Since this topic came up, I have been scanning photos for any that show the
train earlier than 1950 when the 3303 was built and assigned to it.
This evening I noted a Gib Kennedy photo dated c.1930 showing CPR locomotive
585 eastbound in the Vancouver area - my feeling is it is passing the
Alberta Wheat Pool Elevator near the present Iron Workers Memorial 2nd
Narrows Bridge. Labeled by Gib "Mixed No.710 to Huntingdon", it is an
interesting consist. I don't have a 1930 timetable so don't know that 710
is the same as the 810/809, but suspect so. there is no 710 for a similar
route int he 1934 public timtable in the SIG Documents library at
http://www.cpsig.ca/data/TimeTables_Public/PTT_1934_Sept30_A.pdf Assuming ;
it is the same train with a new number in the 1930's, ...
Behind the loco are:
- three CPR wood refrigerator cars (all hatches sealed, nearest is CP287253
I think - its a bit fuzzy),
- three CPR boxcars the same height as the reefers (can't tell if they are
steel or wood sheathed boxcars),
- a long and much taller box car,
- 2 more boxcars the height of the first three,
- a tank car (dark with noticeable light colored area where the reporting
maqrks would be - perhaps the
Imperial oil logos?)
- another box car and
-two passenger cars.
The leed passenger car is a mail or baggage car. It approximately matches
the drawing i nthe SIG Library of the Baggage and Express car, drawing 3074,
cars 1952 - 1956. See:
http://www.cpsig.ca/data/folio_passenger/3074-7.pdf
It is so distant and so obscured by smoke that it is hard to say much more
about it.
At the tail end of the train is another clerestory roofed passenger car. It
is hard to tell much about its appearance, but I can see there is no baggage
type door. Instead, it looks like coach type windows for most of the side,
with no windows for the front 10 or 15 feet. It may have a platform at the
rear end, although that could just be a mirage created by an open vestibule
door. There is no vesitbule door at the front end of the car.
So, its nice to get a feeling for this train in earlier times - now I need
to bridge the time gap to get into the mid '40's.
Rob Kirkham
