Canadian National 7470
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
| |||||||||||||||||||||||||
|
Canadian National 7470 is a preserved CN O-18-a 0-6-0 steam locomotive at Conway Scenic Railroad in North Conway, New Hampshire.
History
The locomotive was built by the Grand Trunk Railway at Pointe-Saint-Charles in 1921. The Grand Trunk classified the switcher as F9 Class and numbered it 1795. When the Canadian National Railway absorbed the Grand Trunk in 1923, they reclassified it as an O-18-a and renumbered it as 7470.
After retirement, 7470 was spared scrapping by being sold to Canada Dominion Sugar, where it spent some additional years as a switcher. In 1964, it was purchased by the Ontario government for a transportation museum that never came to fruition, and in 1968 it was sold to Dwight Smith.[1]
Dwight Smith was working on founding the Conway Scenic Railroad, which opened in 1974. Locomotive 7470 was renumbered as Conway Scenic 47 and was the new railroad's only locomotive in its earliest years. The old number 7470 and Canadian National paint scheme were restored in 1988 according to Railfan & Railroad magazine.
Today, 7470 currently pulls the Conway Valley Train in the September and October seasons only, were it makes special event runs such as Railfan's Weekend in mid September and fall events in October. It use too run during summer months as well, but hasn't done much as of 2007. 7470 has also pulled the Notch Train on rare occasions for special events. Once in 2007 and again in 2011. It also makes another special event runs in the winter seasons, such as Steam in the Snow events in January were it is hosted by the Mass Bay Railroad Enthusiasts.
7470 has also made an appearance in the 1972 film, A Separate Peace. Dressed as Boston & Maine 47.
In July 2014, It was announced that 7470 will be coming out of service due to a major federally mandated inspection. 7470 ran its last train on January 3, 2015 before its federally mandated inspection and it's overhaul work the following day. it will be out of service from 2015 to the 2016 seasons. It is expected that 7470 will be returned to service again around early or late 2017 or 2018.
See also
References
- ↑ "Old Time Trains". Retrieved 2014-09-17.
Further reading
Hallett, Paul. "Conway Scenic Railroad -- Steam Engine #7470". Retrieved 2014-09-17.