Botwood 2-4-2 Locomotives in Canada

Class 2 (Locobase 13570)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Volume 34, p. 224 . See also [] and [], both last accessed 21 December 2011. Works number was 33355 in April 1909.

The Anglo-Newfoundland Development Company was formed to exploit the vast Exploits River [that IS the name of the river ...] holdings of wood suitable for the production of newsprint. Botwoodville on the north coast was selected as the shipping port and a railway between Grand Falls, site of the mill, and Botwoodville was constructed. The author of the Botwood account succinctly describes some pretty rough going: "Construction of the railway was done by manual labour with picks, shovels, and wheelbarrows. Terrain covered with bogs, hills, and rock cuts were just some of the obstacles these men faced." Despite all of the impediments, the railroad opened in 1909, shipping 27,000 tons a year back to Alfred Harmsworth's (Viscount Northcliffe)'s newspaper operation in England.

One of the very first locomotives to enter service on the Botwood was this little saddle tank. It was small and possibly overwhelmed by the growing demand; in any case, it was retired in 1929.