Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41

Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41 is a century old steamer just recently returned to service after a lengthy absence and seen here in 2019 awaiting repairs. Based out of Stettler Alberta it powered tour trains full of happy folks down the scenic line to Big Valley and now it’s back. Used on at least one shakedown run recently, as the season winds down, we suspect it’ll feature prominent in 2023.

It’s a Baldwin Locomotive Works (Philadelphia, PA, USA) product and built for the Jonesboro, Lake City & Eastern Railroad in 1920. This comapany ran in the states of Arkansas and Mississippi and in the mid-1920s taken over by the St Louis-San Francisco Railway (the “Frisco”). The engine continued in their service until just after World War Two and then sold.

The Mississippian Railway acquired it and used well into the 1960s, long after most carriers had rid themselves of steam. A railway club in Alabama took ownership in 1967 and not longer after it ended up in a museum in the nearby state of Mississippi. In the late 1980s it got sent north to Stettler, to pull tour trains and has been here ever since. It’s a fixture on the line, well loved and the subject of many photos. How strange to see it so exposed and vulnerable like in the photos.

Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions #41 in 2019.

When built the locomotive carried #41, and does so today, but for most of it’s operational history used #77. There’s a tradition of sorts for locomotives to keep their as-built numbers and once assigned (like your name), it’s usually kept.

Our subject’s a 2-8-0 in the Whtye notation system and known as a Consolidation type, with a pair of guide or leading wheels and four pairs of drivers. It’s powerful for its size yet it could travel down light track or rickety sidings with ease. A general purpose machine best suited for yeoman-type duties it could be found pulling local freights, branch runs or doing yard work.

Not normally used to pull passenger trains it could do so in a pinch, albeit at lesser speeds. The lower drivers meant it couldn’t fly like a true passenger engine and this no problem given tour train travel at modest speeds anyway.

Consolidation: so named as the first company to use this configuration had gone through a merger around the time of delivery and given the name to one of their new locomotives. It stuck and the name used ever since. Each unique wheel arrangement was similarly given a class name and these generally used universally. Many tens of thousands of Consolidations were built for use the world over, in various forms and sizes, but all sharing the same wheel arrangement.

The majority of 2-8-0s were built between the years 1890 and 1920 when made obsolete by larger more advanced steam locomotive designs that followed. Even so, most had long careers and this a testament to their versatility. By Consolation standards #41 is fairly small and lightweight.

Baldwin, at various times in its history, held title as the largest locomotive manufacturer on the planet. Founded in the 1820s they went out of business in the 1950s and didn’t survive the transition to diesel power for long. They excelled at making stream locomotives, and had a huge factory, but the market dried up after World War Two.

The firm did not typically supply to Canadian railways and domestic builders Canadian Locomotive Company and the Montreal Locomotive Works did so instead. I guess this makes the engine a bit of an outsider, y’all (a shout out to its southern roots).

In the 1990s Family BIGDoer rode the APRE train from Stettler to Meeting Creek/Donalda (that line’s now abandoned) and #41 powered this train. The engine makes a brief appearance in the 1994 movie Legends of the Fall and in other films as well.

We rode the train to Big Valley in more recent times, with diesel power, and had a blast, here: Alberta Prairie Railway Tours Ride Along.

If ones does a search online many photos of #41/#77 in service can be found at various times in its history. It looks much today as it did then and hardly changed at all.

This steamer has an identical sister engine (built as #40) that surprisingly still exists and located in the the US. It owned by the Oakland Baltimore & Ohio Railroad Museum in Maryland, where it doubles as B&O #476. It’s a static display and not operational.

Alberta Prairie Railway Excursion trains operate Spring through December and in the past at least, #41 mostly used on peak weekends. The diesels usually took over on slower days and for most late season runs. In the last number of years the train’s have been the domain of diesels exclusively and it’s not clear if there will be operational changes compared to previous years now that the steamer’s back. We’ll wait and see what happens.

