Samson - When Something Wears Like Iron

You know, it is simply refreshing when one hears of a product that is so well designed and so well built (and cared for) that it just keeps working and working. When something wears like iron.

In the early 1980s, near the end of a dark and rainy vacation afternoon and with miles yet to travel, we were trying to find the pioneer Nova Scotia steam locomotive Samson. This spontaneous objective was based on the description suddenly noticed in a tour booklet. We may or may not have found the Centennial Project building which had housed it, but we were either late in the day or late in the season and missed it.

... I was too narrow and unevolved in my interests back then to really appreciate what we had missed. As I have acquired more general knowledge about history, technology, 'the human experience' and other fields ... I have found that the breadth and depth of interesting railway subjects has expanded far beyond that which I will ever have the time to enjoy. One can get beyond chasing one's personal nostalgic memories ... but perhaps at the risk of losing the interest of readers. Anyway ...

Since 1990, the engine has been preserved and interpreted to the public as a valuable artifact of the Nova Scotia Museum of Industry in Stellarton. 

As a city or town near you has demonstrated, Canadian steam locomotives retired circa 1960 were often acquired by civic groups and displayed outdoors without much understanding of why that was very a bad idea. Once the acquiring generation left the scene, subsequent generations began to wonder why a thoroughly vandalized, rusting, asbestos-dispensing hulk was an attractive feature for a public park.

The Samson may have had some close calls in the decades after its retirement. 

As an insight into how artifact conservation has changed over the years, a fascinating image at the Museum's website shows that the Samson was fitted with Baltimore & Ohio tires during the time it spent away from Nova Scotia. 

To provide a proper background for this engine, here is the Samson story from the reliable Railways of Canada (1972) by the Mikas.

from: Railways of Canada; Nick and Helma Mika; 1972; Mika Publishing.

from: Railways of Canada; Nick and Helma Mika; 1972; Mika Publishing.

*  *  *

This booklet piqued my interest in the Samson history. Among the locomotives referred to are a number of 'so-called' locomotives. While these may have been presented to the public as if they were museum pieces, many are inaccurate reproductions which do not contain any parts dating to the time of their namesake. In some cases, for the ease of construction and operation, the method of transmitting energy to the wheels is entirely inaccurate.

Just as good preservation practices no longer involve placing a vehicle outside, good 1950s-era museology was careful in properly identifying an artifact. A railroad or an exhibition might want to present a grand pageant of the evolution of railroading by designing and building various things in their shops ... but no one should later be led to believe that the actor-locomotives of the pageant were accurate representations of what once was.

The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America; Smith Hempstone Oliver 1956; Smithsonian Institution.

Comfort Cab.

The First Quarter-Century of Steam Locomotives in North America; Smith Hempstone Oliver 1956; Smithsonian Institution.

*  *  *

From a favourite reference, here is a little more data
on the corporate history of the railways in the area.

from: A Statutory History of Railways in Canada 1836-1986; Dorman, Stoltz; 1987; Canadian Institute of Guided Ground Transport.

from: A Statutory History of Railways in Canada 1836-1986; Dorman, Stoltz; 1987; Canadian Institute of Guided Ground Transport.

Below are key points on the railway lines in the area as they existed in 1915.
This data is not necessarily along the roadbed of the original line used by the Samson.

from: Altitudes in Canada; James White; 1915; Commission of Conservation, Canada.

The map below shows the local lines within the railway ecosystem of the 1940s.
A circular inset gives more detail of the specific area.

from: Steam and Electric Railways in Canada 1836-1937; Robert Dorman; 1948; Department of Transport.

*  *  *

Here Are a Few Front Stokers 
of William Hedley and Timothy Hackworth

A Locomotive Family Album

There are some excellent websites giving much more precise detail on the development of the series of locomotives designed and/or built by Timothy Hackworth (1786-1850). A good start is his Wikipedia page. 

