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Steam Locomotive No. 3
Our steam locomotive No. 3, is currently being rebuilt in our own Inkster Junction Maintenance Shop by our Volunteer Members and should be back in service in our 2008 season. Due to technical issues Steam Locomotive No. 3 will not be available for scheduled operations in 2007. We apologize for any inconvenience this might cause. Please bookmark our What's New page for updates on the status of the locomotive.
No. 3 was built by Dubs and Co. of Glasgow, Scotland for the Canadian Pacific Railway in April 1882. She served the C.P.R. faithfully in Northwest Ontario, Manitoba and British Columbia until November 1918 when she was sold to the Winnipeg River Railway (later named Winnipeg Light & Power Co., and then renamed to Winnipeg Hydro and subsequently known today as Manitoba Hydro).
The locomotive served between Lac du Bonnet and Pointe du Bois, Manitoba until she was retired in 1961. In 1966, she was moved to Winnipeg where plans were underway to have it run excursions during the 1967 PAN-AM Games but unfortunately these plans did not materialize. In April 1968 The Vintage Locomotive Society was incorporated, and No.3 was leased to the Society under an agreement with Winnipeg Hydro and soon after Society members refurbished her and put her into service in 1970 as the premiere motive power for the Prairie Dog Central Railway.
No 3 is classified as an American Standard 4-4-0, meaning it has four small pony (or pilot) wheels at the front, four driving wheels under the boiler and zero trailing wheels under the firebox. Her overall length is 59 feet and the driving wheels are 62 inches in diameter. The boiler pressure is 160 pounds per square inch (PSI) and the cylinders have a 16-inch diameter and 24-inch stroke
No. 3 is owned by Manitoba Hydro and is under a long-term lease to the Society.
No. 3’s History
The source of this information is Canadian Pacific Corporate Archives, and the late Gordon Younger tracked this down through the courtesy of the late Omar Lavallée, former Corporate Archivist at Canadian Pacific.
The first item is from CP’s Locomotive Stock Book (1883 - circa 1900),
and it is the CPR file description of No. 3:
| Class: | 17” X 24”, 62” 8 - wheeled |
| Builder: | Dubs, 1882, No. 1572 |
| Received: | April 1882 |
| Cost: | $10,220; Duty $2,555. Total cost: $12,755 |
| Straight steel boiler, 50” shell; 154 tubes, 2” diameter | |
| 56” wrought iron driving wheel centers | |
| Steel guides; cast steel crossheads | |
| 2 injectors | |
| 8’ 6” centers of drivers | |
| 28” wrought iron spoke engine truck wheels, steel axles | |
| 33” wrought iron spoke tender truck wheels, steel axles | |
| Wrought iron crank pins, case hardened | |
| Tank: | 2,270 gallons |
| Weight, working order: | 82,500 lbs. |
The second item is No. 3’s assignment record:
| 1882 | April |
Received from Dubs & Company, Glasgow, Scotland. 4-4-0 type, 17” X 24” cylinders, 62” driving wheels, builder’s serial number 1572. Assigned CPR road number 22 (Series I); no class assigned. Shipped to Western Division via Chicago, St. Paul and Emerson, account CPR line around Lake Superior not completed until 1885. |
| 1882–1902 | No locomotive assignment records in existence, but a photograph taken about 1886 shows the locomotive at Rat Portage (Kenora, Ontario). Repair records from CP Corporate Archives show No. 22 received repairs during this period at Fort William (Ontario) and Kenora. Sometime after June 1897 No. 22 was moved to the Pacific Division as the first noted repair was done in Kamloops, B.C. in 1898. | |
