Dominion Atlantic 4-4-0 Locomotives in Canada

Class Canada (Locobase 11514)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 26, p. 218. See also the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki at [], last accessed 25 December 2013. (Thanks to Steve Meredith of the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative for his 24 December 2013 email querying details in the two 4-4-0 entries then in Locobase.) Works number was 23284 in November 1903.

This Kentville, Nova Scotia-based railway ordered this engine from Baldwin as a duplicate of one of its own. Compared to the earlier Eight-wheelers shown in Locobase 12273, this engine had the same boiler but a shallower firebox with a larger grate.

Its career was relatively short as the Canada was scrapped in July 1923 after suffering irreparable frame damage in the 12 October 1920 wreck described in Locobas 12273.

Class Regina (Locobase 12273)

Data from Baldwin Locomotive Works Specification for Engines as digitized by the DeGolyer Library of Southern Methodist University Vol 20, p. 172, Vol 21, p. 176 and Volume 23, p. 222. See also the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki at [], last accessed 25 December 2013. (Thanks to Steve Meredith of the Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative for his 24 December 2013 email querying details in the two 4-4-0 entries then in Locobase.) Works numbers were 14966 in July 1896, 15924 in May 1898 and 18815, 18998 in March 1901.

Steve Meredith's email and the Wiki to which he directed me led to the discovery that the Regina belonged with the later three locomotives. Although ordered by the Windsor & Annapolis as their #18, as Gene Connelly's Baldwin production file states, its delayed delivery was to the DAR after the W&A merged with the DAR in 1894. The three later engines were the Lady Latour, Strathcona, and President. All three served more than 35 years

Regina later took the name Cornwallis (for Edward Cornwallis, founder of Halifax) and was scrapped in August-September 1898. Strathcona (for the CPR's Donald Smith, later dubbed Lord Strathcona) was later renamed PontgravT in the 1930s (Francoise Sieur du PontgravT of the 1604 Point Royal expedition) before being the first of the class to be scrapped in July 1936.

The DARDRI Wiki offers some good details on the President's career. In 1915, says the summary, "No. 26 with engineer Ben Hartlen fought an epic three day battle against 26 foot [7.92 metre] snow drifts at Grafton on the North Mountain Line". Five years later, the President and Canada (Locobase 11514) were pulling a double-headed train at high speed when they were "badly wrecked" after hitting some livestock (pigs or a cow) on 12 October 1920. The 26's fireman Fred Yould was killed. (An inspection of the photograph preserved at [] leads one to wonder how the engineer survived.)

Lady Latour (named for Acadia's Governor Charles Latour of 1638 -or his wife) retained her name throughout her career. She was scrapped in November 1939. President was renamed twice, first as Governor Cox in the 1920s (for Lieutenant Governor Nicholas Cox of Gaspe), later Kent (for Queen Victoria's father Edward Duke of Kent) by 1929. Kent was scrapped in 1941.