DAR0032

Dominion Atlantic Railway Steam Locomotive No. 32, Blomidon

Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-0

Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in October 1907.

• Builder No. 31847
• 19" x 24" cylinders
• 63" drivers(1)
• Class: 10-32-0

Built in 1907 by Baldwin Locomotive Works in Philadelphia for the DAR, No. 32 was the first 4-6-0 "ten wheeler" on the DAR and was soon joined by her identical sister, the slightly younger No. 33. They were the last locomotives ordered directly by the DAR. After the CPR takeover of the DAR and arrival of larger 4-6-0s, No. 32 was frequently used on the Kentville-Kingsport run pulling the School Trains. No. 32 was scrapped in 1941. (2)

A 1:12th scale model of No. 32 is preserved at the Wolfville Station, now the town library. The model was built in 1908 by Arthur Coldwell, a DAR employee in Halifax. It was donated the library by Gary W. Ness. Depicted in 1920s colour scheme, the model is one of the only surviving colour sources to document the DAR's famous pre-war red and gold paint schemes.

Name Origin: Cape Blomidon, dramatic landmark headland overlooking Minas Basin.

Gallery

It is interesting in the Gallery photos below to watch the progression of the front pilot and pilot trucks. As a new loco, No. 32 sports 8 spoked wheels on the front and rear of the pilot and a long extended pilot but by the end of her career she has solid pilot wheels front and back and a short snub pilot.

No. 32 has been a popular choice for model makers. You can view models of this locomotive of the Model Steam Page.

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  Baldwin builders photo of No. 32.

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  No. 32, Blomidon at Kentville.

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  Halifax-Windsor run circa 1912.

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  Angus Shops, circa May 1924.

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  No. 32 at Truro.

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  No. 32 freshly painted as "Blomidon" in "Land of Evangeline" paint scheme.

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  Locomotive No. 32 at Kentville shunting an observation car, circa 1930s.

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  Locomotives No. 2552, No. 999, No. 544, No. 32 and No. 25 in Kentville, 1937.

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  Locomotive No. 32 at the Kentville Station, circa 1940.

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  Locomotives No. 504 and No. 32 at the Kentville Station, circa 1940.

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  Model of No. 32 made in 1908, today displayed at the Wolfville Library located in the Wolfville Station.

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  Front end of the 1908 model of No. 32 displayed at the Wolfville Library located in the Wolfville Station.

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  Detail of the cylinder and name board of the 1908 model of No. 32 displayed at the Wolfville Library located in the Wolfville Station.

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  No. 32's number plate, Halifax, 2015.

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  Back of No. 32's number plate, 2015.

Other Known Images

• Gary W. Ness, Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway (Volume 1), p. 6, (superb close-up portrait cinder work train in Kentville, circa 1938)
• Photo of locomotive on page 44, "A Dominion Atlantic Sojourn." Locomotive Quarterly, Spring 1998., photo collection of Kenneth S. MacDonald.
• M. Allen Gibson, Train Time, Windsor: Lancelot Press (1973) page 10 (in Kentville, newly painted)
• McQuinn Collection, Canada Science and Technology Museum, N-4003 (Builders photo); N-4002 (in Kentville yard shunting observation car) and N-4005 (at Kentville Station)
• Stephens Collection, Canada Science and Technology Museum, N-8352 (at Kentville station).
• Merrilees Collection, Library and Archives Canada, Vol. 5059

References and Footnotes

• (1) Omer Lavallée lists 60" drivers but the C.P.R., M.P. 14 Motive Power Rosters, 1938 lists 63" drivers.
• (2) Charles McBride DAR Locomotive List
• Jim O'Donnell, Dominion Atlantic Locomotive Roster
• Omer Lavallée, Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives, p. 348, 352.
• Gary W. Ness, Canadian Pacific's Dominion Atlantic Railway (Volume 1), p. 6.