| 1903 |
Jan. - July Aug. - Sept. Oct. - Nov. Dec. |
In service from Sicamous
Junction to Okanagan Landing (British Columbia). |
| 1904 | Jan. - Aug. | In service out of Vancouver |
| Sept. - Dec. | In service out of Kamloops, British Columbia. | |
| 1905 | Locomotive assignment record not in existence. | |
| 1906 | Jan. - Apr. | In service at Kamloops |
| May - Dec. | In service at Revelstoke, British Columbia, mostly on Arrowhead Branch | |
| 1907 | Jan. - June | In service at Revelstoke |
| July - Sept. | In service at Kamloops | |
| Oct. - Dec. | In service at Vancouver | |
| Dec. 10 |
Renumbered 133, class A51 (Series II) |
|
| 1908 | Jan. - Mar. | In service at Vancouver |
| Apr. - May | In service at Kamloops | |
| June | In service at North Bend | |
| July - Oct. | In service at Vancouver | |
| Nov. | Shown as “en route to Winnipeg” (Manitoba) | |
| Dec. | In service at Winnipeg | |
| 1909 | Jan. - Dec. |
In service at Winnipeg all year |
| July |
Equipped with new CPR standard boiler to drawing 13 L 173, but not superheated. |
|
| 1910 - 1912 | In service at Winnipeg | |
| 1912 | Sept. 5 |
Renumbered 63 temporarily. Class A51 |
| 1913 | Jan. - June | In service at Winnipeg |
| July - Sept. | In service at Fort William | |
| Oct. 5 |
Renumbered 86, Class A21 (Series III) |
|
| Oct. - Nov. | In service at Fort William | |
| Dec. | In service at Kenora | |
| 1914 & 1915 |
In service all year at Fort William |
|
| 1916 | Jan. - Feb. | In service at Kenora |
| March | In service at Ignace, Ontario | |
| Apr. - June | In service at Kenora | |
| July - Aug | In service at Winnipeg | |
| Sept. - Dec. | Laid up at Winnipeg | |
| 1917 | Jan. - Apr. | Laid up at Winnipeg |
| May - Dec. |
Leased to City of Winnipeg Hydro for $10.00 per day |
|
| 1918 | Jan. - Oct. |
Leased to City of Winnipeg Hydro for $10.00 per day. |
| Nov. | Sold to City of Winnipeg Hydro for $9,000. | |
| 1944 | Feb. - Mar. |
The locomotive received a steel cab, apparently from a CPR class 3 0-6-0 locomotive, following an engine house fire at Pointe du Bois (Manitoba) on December 24, 1943. |
Additional notes from VLS research
| 1928 |
Weston Shops
(Canadian Pacific Railway, Winnipeg, Manitoba) for No. 1 repair and re-tubing with work Jan. 11 - Feb. 2, 1928 as follows: |
| 1935 or 1936 | Hydro excursions - Winnipeg to Pointe du Bois |
| 1937 |
Weston Shops for repairs, returned with snow plow - Oct. 8 to Dec. 7 |
| 1944 |
Weston Shops for repairs - Feb. 23 to Mar. 28, 1944 |
| 1954 |
Weston Shops for repairs - Jan. 4 to Mar. 3, 1954 |
| 1961 | Last used in Hydro service. Stored after that time. |
| 1966 | No. 3 and combination coach #103 moved to Winnipeg by low-bed trailer in October 1966. |
| 1970 | In service as Prairie Dog Central Railway No. 3 July 1970. |
Historic and Older Photos
 |
 |
| CPR No. 22 at Rat
Portage Circa 1886 (Credit: CP Corporate Archives; VLS Collection) |
No. 3 in the mid-1920's |
 |
 |
| No. 3 with coach
# 103 near Lac du Bonnet circa 1923 on a Hydro Picnic |
No. 3 October 15,
1959 (Credit: Henry Bender; VLS collection) |
 |
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| No. 3 October 15,
1960 (Credit: H. R. Clarke; VLS collection) |
No. 3 August 1980
heading out to the Oak Point Subdivision. (Credit: H. R. Clarke; VLS collection) |
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© Copyright 2005 - 2008 The Vintage Locomotive Society Inc. P.O. Box 33021 RPO Polo Park Winnipeg MB R3G 3N4 |
phone: (204) 832-5259 fax: 1-866-751-2348 toll free North America Information: info@pdcrailway.com |