Hackworth's father had already worked at the colliery at Wylam - just 10 or so miles up the river from Newcastle upon Tyne in a region since known for its collieries and railway pioneering. This is in north-eastern England near the Scottish border.

Timothy Hackworth followed in his father's footsteps in the cutting edge technology of boilers and railway mechanical engineering. William Hedley (1779-1843), the colliery's managing engineer was credited with the first engine pictured below. However, young Hackworth may have been more instrumental in developing and executing the ideas which made this successful engine possible. 

For my convenience 'by Hackworth' below indicates that he at least designed the engine or that the engine is patterned on his designs.

Although its design seems odd when compared to a mid-century 4-4-0, the Samson wasn't the only engine stoked from the front and that is what I am attempting to illustrate with my motley collection of images below. I have used the data supplied in the books from which the images came. Not all photos represent the locomotives in revenue service shortly after their creation - some are preserved and/or altered.

A final key point is that the Samson was ideal in its designed role ... in coal drag service operating at human jogging speed. When this design was operated at higher speeds, the thrust of the vertical rods produced excessive vibration and caused track damage.

from: The Train; Jonathan Glancey; 2004; Carlton.

This is the Puffing Billy, produced by William Hedley in 1813 at the Wylam Colliery.
Here, in 1862, it is still in service with repairs and modifications made over the years.
It is preserved at the Science Museum in London.

from: Railways, The Pioneer Years; Fletcher and Taylor; 1990; Studio Editions.

The Royal George, by Timothy Hackworth in 1827 for the Stockton and Darlington.

from: Railways, The Pioneer Years; Fletcher and Taylor; 1990; Studio Editions.

The Wilberforce by Timothy Hackworth in 1838 for the Stockton and Darlington Railway.
This is the same vintage as the Samson.
That may be a 'coal-powered headlight' hanging on the tailend of the engine.

from: Railways; C Hamilton Ellis; 1974; Peebles.

The Derwent by Hackworth in 1845.
Today it is preserved at Darlington.
Notice (among many other improvements) that the piston rods are no longer vertical.


*  *  *

from: Early Railways; JB Snell; 1964; Weidenfeld and Nicolson.

A dramatic low-light image portraying a Hedley Puffing Billy type working with a train.

Late 1940s American Railroad Advertising

Here is a quick study of ads found in Trains magazine in the late 1940s.

(Lima! ... are you still here?!)

Budd Rail Diesel Car - Part 3

This last part of the current Budd RDC series
surveys a set of Dayliners from La Tour Joyeuse!

We also look at some of the CNR's Budd activities,
and early schedules for RDC's on both railways.

A table summarizes Budd RDC ownership
by the two major Canadian railways -
to provide an idea of the importance of this technology.

Undated Budd RDC pamphlet.

The Concise Encyclopedia of World Railway Locomotives; ed: P Ransome-Wallis; 1959; Hawthorne Books. 

An idealized tableau of a Budd car in service.

On one of my first 'intercity' rail trips: Montreal West to Lachute,
I was similarly hoisted aboard by my father,
as he shouted to my mother: 'Can you manage?' over the noise of the bus motors.

... In lieu of any CPR help with the valise, she was lugging it.

... The balance of the article was not saved.
A couple of the photos are enlarged/enhanced below.

Once again, these are all items archived by my father
back when steam locomotives were still to be found in service.

An undated newspaper ad.
The non-stop driving time in 2017 is calculated at around 2 hours,
and this includes long stretches of Autoroute driving (source: Google).

from: Canadian National Magazine/Keeping Track.

*  *  *

CPR-related Ephemera

There is no caption describing this cover image, but the identical image appears in the 1955 Canada Handbook with this caption:

"A self-propelled diesel powered day-liner carries passengers, express and mail from Mattawa, Ont., 100 miles north to Angliers, Que. Passenger day-liners are in service between other centres."

This shows both sides of a Dayliner flyer picked up by my father.

