CPR's CLC's

Victoria, BC, July 16, 1960. Canadian Pacific Railway 15 diesel-hydraulic sits it out at Victoria West roundhouse, waiting for a new assignment. A manifestly short bridge joins downtown Victoria with “the west end."

Canadian Pacific received 3,000 square miles of prime forestland worth $25 million, in exchange for building the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway, stretching up-island from Victoria to end-of-track at Courtney. At the time of construction, cost the company $2.5 million.

In a rare move, the City of Victoria has agreed to restore the original round house in Victoria West, making it a center piece for a condo development. One of my late Mother's high school fiends, was the Road Foremen of engines and took me to this facility where I had my first frightening encounter with live steam!

Canadian Locomotive Works in Kingston, Ontario, built a lot of locomotives for Canadian and export customers under license from Fairbanks, Morse and Company. Diesel-hydraulic locomotives use the same principle of power transmission to the driving wheels as is used in an automobile automatic transmission. Since there is no rigid connection between the diesel engine and the wheels, possible damage to the transmission and diesel engine is eliminated.

Railroad Stuff: CPR 15, CLC 44-H-44-A2 diesel hydraulic, built March 1958, sn 2993, 2x250 Cat diesel motors.