Introduction
Heritage Park, MP-CP-01: «The Selkirk, or 2-10-4 wheel arrangement, was adopted to lift heavy trains between Revelstoke and Calgary. The ten coupled smallish diameter driving wheels were able equally well to cope with main line passenger and freight trains through the demanding mountain regions in Alberta and British Columbia. The 2-10-4 configuration was termed the Texas in the United States.
Canadian Pacific's Class T1 Selkirks were introduced in 1929. The first twenty, Class T1a, were non-streamlined. Later T1b and T1c developments, brought in during 1938 and 1940 respectively, carried semi-streamlined casings similar in style to CP's famous Royal Hudsons. The original design was conceived during the tenure and to the direction of Henry Bowen as chief mechanical engineer. A total of 36 of these massive locomotives, claimed to be the largest in the British Empire, were made.»
Legget, pp. 154-155: «It was in the great railroading days of the late twenties that the CPR introduced locomotives of its own design which came to be recognized far beyond the borders of Canada as oustanding machines. For working the heavy grades over the Rockies between Calgary and Revelstoke, a class of 2-10-4s was designed, and gradually improved, that gave Canada a stud of one of the finest heavy-haulage locomotives in North America. No 5900 was the class leader, built by Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in 1929; eventually a group of thirty-six of these fine machines to a steadily improved design was at work, converted to oil-burning after early experience with coal. In 1940 the writer had the happy priviledge of riding the footplate of one of these great machines from Banff, ‘over the top’ at Hector, and down through the Spiral Tunnels to Field. It was an experience never to be forgotten. The driver was one of the top-link men from Calgary. With one hand always on the regulator and the other controlling the cut-off, he showed clearly the skill of the true expert in bringing his train of twelve heavy coaches, without any assistance, up to the summit near Hector without ever a slip of the wheels, dropping only to a speed of 25mph as the descent through the tunnels commenced.»
Buck, pp.149-150: «Beginning in 1929, the CPR also acquired larger oil-burning units called Selkirks, which had a 2-10-4 wheel arrangement with a two-cylinder booster steam engine connected to the second axle of the trailing wheels. This additional power assisted the locomotives when starting, or along grades at slow speed. These massive locomotives were necessary because the grades of the CPR main line through British Columbia were much steeper than those on the Canadian National. The larger locomotives enabled the CPR to operate heavier and longer trains, but at a stiff price. Many of the bridges between Golden and Revelstoke were not designed for such loads, and had to be either strengthened or replaced.»
Buck, p.165: «The difficulty of pulling trains through grades along the main line in the Rocky and Selkirk Mountains continued to be a problem for the CPR. Although the Selkirk locomotives helped, they were not cost-effective because they consumed large quantities of fuel and water.»
In this article, we present the class details as given in Lavallée's reproduction, p.62 of CPR's "Classification and Dimensions of Locomotives, January 1945". Moreover, we present images from various archives.
Specifications
5920
5921
5922
5923
5924
5925
5926
5927
5928
5929
Gallery
- British Columbia Archives
- British Columbia Regional Digitized History
- Ex Glenbow Archives
- University of British Columbia Library
- New Brunswick Museum
- Vancouver Public Library
References
- Buck, G.H. (1997), From Summit to Sea: An Illustrated History of Railroads in British Columbia and Alberta, Fifth House Ltd., Calgary, ISBN 1-895618-94-0.
- Heritage Park, Calgary (1989), Rail Preservation Notes, RS-MN-01, Heritage Park Historical Village, Calgary, Alberta, Canada
- Lavallée, O. (1985), Canadian Pacific Railway Diagrams and Data: Steam Locomotives, Railfare Enterprises Limited, Toronto, Canada, ISBN 0-919130-45-3.
- Legget, R.F. (1973), Railways of Canada, Douglas & McIntyre, Vancouver, B.C..
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