In 2017, the non-stop north shore driving time,
Montreal to Quebec City via the Autoroute Felix Leclerc
is calculated at about 3 hours.

*  *  *

Here is another flyer which my father preserved.

In 2017, the non-stop driving distance from Windsor Station to Mont Laurier
is calculated at about 3 hours.

In 2017, Felix Leclerc could drive to Sainte Adèle in style on an Autoroute!
However, were he driving - instead of taking Le train du Nord ...
his hands wouldn't be free to strum his guitar.

*  *  *

How important were Budd Rail Diesel Cars to Canadian railways?

Here are the RDC's retained by the railways and subsequently owned by VIA as recorded in the 1982 Trackside Guide. I have cobbled together the listings into a single image which may be conveniently printed, folded up and kept handy in your wallet or purse. Win every argument with your friends and family about Budd cars!

A Trackside Guide to Canadian Railway Motive Power; Earl Roberts; 1982; Bytown Railway Society. 

The complete listing of CPR RDC's is included below ...

even though entire model 'classes' had been sold to VIA.

I have omitted the British Columbia Railway listing: 8 cars, 6 remaining in 1982.

A Trackside Guide to Canadian Railway Motive Power; Earl Roberts; 1982; Bytown Railway Society. 

*  *  *

At Lac Saguay, circa 1958

From La Tour Joyeuse my father photographed a three-car Dayliner consist just south of Lac Saguay station as it continued its run to Montreal. The parallel road was once the 'highway' to Mont Laurier. 

Seen from the new paved highway to Mont Laurier is La Tour Joyeuse and its roadside advertising. Beyond the hotel are the CPR tracks. Behind the camera is the vista of the lake, hills and mountain which the tower was designed to view.

My father's notes indicate that this was "Adhémar Raynault's hotel near the CPR tracks and the old unpaved road to Mont Laurier". Raynault (1891-1984) had been Mayor of Montreal during three periods in the 1930s and 1940s. He filled in as mayor during the wartime internment of Camillien Houde, CBE OStJ.

Budd Rail Diesel Car - Part 2

This post features the second half of the Budd Rail Diesel Car operating manual. Also included is a 1953 article by Omer Lavallee, from the CPR Spanner about the RDC project and the history of some of the CPR's self-propelled cars. 

*  *  *

Thank you to Jim Christie for sending me the following ad from Railway Age circa 1953. He had it professionally scanned and restored so that it looks as fresh as the day it was printed. From it, you can get an idea of the features Budd had been working on and how they were intended to meet the needs of railroads trying to provide passenger service in a more cost-effective manner. 

The ad is clean, bold and modern.

*  *  *

... and that was the last clean, crisp image you'll see in this posting!

The rest of this post will come from that well-travelled manual
and from the CPR Spanner of over 60 years ago.

While my father took relatively few photos of RDCs
- perhaps because they resembled buses more than traditional railway equipment -
his association with the CPR was recent enough that he preserved
a good deal of the early public relations material on the CPR Dayliners.
After all, they were a well-designed, efficient 'system'.

I collected the RDC manual and some other materials for future posts at railway shows over the years.

After the initial presentation of manual pages with photographs,
I have enlarged the images and tried to get you as much detail as can be resolved.

It seems that the equipment is designed so the engineers can solve most
away-from-terminal, backwoods-end-of-subdivision problems themselves.

*   *   *

Here are articles my father saved from the CPR Spanner.
The first is undated.

... 'Montreal and Mont Laurier ... highly popular with passengers' ...

Compared to what?

Once again, this old chestnut ...
Not many CPR subdivisions had had songs written about their passenger service, circa 1950 ...


Felix Leclerc, Le train du nord



*  *  *

The cover illustration for the November 1953 edition appears at the end of this post.




The print is easiest to read without much modification.
The photos are restored to resolve as much detail as possible and reprinted below each page.

A couple of months later,
Trains magazine used a night shot
of the opposite end of the same Dayliner.