The Railway History of Wainwright by Don McGuire

• — Table of Contents —

• GTPR Arrives In Wainwright
• Trains Begin Rolling
• The Early Years
• Canadian National Railways Take Over
• Fire Destroys the GTPR Station
• Wainwright Gets a New Station
• George VI Royal Tour
• Buffalo “King” Goes to New York
• Next Generation Technology
• Last of the Steam Locomotives
• Elizabeth II Royal Tour
• The Changing Face of Rail Service
• End One Era, Begin Another

CN Goes Diesel

Canadian National Railways was one of the last North American railways to purchase diesel locomotives. This made the C.N.R. steam locomotives attractive to photographers eager to document the death of the “Iron Horse,” and accounts for the huge amount of photos taken of C.N.R. steam in the 1950’s.

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Although the Canadian National had flirted with diesel switchers earlier, the first major purchase of locomotives was in 1948 when an order was placed with General Motors Electro Motive Division in London, Ontario for NW-2 switchers and two F3A-B-A freight sets. CNR 9000 - 9001 - 9002, the original F3 set, made a tour of the system in the fall of 1948, stopping briefly in Wainwright. The sole survivor of these early diesel locomotives is #9000, now at the Alberta Railway Museum in Edmonton. The first passenger train pulled by a diesel locomotive arrived in Wainwright on Train #1, the new “Super Continental” on April 26, 1956.

The last steam locomotive to see regular service in Wainwright was #2176 (an N-4 class 2-8-0). This engine served as the yard engine in Wainwright. It was retired and scrapped in 1959. Steam was retired from the entire system by the end of April 1961.