SAINT-CONSTANT, QC, July 18, 2012 /CNW Telbec/ - The imposing steam locomotive Dominion of Canada is undergoing final preparations at Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, for a trip to England in mid-August! This unique piece from the Museum's collection will be on loan to the world's most prestigious railway museum, the National Railway Museum (www.nrm.org.uk) in York (England). The National Railway Museum's collection includes over 300 locomotives and rolling stock, 628 coins and medals, 4899 pieces of railway uniform and costume, railway equipment, documents, records, artwork and railway related photographs. Built in 1937 for the London and North Eastern Railway (LNER), Dominion of Canada will be part of a programme of celebratory events in 2013 commemorating the 75th anniversary of the world speed record by a steam locomotive. Exporail is proud to be associated with this unique and historic series of events of international scope that will reunite six Class A4 steam locomotives, including Mallard, which set the famous speed record on July 3, 1938.
The origin of the name
Designed by Nigel Gresley (1876-1941), chief mechanical engineer, Locomotive 4489 was one of the first of a series of steam locomotives with a streamlined profile for high-speed travel that embodied the English ideals of modernism in the 1930s. Five Class A4 locomotives assigned in 1937 to the rapid-service line between London and Edinburgh (the Coronation) were named after British Empire countries. Originally called Woodcock, then renamed Dominion of Canada, Locomotive 4489 was easily recognizable by its Canadian coat of arms and whistle, gifts of the Canadian Pacific Railway. A bell added later (another gift from Canadian Pacific) further distinguished the Dominion of Canada from other British locomotives. During the nationalization of the British railway system following the Second World War, the Dominion of Canada's initial numbering of 4489 was changed to 60010.
Why Exporail?
Created in 1932, the Canadian Railroad Historical Association (CRHA) has been managing Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, since it was founded in 1961. In 1966, Robert Nicholls, President of CRHA, learned that Dominion of Canada was to be retired. He contacted the Board of Directors of British Rail, who donated the locomotive to the Canadian people on the occasion of the 1967 Centennial celebrations.
The future of the Dominion of Canada
Dominion of Canada will be restored and repainted in workshops at Shildon, England, for the 2013 celebrations before being returned to Exporail in 2014. Visitors to Exporail will have a unique opportunity to witness the locomotive's movements for the last time before it leaves on its trans-Atlantic journey.
A museum for everyone!
Open daily from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. (the outdoor site closes at 5 p.m.), Exporail, the Canadian Railway Museum, hosts the largest railway collection in Canada with more than 160 vehicles, 10,000 artefacts, 200 archive groups and more than 1,000 scale models. Visitors can board some of the 44 vehicles on display in the Angus Pavilion's Grand Gallery and descend into an observation pit beneath a diesel-electric locomotive and a steam locomotive—an experience not to be found anywhere else in North America! The public can also travel around the site on a period tramway, the only one still operating in Québec. Exporail offers a remarkable opportunity to learn about the evolution of rail transportation from its beginnings until today!
Information: 450-632-2410 Website: www.exporail.org
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Bruno Cordellier, Communications Officer
Tel.: 450-638-1522, extension 249; Email: [email protected]
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