In the recent CP Tracks, page 28 shows offical car 25. The notes indicate that
is was "shortened" when renamed "Saskatchewan" (ii) in 1917. Does anyone have
anymore information about this? To the best of my knowledge, the car remained
configured as shown in the drawing as "Earnscliffe."
Early railway documents are terrible for inaccurate data - especially early
folios. Folios were not always redrawn and if you’re lucky there are revision
notes so you can get the full picture. Early documents are also known to
sometimes refer to passenger cars as length over buffers rather than the
railway’s standard of length over frame. It doesn’t help that in one MP.14, I
think it was the 1947 edition, the lengths of some private cars “grew” because
the document listed them as length over buffers. Stuff like this has caused a
fair amount of confusion over the years because there are instances of cars
been lengthened or shortened. So one has to be careful when viewing documents
and be prepared to alter or ignore what you previously encountered.
My opinion is that anything published by anyone should be interpreted as the
“best” information known at the time. Early passenger cars that entered into
the railway by acquisitions are especially problematic because early railway’s
documents had errors in it. Wrong dates and builders, for example, are pretty
common.
A more detailed history of the car was outlined by Omer Lavallee in 1986:
Omer was never the only person ever to research CPR car history and, of course,
the research never stopped since either. There are individuals, like myself,
that continue that work today. The hardest large part of the work is
reconciling the conflicting data left behind by others and comparing it against
railway documentation. It is difficult at times to figure out what to do.
I have never seen a document to hint that the car ever worked on the K&P and
everything I have ever seen anything to suggest the car entered the CPR roster
as EARNSCLIFF in May 1890 because it operated on the North Shore prior to that.
The North Shore was acquired in 1885 and operated under that name until it was
assimilated a few years later.
Data like this is too important to keep to oneself. Where did Omer published
this history? And how can I get a copy of it?
Jeff Pinchbeck
