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Collectors' Item 3 by Omer Lavallee     When we speak of Canadian railway equipment builders, the name of many steam locomotive building establishments come easily to mind; the two major companies at Montreal and Kingston were supplemented by a host of smaller firms whose contribution was small but significant, such as D.C. Gunn in Hamilton and Fleming & Humbert in Saint John, N.B. A goodly proportion of Canadian steam power was constructed by the larger railways in their own shops, however, and Canadian Pacific was far from being an exception. Its locomotive building era lasted for sixty-one years, from 1883 to 1944, during which period about 1,400 locomotives were produced. For the first twenty years, the shop facility (known as "New Shops") was situated on DeLorimier Avenue in Montreal, but at the end of that time, it was moved to a new and enlarged site at what was then the outskirts of the city, and called "Angus Shops".     It was at the DeLorimier works late in 1883 that the first CPR built steam locomotive, (1st) No. 285, was rolled out proudly onto the transfer table to have its portrait taken; this is the picture shown in the illustration above. Its designer, Francis R.F. Brown, proved by its clean and tidy lines, yet utilitarian design, that he was a cut

above his contemporaries. A native Scot of wide experience, he served his apprenticeship in the United Kingdom, before going out to India to work for the Great Indian Peninsula Railway. While still a comparatively young man, he came out to Canada and joined the Grand Trunk Railway, eventually becoming Works Manager at Point St. Charles Shops. It was from this position, in 1883, that he was lured by W.C. Van Horne to become CPR's Mechanical Superintendent, with authority over all motive power and rolling stock.     No. 285 served Canadian Pacific faithfully through two renumberings for thirty-seven years, before being retired and scrapped in 1920. It was originally intended for use in freight service, at a time when such trains averaged fifteen cars in length, all hand braked. Its size and proportions agreed essentially with the great majority of freight engines in use on North American railways at that time, and throughout the 1880's, about 90% of all CPR locomotives shared the same practical, tried-and-true, wheel arrangement, 4-4-0. With the advent of larger engines after 1890, the smaller units were relegated to secondary and branch-line duties; most were scrapped between the two major wars, but two Brown-built 4-4-0s lasted to the end of the steam era on Canadian Pacific; they will be dealt with in later instalments.

SPECIFICATIONS Class Numbers Builder Year Serial Nos. Cylinders (Dia x stroke) Drivers (Dia) Pressure (psi) Weight (Lbs)   SA 285 DeLorimier 1883 1001 17 x 24 62 150 112,800