Locomotive No. 3
The History Behind No. 3
The source of this information is Canadian Pacific Corporate Archives, and the late Gordon Younger tracked this down through the courtesy of the late Omar Lavallée, former Corporate Archivist at Canadian Pacific.
Most of you will probably be surprised at a few things, notably the cost when No. 3 was purchased by CP, and that when received by CP, No. 3 had to be shipped through the U.S. because the CPR line north of Lake Superior was not yet completed. Most interesting, though, is that No. 3’s service included nearly 10 years of working out West in the Canadian Rockies, from 1898 to 1908.
CP No. 22 at Rat Portage (Kenora) circa 1886, courtesy CP Corporate Archives
CP’s Locomotive Stock Book (1883 - circa 1900) includes their file description of No. 3:
Class: 17” X 24”, 62” 8 - wheeled
Builder: Dübs & Company 1882, builder No. 1572
Received: April 1882
Cost: $10,220; Duty $2,555. Total cost: $12,755
Specifications:
- Straight steel boiler, 50” shell; 154 tubes, 2” diameter
- 56” wrought iron driving wheel centers
- Steel guides; cast steel crossheads
- 2 injectors
- 8’ 6” centers of drivers
- 28” wrought iron spoke engine truck wheels, steel axles
- 33” wrought iron spoke tender truck wheels, steel axles
- Wrought iron crank pins, case hardened
Tank: 2,270 gallons
Weight, working order: 82,500 lbs.
From the CP files is No. 3’s assignment record:
| 1882 April | Received from Dübs & Company, Glasgow, Scotland. 4-4-0 type, 17” X 24” cylinders, 62” driving wheels, Builder’s serial number 1572. Assigned CPR road number 22 (Series I); no class assigned. Shipped to Western Division via Chicago, St. Paul and Emerson, account CPR line around Lake Superior not completed until 1885. |
| 1882 – 1902 | No locomotive assignment records in existence, but a photograph taken about 1886 shows the locomotive at Rat Portage (Kenora). Repair records from CP Corporate Archives show No. 22 received repairs during this period at Fort William and Kenora. Sometime after June 1897 No. 22 was moved to the Pacific Division as the first noted repair was done in Kamloops in 1898. |
| 1903 Jan. - July | In service Sicamous Jct. to Okanagan Landing |
| Aug. - Sept. | Shown as “under repair” |
| Oct. - Nov. | In service at North Bend |
| Dec. | In service at Vancouver |
| 1904 Jan. - Aug. | In service out of Vancouver |
| Sept. - Dec. | In service out of Kamloops |
| 1905 | Locomotive assignment record not in existence. |
| 1906 Jan. - Apr. | In service at Kamloops |
| May - Dec. | In service at Revelstoke, mostly on Arrowhead Branch |
| 1907 Jan. - June | In service at Revelstoke |
| July - Sept. | In service at Kamloops |
| Oct. - Dec. | In service at Vancouver |
| Dec. 10 | Renumbered 133, class A51 (Series II) |
| 1908 Jan. - Mar. | In service at Vancouver |
| Apr. - May | In service at Kamloops |
| June | In service at North Bend |
| July - Oct. | In service at Vancouver |
| Nov. | Shown as “en route to Winnipeg” |
| Dec. | In service at Winnipeg |
| 1909 Jan. - Dec. | In service at Winnipeg all year |
| July | Equipped with new CPR standard boiler to drawing 13 L 173, but not superheated. |
| 1910 - 1912 | In service at Winnipeg |
| 1912 Sept. 5 | Renumbered 63 temporarily. Class A51 |
| 1913 Jan. - June | In service at Winnipeg |
| July - Sept. | In service at Fort William |
| Oct. 5 | Renumbered 86, Class A21 (Series III) |
| Oct. - Nov. | In service at Fort William |
| Dec. | In service at Kenora |
| 1914 & 1915 | In service all year at Fort William |
| 1916 Jan. - Feb. | In service at Kenora |
| March | In service at Ignace |
| Apr. - June | In service at Kenora |
| July - Aug. | In service at Winnipeg |
| Sept. - Dec. | Laid up at Winnipeg |
| 1917 Jan. - Apr. | Laid up at Winnipeg |
| May - Dec. | Leased to City of Winnipeg for $10.00 per day |
| 1918 Jan. - Oct. | Leased to City of Winnipeg for $10.00 per day. |
| Nov. 1st | Sold to City of Winnipeg for $9,000. |
No. 3 circa 1923
October 1959