Canadian Pacific 4-4-4 Locomotives in Canada

Class F-1a (Locobase 114)

Data from H M Le Fleming, "Illustrated Survey of Modern Steam Locomotives," in Ransome-Wallis (1959). See also data from tables and diagrams in the 1947 Locomotive Cyclopedia and CP 2 - 1947 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley. (Many thanks to Chris Hohl for his 22 September 2017 email reporting unlikely boiler pressure values for 177 entries. A Locobase macro caused the error. Thanks also to Piotr Staszewski for his 20 November 2023 email correcting the builder's ID..) CLC works numbers were 1924-1943 and the locomotives were produced from November 1937 to March 1938.

Followed five F-2a into service. Smaller, lower-drivered engines with less heating surface and grate area and slightly less thermic syphon area (31 sq ft/2.9 sq m).. The F-1s drove on the rear coupled axles; the F-2s drove on the front axle. Like other CP locomotives with two trailing axles, the lead wheels in the bogie were smaller than the rear wheels - 36 1/4" (921 mm) diameter vs 45" (1,145 mm).

They were fast, both absolutely and in terms of covering a schedule. According to the Steamtown special study of their 2929 ([], accessed 2 Jan 2007), the F-1a was designed for fast local service between nearby cities. Instead they were relegated to secondary operations, including a Saskatchewan local that ran between Regina and Moose Jaw. The schedule demanded that "... the 16.4 km (10.2 miles) between Pasqua and Belle Plaine Sask., to be effected in ten minutes, an average start-to-stop speed in excess of 98 km/h (61 mph). This was, for some time in the late 1940s and early 1950s, the fastest scheduled speed attained by a Canadian passenger train."

In an "old-time trains" article by Newton Rossiter ([]), he tells us a bit about the subtleties of operating steam locomotives and the effects of operating conditions on such things as smoke generation:

""Trailing black smoke" was entered into work reports by enginemen many times when operating F1a 4-4-4 "Jubilees" on the Toronto to Hamilton run. The reason for the smoke is that the tubes are becoming blocked and "honeycomb" or slag is forming over the back tube sheet in the firebox, preventing proper combustion. This condition was prevalent on these engines when worked at speed with light trains on relatively level track. When this engine and her running mate, No. 2928, were assigned to the Hamilton to Goderich run and were returned to John Street, Toronto, for their monthly boiler wash, the tubes were observed to be in excellent shape. This was put down to the heavier working of the engine on the Goderich run, due to the up hill, down dale, character of the line. Working on grades with heavy exhaust had a scouring effect, keeping the tubes clean.

Class F-2a (Locobase 113)

Data from tables and diagrams in the 1947 Locomotive Cyclopedia. See also CP 2 - 1947 Locomotive Diagrams supplied in May 2005 by Allen Stanley and "Further Canadian Locomotive Experiences", Engineer (21 November 1941) , pp. 346-349. (Thanks to Chris Hohl for the valve gear ID and the use of the term Jubilee and his 22 September 2017 email reporting unlikely boiler pressure values for 177 entries. A Locobase macro caused the error .)

Riding on a wheel arrangement so rarely used it didn't have a popular name (although the CP did assign the name Jubilee to the wheel arrangements), the two Canadian Pacific F classes served a variety of short (four-car) fast express trains These five F-2a engines drove on the front axle. They preceded the similar but somewhat smaller F-1a type, which drove on the rear axle. All the latest labor-saving devices appeared on this quintet: Elesco feedwater heaters, 34 sq ft (3.15 sq m) of arch tubes, roller bearings, mechanical stokers, rosebud rocker grate, all-weather cab. Cylinders received their high-pressure steam through 9" (229 mm) piston valves.

Used on the Chinook (Calgary-Edmonton), Royal York (Toronto-Detroit), and two Montreal-Quebec trains. One of them claimed the Canadian steam speed record outright when a brake-test train pulling four cars (express, baggage-buffet, and two coaches) had reached 181 km/h (112.5 mph) when its brakes were put into emergency stop. The Steamtown special report on the CPR 4-4-4s ([], accessed 2 Jan 2007) notes the outcome of the brake test: "The test established that the train required 2,227 m (1 mile, 2025 feet) to be brought to a complete stop, that the brake shoe temperatures on the cars ranged in excess of 360C. (700F.) while those of the driving wheel tires was in the order of 315C. (600F)."