In the past a second steam locomotive, CNR #6060, sometimes got called into tour train service on special days. This monster-sized beast is owned by an associate group and currently out of commission pending repairs. Located partway down the Alberta Prairie line you’ll pass it right by if you ride the train, but won’t see it since it’s stored in a big shed.

Bullet Nose Betty, as its known, is a thoroughbred and once pulled the CNR’s crack passenger trains. It’s much larger, more modern (ca 1940s) and more powerful than #41. It’s of such a size that it almost seems out of place, so too big, for the light branchline track. You picture it screaming down the main line and with a long consist well in hand.

Here’s a little looksie and we may post more about it down the road: Random Pick: Sleeping Giant.

No #41 last ran in 2017 and put out of work for want of one relatively trivial part that would need to be custom made. It’s a casting in the front of the locomotive (look for the pic captioned “In the front end smokebox” to see its home) that developed a crack. It’s in the less-critical low pressure section of the boiler where steam and smoke exhaust out to the stack.

The part’s not the main problem, but rather the resultant complete and thorough inspection needed on completion that would send costs soaring. Every single rivet and connection would need to be checked, even if not suspect, and it takes much time and expertise. Then Covid hit and everything put into a long and seemingly endless holding pattern.

Recently the project restarted, and funds secured and only weeks before this posting, #41 quietly returned to service. They mentioned it on their Facebook page, but the website (as of publication) remains pretty hush on the subject. Hmmm. This suggests they’re working out the bugs and waiting till next year for the big reveal.

Presenting photos below of a steamer in it’s naked state, partly disassembled, and in a way few get to see. While it might look crude and simple, it’s actually a marvel of engineering. The blackhead, where it all happens, is a mess of pipes, valve and levers whose function’s only known to those intimate with the old girl. It’s heavy metal to the extreme and each part cast, forged or riveted together. For 1920, it’s tech and a representation of how it was done.

No #41 keeps company with a number of diesels, one part-time power for the tours and the other used for hauling freight on the line. APRE serves a few agricultural customers and in the excess car storage business, both of which helps underwrite the tour trains.

One year shy of a century (at the time).

No #7438 is a General Motors GP-9 locomotive from the late 1950s and once worked for the legendary New York Central system. GMTX #2668 is a leased locomotive, a late 1960s General Motors GP-38-2 (upgraded from a GP-40) and also from down south. It’s entrusted with freight chores on the line and still carriers the logo of a former operator, the Carrizo Gorge railway of southern California and Northern Baja Mexico. That line’s legendary and famous for a stretch that clings to the side of precipitous mountains.

It’s good to see #41 back in service and look for us trackside in 2023 snapping a few photos of this old timer. Smile and wave when you pass!

Know more: (new tabs): Alberta Prairie Railway Tours and Surviving Steam Locomotives in Canada.

Please stop by often and be sure have a little fun.

They’re saying…

“Chris and Connie delve into the nooks and crannies of the Canadian Prairies. They detail interesting histories accompanied with revealing photos. Alot of information and work and the results are fantastic.” Naomi Kikoak.

Train stuff…
Nakusp Rail Society.
Gas Plant Collection.
Aspen Crossing’s New Locomotive Gets Delivered.

If you wish more information on what’s seen here, don’t hesitate to: contact us!

Date of Adventure: June, 2019.
Location(s): Stettler, AB.
Article thanks: Alberta Prairie Railway Excursions (Rich especially), Canadian Trackside Guides and Steamlocomotive.com.

A strange collection of moving parts.

Awaiting repairs at on our visit.

Keeping company with a couple diesels.

All those controls.

Throttle and brake.

In the front end smokebox.

Yes…yes it is.

One of four sets of drivers.

It looks crude, but is a fine tuned machine.

Formerly of the Carrizo Gorge Railway (SW US).

A rarely seen angle.

Built as Johnsboro, Lake City and Eastern #41.

Metal and grease.

It finally returned to service only weeks ago.

This one’s a relative youngster.