NAR Work TrainThis lineup represents a typical Northern Alberta Railways work train and is the only surviving complete set. Work trains repaired and maintained track. Besides the repair equipment, they included a cook-supply car, a cook car, a dining car, and bunk, recreation and shower cars. The bunk cars were the sleeping cars for the work crews, as well as their living area after the day's work was done. Another example of a bunk car is NAR 18104 on the Auxiliary Train .
16511 Flat Car |
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A flanger is used to plow small amounts of snow off the tracks, or is pulled behind a ballast car and used to spread the ballast. The operator rode in the cupola to operate the flanger. There is only one control on the flanger, a lever to raise or lower the blade, assisted by air pressure supplied by the locomotive. Half of the flanger serves as living quarters for the operator. Above is a closeup of the flanger's blade.
Signs having two white dots on a black background or vice versa are placed along the right of way to tell a flanger or snowplow operator to raise the blades because of a crossing obstruction on the track. More than one of these signs on the same post indicates more than one obstruction.
Ordered by the Alberta and Great Waterways Railway just prior to amalgamation, this spreader was delivered to the NAR in 1929 and numbered 16522. It was obtained by the Museum from CN in 1982. It is stored awaiting repairs and painting.
A spreader is a multi-purpose piece of equipment that is used year round. It is used for spreading ballast along the side of the track, clearing track-side brush, and increasing drainage for a better roadbed. In the winter the spreader is used to plow snow from the right-of-way. The locomotive pushes the spreader and provides the compressed air supply to run it.
The builder's plate on the side of the spreader reads:
No. 437
O.F. Jordan Co.
Spreader, Flanger, Scraper, Bank Builder & Snow Plow
East Chicago, Indiana.
Double wood sheathed, this car started out as a box car in 1911 and was converted by the GTR into Outfit Car #18914, then numbered by CN as #341614, and is now outfit car 68301. Its wheels come from three different makers and four different locations. The makers are:
The car is currently used for parts storage.
Built: circa 1896-1900
Light Weight: 30,863 lb.
Features:
This was the first piece of rolling stock obtained by the Museum after the acquisition of NAR steam locomotive 73. It is formerly CP box car 56936.
The car exhibits three outstanding inventions: the automatic coupler, the arch bar truck and the automatic air brake. At the time it was built, it represented the highest standards of freight car construction and technology. It is currently used for parts storage. It was donated it to us in 1999 by the Canadian Railroad Museum (ExpoRail) in Montreal, Quebec.
Built: 1911
Capacity: 6191 imperial gallons
Light Weight: 35,600 lb.
A steel water tank car with steel centre sill and frame.
During the era of steam railroading, the most essential occupation of railway operating departments was the provision of water and fuel at convenient locations and in continuous supply. Finding a sufficient and quality water supply for locomotive boilers was a particularly difficult problem. Operating conditions also presented problems to slower trains and those engaged in frequent stops or delays, resulting in the limited supply of water carried in the tender getting dangerously low or depleted entirely. This was partly overcome by building tenders of larger capacities but many of the older locomotives continued to use smaller tenders.
The spare water car soon became standard equipment in way freight and work train service. The tank was connected by suitable hose and valves to the tank well on the tender and the two tanks could be equalized or used independently.
Employees and their families living and working along the line often had no water supply, or else water was not drinkable. The spare water car was used to fill the cisterns which were placed at wayside locations. Track gangs often had one or more of these cars in their consist. Fresh cars would be delivered to them as needed and the empties returned for refilling.
Many ingenious methods were developed to prevent freezing in winter conditions. One was a good pail of 'dope': wool waste saturated with car oil and used for packing journal boxes. The 'dope' was placed at the problem area and set alight. It was a sight to behold: a water car, tender pipe and locomotive feed pipe all ablaze as crews or shop employees fought to thaw out the equipment.
Light Weight: 29,200 lb.
Features:
This car was built in 1910 as Box Car #16846 for the Grand Trunk Railway, converted to GTW Bunk Car #338546 and taken onto the roster of Canadian National as 69695. Here is a picture of the car's interior.
This car has had a varied history, serving in many parts of Canada and the United States. It saw service in Eastern Canada, then apparently was assigned to the Grand Trunk Western Railway out of Chicago. It probably also saw service on the Grand Trunk Pacific which was absorbed by the Canadian Government Railway, and ultimately, Canadian National Railways.
The car was donated by CN in 1982 and used by the museum as a concession car for several years prior to the move to the present location. It was returned to its original configuration as a Bunk Car and the exterior was painted in 1996.
This two-man bunk car was donated in July of 2000 by RaiLink, a short-line railway which once opoerated the track up to Lac La Biche. It was found abandoned on a siding at milepost 197 on the Waterways Subdivision, north of Lac La Biche. A summer project in 2004/2005/2006 transformed the car into a Kid's Car. It was refinished inside and repainted on the outside. It is available for birthday parties as part of the Museum's visitor facilities program
Built around 1914, NAR Engineering Car 17900 served on the work train as the road car and field office for the civil engineer responsible for the right-of-way. The history of the car is unknown, but it was probably built as a box car for either the Grand Trunk or the Canadian Northern Railway and converted to work service when steel box cars were purchased.
