Owners: Canadian National Railways, #3254

Builder: Canadian Locomotive Company, Kingston Works Ontario, Canada, 1917

Locomotive #3254, a 2-8-2 Mikado, rolled out of the Canadian Locomotive Company's Kingston Works for use on the Canadian Government Railways. The CGR had a very brief existence. The Canadian Government, on April 1, 1916, consolidated five government owned railways -- the Intercolonial Railway (1,527 miles), the Transcontinental Railway, the Prince Edward Island Railway (276 miles of narrow gauge) and the National Transcontinental Railway (1,814 miles) -- to become the Canadian Government Railway. In 1918, the CGR was combined with the Canadian Northern Railway, which operated primarily in the Western Prairies. This new railway, the Canadian National, is still in operation today.

The 3254 is an S-1-b Mikado. (On Canadian National, the "S" meant a 2-8-2 wheel arrangement, the "1" meant it was the first design of this wheel arrangement and the "b" meant it was the second production run.) It was built to pull heavy freight trains and was retired in 1958. It was sold to a private owner in Pennsylvania in 1961, and in 1982 it was sold to the Gettysburg Railroad. In the summer of 1987, the Steamtown Foundation traded the CPR #1278 (a G-5 Pacific) plus cash to Gettysburg Railroad for the CN #3254.

CN #3254 is now in service and is used both long and short train rides.


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