I’m starting my first model railroad, which, while freelance, will be based on Canadian National. I have purchased the CN Overland set of passenger carriages (coach, RPO and Business Cars) and am now trying to find out the real life corresponding steam locomotive.
Have not been able to ascertain (internet and forum searching) which steam
locomotive(s) CN used to pull these passenger coaches, which I understand were in service around the period 1920 - 1940.
Is there a fellow MRer who may be able to advise which locomotive(s) CN deployed way back then?
The MDC / Roundhouse “Old Time Overland” passenger cars are based on cars built in the 1870’s-1880’s. Some of them were used into the 1940’s on remote branchlines in rural parts of Canada, usually one or two cars in a mixed passenger / freight train.
Power on such lines would generally be small steam engines, such as a 4-4-0, 4-6-0 or 2-6-0…
Here’s a link to a 1947 CN roster that might give you some info:
Could you give us a little more info on these cars? Are they Overland brass or are the the MDC cars referred to above?
If they are 1920’s to '40s they would be Heavyweight cars with 6 wheel trucks and will be all green in colour. If so then they would have run right to the early '50s. In that case steam power would be Pacifics, Mountains or Northerns. If you want exact models you are looking at brass and used as CN steam hasn’t been done in plastic. I should add that TrueLine Trains has a plastic Northern that is just about to be released but it is expensive, at least $900 Canadian. Mind you they say it is better than brass.
CN steam from the era you mention is distinctive and if you just want something close then your best bet would be the Roundhouse Pacific that is due out this summer. It won’t be CN but will be available as GTW which was owned by CN and had a herald that is virtually the same design. I plan on getting one and although CN never had a USRA Pacific, it is close enough for me.
Have managed to do some more research which confirms the info provided and also, in relation to the Pacific, that one was built at the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1919, which was pre the end of Overland cars (apparantly in use well into the 1920’s).
I was looking at the book “Trackside Around Ontario” a few days ago, and it had at least a couple of pics of smallish woodsided passenger cars with open end platforms being used on branchline trains in the 1940’s, so you certainly could have some MDC Overland type CP cars running in your time period. But a mainline train would be heavyweights with larger steam than on the branches.
