Asks Steam Locomotive For A Park In Ottawa, Published 19 December 1957 Before
it is too late, we ought to place a steam locomotive in a place of
honor in our parks. For more than a century, in Ottawa and out of it,
the steam locomotive has had an unforgettable place in our lives. Now
they are fast disappearing.In 20 years, the steam locomotive will be as great a curiosity as the open street car, and the hair switch, and a 25 cent shave, This is the twilight of the gods, the Gotterdammerung of the dinosaurs. I suggest we get the last eight wheeler that I know of, and put it in the park at Lyon snd Somerset, in Dundonald Park. The Canadian Pacific has such an engine down in New Brunswick of this type, and akin to CPR No. 30 which ran here a while back. This 4-4-0 engine, (wheel arrangement oo-OO) if repainted No. 30, would be suitable also as a memorial to all newspapermen, to whom the sacred symbol "30" has always meant "the end". So before" we write "30" to the Age of Steam, let us do belated honor to the giants of the era. Vancouver with its 374 In the park there does honor to the first engine to enter Vancouver in earliest CPR days. Winnipeg with its No. 1 In front of the CPR station tells of this wood burner, floated down the Red River to The Peg. It is possible to display in Ottawa those Brobdignagian Beauties such as the Canadian Pacific's 5920 series. These splendid Selklrks are by far the biggest engines ever to run in Canada. With a wheel arrangement of 4-10-4 (00-OOOOO-oo), they could walk up the highest mountain as if it were not there. But they never got east of Calgary, and if these big fellows are to be honored, it should be at Craigellachie, where Strathcona drove the last spike on the CPR. Eligible for Ottawa, however, would be a 6200 Canadian National mile-eater. But let's ask the CPR for that old timer built in 1882, let's try to get it re-numbered 30 and left in Ottawa. And let's hope the City Hall will not be as stuffy this time as they were when I last suggested it. |