Volunteers are aiming to preserve an 1882 steam locomotive in Manitoba Achi-News

WINNIPEG – A steam locomotive built in 1882 and billed as the oldest operating one in Canada needs some tender loving care, and the volunteers who have kept it running on an old railway line north of Manitoba’s capital raising money for the repairs.

Steam Locomotive No. 3, as it is called, is not efficient, fast or energy conscious compared to more modern locomotives. Shoveling coal into a fire to create steam results in lots of dirt, noise and thick black smoke. But for volunteers like Paul Newsome, a steam-powered train is unlike any other.

“A steam locomotive is alive, it feels alive. It makes noise, it smells and it responds to what you do to it,” said Newsome, general manager of the Vintage Locomotive Society, in a recent interview at the repair shop where No. 3 is sitting with its front compartment open, waiting for new tubes. .

“You can see the results if you put in a lousy … fire, the steam doesn’t rise. He responds. And it’s almost human. As dumb as that may sound, it’s almost human.”

Newsome, 73, got the bug as a young boy. His grandfather was a railroad man with Canadian National and retired in 1954. Newsome was taken on his grandfather’s retirement trip, and he became hooked.

“Just being a part of the steam locomotive after steam stopped being used on CN and CP in 1960 … was everything to me.”

Newsome’s career was in labor relations, but his enthusiasm for trains led him to volunteer on the vintage railroad. Since 1970, he has given time and energy to the Vintage Locomotive Society, which had acquired No. 3 in time to have then prime minister Pierre Trudeau on a tour as part of Manitoba’s centennial celebrations.

Number 3 was made in Scotland and transferred to Canadian Pacific via the United States, because the line through Canada north of Lake Superior was not finished. In 1918, the locomotive was sold to Winnipeg Hydro, who kept it running until 1961.

The locomotive was acquired by the Vintage Locomotive Society in 1970 and has been used in subsequent decades to take passengers on history-themed rides north of Winnipeg on its railway, the Prairie Dog Central Railway.

Visitors sit in coaches from the early 20th century and get a taste of what it was like to travel on the bare prairie landscape before highways. The volunteers on the train can face heavy work. Shoveling coal can be hard work. Newsome worked the fire and other tasks on the train until 2013 when health issues required him to step down.

Passengers are taken an hour north to Grosse Island, where another volunteer organization runs a small historic village of period buildings.

“It helps the younger generation connect with a little bit of what life was like for their grandparents or even great grandparents, originally coming from farming communities,” said Donna Ridgeway, president of the Grosse Island Heritage Site. .

“Not many have that opportunity to go in an old house where everything was not convenient or (see) what a school was like when all the grades were together.”

Number 3 is not running this year. A diesel locomotive has temporarily taken its place.

Number 3 needs to replace its entire set of 187 metal tubes — maintenance required every 15 years on steam engines. The tubes bring gases heated by the coal fire to the boiler, where water is heated to create steam. The steam creates pressure which, through pistons and rods, makes the wheels turn.

The repairs are expected to cost at least $150,000. The Vintage Locomotive Society’s budget took a heavy hit during the COVID-19 pandemic when it was unable to operate for two years. The group has set up a GoFundMe page, among other avenues, in the hope of raising the necessary funds.

“So far it’s working well, but we still have a ways to go,” Newsome said.

This report was first published by The Canadian Press on July 26, 2024

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