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.
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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.