CP 1293 - Ex Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 No. 1293

Photo by John B. Corns

Although they were among the last steam locomotives purchased by the Canadian Pacific, the class G-5 bore more than a passing resemblance to other CP 4-6-2's built as early as 1905. Combining the reliability of an old and proven design with the efficiency of latter day steam technology, the G-5's were instantly successful, and found favor over virtually all of the CP system.

Six of the G-5's are still around today.

• No. 1201 is preserved at the National Museum of Canada, in Ottawa.
• No. 1246 is on display at the Thomaston shops of the Railway Museum of New England.
• No.'s 1238 & 1286 are privately owned by Jack Showalter and are stored in Staunton, VA.
• No.'s 1278 & 1293 are at the Ohio Central's Morgan Run Shops
• 1278 is stored pending future restoration (1278's page)

1293 was run at Steamtown in Bellows Falls, VT in the late 1970's having been restored for Vermont's Bicentennial. She ran from Riverside to Rutland and Riverside to Chester, VT for Steamtown operations and last saw service in 1980. At the end of 1979, she pulled a five car train painted in matching black and silver for a month of movie work on the CNR near Montreal filming "Train to Terror" for Astro Films.

This 4-6-2 was moved to Scranton, PA with the rest of the Steamtown collection in September 1984 where she sat dormant until 1996, when the Ohio Central purchased her. She received a 13-month restoration and was returned to service in the fall of 1997.

She debuted at Sugarcreek, OH, on Thursday, September 18, 1997 and after six Sugarcreek to Baltic roundtrip excursions, she pulled mainline varnish for "SteamFest '97". She has had zero over-the-road failures since.