Collectors' Item 1
by Omer Lavallee
Measuring just short of one
hundred feet long, the 5900 series of 2-10-4 type locomotives were the largest
and heaviest steam locomotives in the Commonwealth. In the United States, locomotives of
this wheel arrangement were known as "Texas" types, but in the 1930s, a
competition conducted among Canadian Pacific employees resulted in the type name
"Selkirk" being selected, after one of the ranges of the Rockies through which
these dozen impressive locomotives were in daily operation.
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Equally at home at the head of the
"Dominion" or a long freight train, these versatile and clean lined machines were
based at engine houses from Calgary to Revelstoke.
Those who yearn for the sight of a "5900" would do well to visit Mewata Park in
Calgary, where No. 5934 is on display, or the Canadian Railway Museum near Montreal where
No. 5935, the last of its breed and the last standard-gauge steam locomotive
built for a Canadian railway, is on display. Museum pieces at the age of sixteen, these
exhibits are a silent yet telling commentary on railway technological advances in the
post-war era.
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SPECIFICATIONS
Class
Numbers
Builder
Year
Serial Nos.
Cylinders (Dia x stroke)
Drivers (Dia)
Pressure (psi)
Tractive effort (Lbs)
Weight (Lbs)
* 12,000 more
with booster
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T1a
5900-19
MLW
1929
67921-40
25.5 x 32
63
275
78,000
441,000 *
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T1b
5920-29
MLW
1938
69110-19
25 x 32
63
285
78,000
435,000 *
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T1c
5930-35
MLW
1949
76221-26
25 x 32
63
285
78,000
435,000
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