My Comrades at the Niagara Railway Museum, based out of the former CNR Diesel Shops in Fort Erie, will be having an open house on September 11 and 12. They have a trio of locomotives that were used in construction of both of the Canadian Hydro-Electric dams at Niagara falls, as well a collection of speeders and other artifacts, and not to mention the Fort Erie Diesel Shops themselves, which is a truly fascinating facility.

     I have created a quick and dirty (by my standards) ALCo / MLW Diesel Locomotive Roster for my Roster Section, which I have been neglecting for a while now. This roster lists all of the ALCo and MLW Diesel Locomotives owned by the CN and its subsidiaries, the GT, GTW, CV, and DWP, as well as any renumberings and other important facts.

Now that the locomotive has settled it its new home, cosmetic restoration work on CNR 6167 has resumed. Read about it here.

Updates

I've done some tweaking to the website and moved things around, so older links to this site from other sites will not work. Rest assured that the pages are still up.

Here are the photos from June 16. These include the move, and the engine and tender being set in place on the new pad.

On June 15 and 16, 2010, CNR 6167 was successfully moved from its old home of the past 43 years, next to Guelph's Bus Terminal, to its new site near Guelph's VIA Station.

Here is the most current Information I have on the Move. Nothing is written in stone but here is how it looks:

The contractor intends to arrive with their equipment and set up the site and their gantry crane on Monday June 14.

On Tuesday June 15 they intend to load both the locomotive & tender onto flatbed floats and have them ready to cross the tracks plus prepare the gantry crane to be ready to cross the tracks as well.

However Tuesday might just be a loading and preparation day. The contractor is not sure how long it will take to get everything ready, and are not sure any or all 3 pieces of equipment could cross on Tuesday, so they have set Wednesday aside for the tentative move schedule. I suspect that we should have an idea by mid-day Tuesday if any or all equipment will need to be moved across on Wednesday. If Tuesday loading and preparation goes well they will start to move equipment across within these 3 windows of Rail service schedules:

Early Morning Window..... 07:01 to 09:44
Mid Morning Window.......09.44 to 12.13
Afternoon Window....12:13 to 18:49

If Tuesday preparation does not result in any equipment moving across or just some of the 3 pieces, Wednesday June 16 will see all 3 pieces, or the balance of components move over within the same schedule times starting early.

Whenever the actual moving starts, it is proposed the Tender will move first, followed by the gantry crane, then 6167. After all 3 pieces have been moved over, the gantry crane will have been set up to place the Tender and Locomotive from the floats on to the site pad. The contractor will then begin to remove all their equipment.

It is likely that 6167 will be placed facing East due to the logistics of the transfer route.

Updates

I've typed up the contents of a sign that hung on the wall of CNR's Spadina Roundhouse many years ago entitled "Steam Engine 6060 Lubricants".
It lists exactly what types of oil and grease were to be used on the locomotive, and dates from when the CNR was using 6060 to pull passenger excursions.

A final work party on June 7, 2010 has left CNR 6167 ready for its big move. The move is scheduled to happen mid-day on June 15, and the engine will be unloaded at its new pad the following details. More information will posted when received.

CNR 6167's tender has been separated and the concrete for the new pad has been poured. The move is only a few weeks away now.

Prep work for 6167's impending move continued on May 17, 2010.

Prep work for 6167's impending move continued on May 5, 2010. Also, we are now being told the move may occur on June 15.

Prep work for 6167's impending move continued on April 26, 2010.

Prep work for 6167's impending move continued on April 19 and 22, 2010.

Prep work for 6167's upcoming move began on April 10, 2010.

In case anyone was wondering, 6167 is scheduled to be moved from her current site to a site across the tracks sometime this month or next. Preparations are scheduled to start in the next week or two.

CNR 6167's new paint job is finished.

As of last week, the painting of 6167 has begun.

After the initial cleanup from sandblasting, volunteers from the Restoration Committee went down to the locomotive on July 31 and blasted the engine with compressed air using a rented diesel air compressor. This resulted in almost another 300 lbs of rust and sand being cleaned off the locomotive.

A welder will be brought in to repair various cracks, holes and broken parts found after the engine was sandblasted. He will likely repair the hole on the right side of the cab as well.

Painting is set to begin soon in the form of a Sherwin-Williams product described to me as a 3 stage primer and top coat in Midnight Black. I'm told that Sherwin-Williams got their engineering dept involved, and that this product is the same specs as paint used for steel bridges, with great anti-corrosion and UV resistant properties, and is quite expensive. The work will be performed by a team of 4 or 5 professional painters.

The locomotive requires a lot of work to bring it back to its former glory, and Donations to help continue this work would be greatly appreciated.

Preparations for sandblasting began the Week of June 15, and included masking off and sealing all the bearings on the running gear. Blasting finally commenced on June 24.

As of today (July 11) the sandblasting of 6167 is just about finished. For the time being, work is focusing on the engine half of the locomotive and work on the tender will be completed at a later date. Once finished the entire engine will have been sandblasted, with the exception of the area between the frame. The Contractor performing the work is using a product known as "Greenblast", which is recycled glass made by Opta Minerals Inc. located in Waterdown, Ontario. This product is highly recommended by the contractor, Darryl Vandenheede of D. Vandenheede Enterprises Ltd. of Simcoe, Ontario, on the basis that this product is more effective in cutting through the boiler's heavy scale and rust then sand and some other types of abrasives. Soda is being used on the Running Gear.

