CPR 2850: The Royal Hudson That Never Failed King George VI

Описание: They were the largest and most powerful locomotives in the British Empire. Thirty-six were built. Only two survived.

Between 1929 and 1949, Montreal Locomotive Works constructed the CPR Selkirk class—375-ton giants designed to conquer the Canadian Rockies. These massive 2-10-4 locomotives hauled both freight and passenger trains through some of the most brutal railway terrain in North America, from Calgary to Revelstoke, through the Spiral Tunnels and Rogers Pass.

In 1953, diesel locomotives replaced them almost overnight. By 1959, thirty-four Selkirks had been cut apart for scrap. Only two survived: CPR 5931 in Calgary and CPR 5935 in Quebec—the last witnesses to the golden age of Canadian steam power.

This documentary tells the complete story: from Chief Engineer Henry Blaine Bowen's revolutionary design in 1929, through three decades of mountain operations, to the diesel invasion that made them obsolete, and finally to the mass scrapping that destroyed 94% of the fleet.

📊 KEY FACTS:
36 Selkirks built (1929-1949) by Montreal Locomotive Works
375 tons fully loaded—largest locomotives in British Empire
2-10-4 wheel arrangement: 10 massive driving wheels
Calgary to Revelstoke: 262 miles through Rockies
T1a (20 built): All scrapped, zero preserved
T1b (10 built): All scrapped, zero preserved
T1c (6 built): 4 scrapped, 2 preserved
Last standard-gauge steam locomotives built in Canada (1949)
Retired 1959—less than 10 years service for final class

📚 SOURCES:
Canadian Railway Museum (Exporail) - CPR 5935 Documentation
Heritage Park Calgary - CPR 5931 Historical Records
Montreal Locomotive Works Archives
Canadian Pacific Railway Historical Society
"Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives" by Robert Legget
CPR Form M.P.330: Classification and Dimensions of Locomotives

🚂 PRESERVED SELKIRKS TODAY:
CPR 5931: Heritage Park, Calgary, Alberta (Outdoor Display)
CPR 5935: Exporail Museum, Saint-Constant, Quebec (Indoor Display)

Both are T1c class locomotives built in 1949—Canada's last steam locomotives. They are the only survivors of Henry Bowen's masterpiece, standing as monuments to an engineering achievement that conquered the Canadian Rockies but couldn't survive the economics of dieselization.

This is Locomotive Canada, where we tell the stories of the machines that built a nation—the complete stories, including the ones that ended in scrapyards.

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Video produced with extensive historical research. All facts verified through railway museums, historical societies, and archival documentation. For complete source list, see pinned comment.

© 2025 Locomotive Canada. Educational content. All historical photographs used under fair use for educational documentary purposes.