This cut down the time for cross country travel dramatically. The Canadian Pacific Railway used the Hudson for freight duties as well, making it a truly versatile locomotive. In 1939, King George VI and Queen Elizabeth (father and mother of the current Queen Elizabeth) crossed Canada by train, from Quebec to Vancouver. The train was provided jointly by the Canadian Pacific (CP) and Canadian National (CN) Railroads. Westbound it travelled over CP lines, while the return trip was over the CN. Hudson #2850 was given the honor of pulling the Royal Train to Vancouver. It was specially refinished in Royal Blue and aluminum, with a golden crown (the King's crown) at the front of each running board. CP Hudson #2851 was chosen to head the procession as a pilot train. It preceded the Royal train by exactly one hour, carrying the press and other officials. Both locomotives performed perfectly over the 3224 mile trip. After the trip, 2850 and 2851 were returned to their standard paint scheme. The CP applied for, and was granted, special permission to retain the crowns on the 2850, and to designate the Hudson as a "Royal" Hudson. Eventually, all of the Hudsons in the streamlined class (2820-2864) were fitted with crowns on their running boards and designated as Royal Hudsons.