Sorry for the delay in getting today’s post up… Today we take a look at The Spirit of Windsor, the old CN Steam Engine kind of tucked away in the corner of a parking lot along the Waterfront.
This massive behemoth, is a throwback to the days when the riverfront was covered in rails.
The old CN logo on the one side, has certainly seen better days.
The engine is undergoing work with the help of a dedicated group of volunteers.
A plaque along the fence tells the story of 5588, built in 1911, it was retired in 1961, saved from the scrap pile and brought to Windsor where it’s been since 1965.
When my Mom was little there was a fundraising event to do work and/or restore it for later years. She had received pledges and all who helped were told they all owned a piece of this wonderful bit of history.
Perhaps today, a school or two could do some fundraising to help with the restoration of this gem?
I think that the railroad club should get the CNR logo painted onto the engine as people over the years have tried to peel off the vinyl one ( iI think that it has the aluminum back). And the engine gets repainted every couple of years, probly rusting out underneath!
Tom polarbear… the logo seen in the above picture is the original CN logo (when CN took over this locomotive from the Grand Trunk). It was painted directly onto the tender. When the locomotive was relocated to its present location, it came with overlays containing the modernized version of the CN emblem. There is no vinyl involved. The logo overlays (metal) have been temporarily removed for renovation/repainting and will be returned in the near future. As far as I know, this is only the second time the locomotive and tender receive a fresh coat of paint since the relocation to the riverfront. SOLRS has been doing this renovation and the locomotive has received all new metal jacketing (exterior surface) due to a severe rust problem. Much remains to be done on both the tender and locomotive and hopefully it will be completed this fall. Volunteer members of SOLRS will likely be onsite this week and coming weeks toiling away…. Work is often disrupted by riverfront events and periods of exscessive heat.
JBM….are you a member of SOLRS? Do I know you? lol I do work out at the Hearn site.
She is 71.5 feet in length including the tender, and when in working order weighs in at 379,000 lbs, and has a maximum tractive effort of 33,630 lbs.
People look at these old ladies and think they’re slow, but her 6, 73 inch drive wheels could propell her to 89 mph …that’s 143 kph, not too shabby for 1911!
Too bad we can’t have her whistle put back on, people like brass a little too much! That bell of can stay of course.
Interesting side note – this property was donated to the city for use as a park by the Goyeau family I believe. When there was talk of moving the engine and developing the property, the city talked to the family including my grandmother about it, as it would revert back to them. And so the park stays.
Here’s the SOLRS-W page on the organization’s Waterloo Central Railroad site
http://waterloocentralrailway.com/about/windsor-chapter
Have this sudden wish that I was 16 again, and about to climb aboard a Michigan Railroad Club excursion to London and Stratford.
Sorry if this is a double post……I thought I hit the post comment button, but maybe not.
JBM – are you a member of SOLRS? You sure are up to date on the happenings of 5588!
I work on the Alcos and baggage car in A’burg.
A little more info for you folks:
She is 71.5 feet in length including the tender, and when in working order weighs in at a whooping 379,000 lbs, and has a maximum tractive effort of 33,630 lbs.
Her 6, 73 inch drive wheels could propell her to 89 mph, that’s 143 kph, not too shabby for 1911!
Also a good time for a post on the ol’ girl Andrew. Its her 100th year.
It’s good to see that this old engine is being preserved. Back in the mid-80’s there was a definite plan to scrap it by the city coucil. The school I attended got invovled in fundraising in order to keep in place. So the message is, when it comes to the preservation of history, just assume that our council’s last thought is to save something.
All you folks who donate your time, sweat and $$$ deserve a special spot in history. Thank you!
I noticed 5588 is 100 years old this year!
Hi Dave and Ken,
I was a student of Ada C. Richards public school (now slated for demolition any day now) who participated in the fundraising campaign, as part of our class (in the early to mid 80s). We painted the large and heavy locomotive number plates red (the same one that appears on the train) for the campaign. I remember it fondly and learned a lot about the Spirit of Windsor while painting away (and wiping the numbers with turps – it was hard not to get paint on them).
Back in 2008, some of the SOLRS members cleaned up the CN5588 whistle and brought it up to Owosso, Michigan where we swapped it on the Pere Marquette #1225 during an excursion. As a child, my grandmother would often walk or bus me down from Albert Rd. to the CN5588 where I would spend countless hours just staring and dreaming about running it. Now as an adult, I had the fortunate opportunity to be running the PM1225 that day with the CN5588 whistle on it. As you can imagine, it was quite an experience sounding that whistle that had been silent for so many years. If you’d like to hear the CN5588 whistle that day, follow these links.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fBX_pSSEwGo&feature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DV8Qfs5vaBA
i was watching a council meeting one night and the locomotive came up in councils discussion anyway percy hatfield came up with the lame idea to build a wooden structure that resembled a caboose and tack it on behind the tender and use it for a information booth with all the money this city wastes on BS things it would be nice if they could by an old CN caboose and couple that on behind the tender
In 1963 when this train was being installed at the river front park, my mother Phyllus Girard and my little brother Paul Girard were among the many people in the park to watch the festivities. A reporter for the star approached my mom and asked her if my little brother wanted get into the Engineer’s compartment and help Christen the Spirit of Windsor by sounding off the trains whistles. His picture was in the paper and he was the celeberty of George Ave. for a short while. We were all proud of him. Paul was 4 years old at the time . Paul passed away at the age of 43 in 2001.