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Home
 
2003-
  
Issue 1  June 2003

Canadian Pacific Railway Employee Communications
Room 500 401-9th Ave S.W. Calgary AB T2P 4Z4

 BOMBARDIER'S JETTRAIN PARADES THROUGH ALBERTA
Don Heron Passenger Services
Click here to enlarge photo
Past Meets Future:  In Calgary's Canadian Pacific Railway Pavilion, the JetTrain was on static display alongside restored 1930s-era steam locomotive 2816, otherwise known as "CPR Empress". Both locomotives were constructed in Montreal and both represent the technology of the day. Locomotives in 2816's class operated the fastest passenger train schedules in the world between Montreal and Smiths Falls, Ontario, in 1931.

 
From a young, energetic steam locomotive engine wiper, Norris R. "Buck" Crump rose steadily to the presidency and chairmanship of the CPR. In a no-nonsense, unsentimental push, he guided the company's conversion to diesel power and halted the railway's post-Second World War decline.
 
CPR was pleased to host Bombardier's JetTrain locomotive in Alberta in early April. The racehorse was held to a mere trot, of course, operating under its own power on CPR's Edmonton-to-Calgary, freight-only rail line at the freight train speed of 55 mph. Many observers noted how quiet the locomotive was, whether standing or running.
 
The JetTrain visit to Alberta enabled Bombardier to showcase the locomotive to local media and governmental representatives in the province's two biggest markets. Bombardier hopes that its JetTrain locomotive will one day be setting those same standards in high-speed passenger service on North American routes upgraded to accommodate it.
 
The Federal Railroad Administration and Bombardier shared development costs for the JetTrain. The JetTrain is powered by a 5,000-horsepower Pratt and Whitney gas turbine and is capable of operating at speeds of 150 mph on upgraded track.
 

 

 

 

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