Thus far, the contractor has gone though approximately 20,000 lbs of Greenblast and 1000 Lbs of soda in the process. Once the blasting has been finished, cleanup of the site will begin with the blast media being collected by a large vacuum, and the locomotive getting blown down and is expected to take about a week, at which time the job will be inspected by volunteers.

Following the inspection, painting of the locomotive is expected to begin the week after (July 20-25), with the application of a coat of Zinc Cromate Primer. Following primer, volunteers will begin applying cedar strips around the circumference of the boiler to support the new boiler jacket, as well as a section of plastic 2x4's along the top of the boiler shell to support the weight of volunteers standing on the jacket. This should be completed by Mid-August, at which time Conestoga College will begin fabricating a new jacket made from 16 gauge sheet metal, which should be ready by late fall. After the jacket is applied the locomotive will be painted black.

All of the appliances that were removed will eventually be sandblasted and painted before being put back on the locomotive. The metal floor of the cab will be patched up as required before a new wooden floor is applied. A plumber has offered to repair all the copper tubing the was cut during the asbestos abatement, and new windows will be made for the cab.

Work on the tender will likely begin next year, however, one job that may be tackled this season is welding patches over the the holes that have rusted through the sheets of the coal bunker over the years.

The locomotive requires a lot of work to bring it back to its former glory, and Donations to help continue this work would be greatly appreciated.

Quite a lot of work has been done on the 6167 over the past month (but I've been too busy to report it), and I finally managed to sit down and put together a new journal entry.

Preparatory work on the 6167 continued this week. We are getting the locomotive ready for the asbestos contractor who will remove the boiler jacket and perform the asbestos abatement, which may start in June.

Who'd 'a thunken? The restoration of 6167 officially kicked off yesterday.

There are whispers that work may begin on 6167 soon. However I'm a pessimist and won't believe it until I see it with my own eyes.

I paid CNR 6218 in Fort Erie a visit last month.

Updates

In partnership with CN Lines I have made a set of over 230 CNR Steam Locomotive Diagrams available over the internet. Unfortunately, this set is not complete and there are some notable omissions.

I've been occupied with other odds and ends for the last few months, and not much has happened with 6167, hence the lateness of this update.

The brass importer Division Point will be releasing a run of CNR U-2-d, U-2-e, and U-2-f class Northern's in HO-Scale. One of the models will be of 6167 while in excursion service. I believe that they will be ready sometime in 2008. I supplied Division Point with my all of my notes and drawings on the aforementioned power so I can't wait to see how they come out. As well, Hobbycraft / True Line Trains is a doing a run of plastic CNR U-2-g Northerns in HO-Scale which may also be out next year.

As for the restoration of 6167, an RFP (Request For Proposal) document will issued soon to bring in quotes on the cost of removing the asbestos and replacing the boiler jacketing along with other work. That business should be taken care of hopefully by the end of September or maybe October. Once that work has been settled, work can begin whenever the contractor wishes to do so. We had planned to do some prep work on the engine back in May, but that effort derailed when the city insisted on the volunteer's taking an seminar on Asbestos. Unfortunately, that never happened, and to date I haven't been able to do any work on the locomotive.

Another item of importance to the restoration of 6167, is the construction of a "Transit Centre" on Carden Street in Guelph. Part of the plan calls for the extension of Carden Street which would see the road run right where the locomotive currently resides. It would be really swell if the locomotive could be incorporated into the depot along with a proper enclosure, but if the locomotive has to be moved, funding will be allocated to the Transit Centre project for the job.

I've been discussing having replica number plates made with the committee. The problem right now is that you have to spend money to make money, and we simply do not have the funds for such a costly project at this moment.

I've heard some horrible news from Stratford. The end may be near for the Big Shop. Apparently, another portion of the roof has collapsed and the city has posted a note requiring the demolition of that section of the shop before the contractor can resume building his water park and what ever bright ideas he's got (I don't feel like discussing the recent troubles that have plagued the shop - you'll have to read about them elsewhere). At this point, the fellow is probably waiting for the whole structure to implode before resuming construction. This guy has had no intention of preserving the history of the shops in any way shape or form. If you don't believe me, then why was the 200 Ton Morgan Crane - the defining characteristic of the shops, scrapped? It was in fine mechanical shape and would have made one hell of a display.

Lastly, although we've sold the first 100 of a limited edition of Larry Fisher's portrait of 6167, we still have to move the rest of the series, plus the original. Remember when you buy the print from us, all proceeds go towards the restoration. Also show your support for the project by picking up one of our buttons (that I designed!). These items can be purchased from the Civic Museum in Guelph, as well as from our table at various train shows around the GTA. I believe the committee will be at the International Centre train show in Malton this November.

Updates

First up, I've gotten my hands on hands on the CNR Form 571 for 6167. This document is a very informative record that keeps track of the value of the locomotive as improvements were made during the course of it's life.

The Committee informs me that we have a very limited number of Larry Fisher prints available, and have also sent a price list for the remaining prints.

Lastly, I've made up a small "advert" for the restoration, which has worked into a number of pages in the Roster.

I have also begun to add CGR locomotive classifications to the some of the steam locomotive rosters.