A complete restoration is being carried out on 17900. The exterior has been repaired and many boards replaced. Windows and doors were rebuilt and the floor was repaired and re-tiled. The rest of the interior was restored, including shelves, doors, cupboards and moldings. The car was completely repainted inside and out. A final coat of paint, minor repairs and stenciling is all that is required to put it into last used condition. It will be fitted out as a display car, showing the implements and tools used by the Track Engineer.
Light Weight: 29,200 lb.
Originally GTR box car 23213 and CN boxcar 343413, this Foreman and Tool car was used on the work train as the office and sleeping quarters for the work foreman. This car contained all the documents necessary to authorize repairs to the track, the time sheets for the crew, and the tools to carry out the job. This is also where the pay packets were handed out.
The car has been painted inside and out as part of its restoration to last used condition. It was purchased by the NAR from Canadian National Railways on July 18, 1940 for $1,450.17. CN donated the car to the museum in 1982. Here are two photographs of the interior.
Weight: 42,000 lb.
This cook supply car was built around 1911 by the CPR as an outside sheathed box car and was built during a period of great expansion to meet the demands of Western Canada for supplies and shipment of commodities to market.
In 1941 it was refitted by the NAR as a mobile pantry and living quarters for the cook. One end of the car has a bed, locker, stove and sink for accommodations. The other half of the car serves as storage space for the food supplies needed for the cook car which is coupled to it. The shelves are slanted so that cans which are stacked on them do not fall over when the train moves. There is also a refrigerator for the storage of perishables, and a meat cutting table across from it.
When in service, there would be only a narrow passageway down the middle because it would be stacked to the roof with supplies. The cook and assistants moved between the cook car and the cook supply cars to obtain supplies. A typical day for the cook and crew would start about four in the morning and finish at around ten at night.
The Cook Supply Car was donated by CN in 1982, was completely painted inside and out in 1995-96 and currently contains many interpretive artifacts.
Originally, this car was built in 1917 as CPR boxcar #214022. It was bought by the NAR in the 1930s and used as a boxcar until 1944. Then it was converted to a cook car by replacing the freight doors and putting in new flooring, windows and cupboards.
The cook car is best described as the kitchen for the whole crew, which could number 50 to 200 men. The cook car was where the cooking and baking took place and food prepared for serving. The open lower shelving is for pots and pans, the upper cupboards are for dishes. The dish cupboards are securely latched so that no dishes fall out when the train moves. A metal triangle just outside one side-door is used to call work crews to meals.
The two fuel oil stoves originally saw use in CNR colonist cars that brought settlers to western Canada. Colonist cars had no elaborate fixtures, seats or beds. Settlers could not usually afford to eat in the dining car on the passenger trains, so stoves like these were provided at the end of a colonist car to allow immigrants to cook their own meals.
There are many interpretive artifacts in the Cook Car. On the bench tops are insulated water containers used by the work crews. At the end of the car are order sheets used by the cook to order supplies for the car. The cook had to have a wide variety of choices because work crews had to be well fed in order to put in a good day's work. CN donated the car in 1982.
Light Weight: 40, 700 lb.
Features:
Originally Canadian Pacific 199801, this outside sheathed box car was built in 1911. It was rebuilt along with a number of other box cars in 1924-29 with pressed steel "reverse Murphy" body ends. The NAR purchased the car and converted it to a material car in 1944. It was donated by CN in 1982 and painted in 1997.
Below is a scale model of this boxcar as it would have looked in service. The model was created by Brian Pate.
Weight: 47,300 lb.
Built by the Canadian Car and Foundry Company for the Northern Alberta Railways in 1953, this caboose became part of the CNR system following the NAR takeover in 1981, and was renumbered CN 78978. It rides on American Association of Railroads (AAR) double truss trucks with leaf springs. This caboose also had a generator which provided power for lights and a hotplate. It was donated by CN in 1983 and is fully restored.
The caboose used by the NAR is a bit different from the CNR caboose in the collection. The NAR caboose exhibits the final development of the traditional caboose.
The most visible difference between this and other cabooses is the replacement of the cupola with bay windows. The NAR adopted the bay window style mostly due to employee concerns that the increasing heights of cars and lengths of trains reduced forward visibility. Cupolas do not allow the crew to see down the side of the train when it is going down a straight track; side bays allow a better view of the entire train while it is in motion.
The crew sits on the padded seats in the bay windows, looking forward along the train, checking for problems like sparks from the wheels. At night, black curtains can be pulled. These allow the conductor to do his paperwork inside the caboose, while still giving the brakeman a clear view into the darkness.
At night, when the train is stopped, the bay window seats can be removed and placed in the slots opposite the table to become a bed. The table can also be lifted up and slid out of the way when not in use.
There are a number of NAR cabooses preserved in various towns in Northern Alberta: Westlock, Peace River, Grimshaw, Rycroft, Beaverlodge, Hythe, Onoway and Fort McMurray, to name a few.
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