DAR0032

Dominion Atlantic Railway Steam Locomotive No. 32, Blomidon

No. 32 was the first 4-6-0 "ten wheeler" on the DAR and served the line in a long career from 1907 until 1941.

Wheel Arrangement: 4-6-0 Built by Baldwin Locomotive Works in October 1907.

• Builder No. 31847
• 19" x 24" cylinders
• 60" drivers
• Class: 10-32-0
• Wheel Base — Total engine and tender: 48 ft. 1 in.
• Tractive force: 22,100 lbs.

See article "Dominion Atlantic Ry. Locomotives, The Railway and Marine World 1908 February for detailed specifications.

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. The pair of locomotives became the most powerful on the line and were purchased to give the DAR more muscle to haul heavy freight trains. The two locomotives were the last locomotives ordered directly by the DAR. After later 4-6-0s arrived on the DAR following the CPR takeover, No. 32 was frequently used on the Kentville-Kingsport run pulling the School Trains. No. 32 was scrapped in 1941.

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.

• 

  Baldwin builders photo of No. 32.

• 

  Image in "Dominion Atlantic Ry. Locomotives, The Railway and Marine World 1908 February showing builder's photo of No. 32.

• 

  Article "Dominion Atlantic Ry. Locomotives, The Railway and Marine World 1908 February about No. 32 and No. 33's arrival.

• 

  DAR Locomotive No. 32 beside the P. R. Ritcey building in Kentville, date unknown.

• 

  No. 32, Blomidon at Kentville.

• 

  Halifax-Windsor run circa 1912.

• 

  Another version, identified as the Governor General's Train, 1912.

• 

  DAR locomotive No. 32 with Train No. 98 at the Kentville Station with the Kentville Freight Shed, December 1915.

• 

  Locomotive No. 32 and Postal Car 3702 in wreck at the Oak Island Ballast Pit near Kentville, circa 1920.

• 

  DAR locomotive No. 32 "Blomidon", unknown date, likely 1920s.

• 

  No. 32 location unknown, early tender, likely 1920s.

• 

  No. 32 at Truro, pre-1928.

• 

  Angus Shops, circa May 1924.

• 

  Locomotives No. 504 and No. 32 at the Kentville Station, circa 1936.

• 

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

• 

  Locomotive No. 32 newly painted, 1937.

• 

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

• 

  The Five Locomotive Line-up, Side View, of locomotives No. 2552, No. 999, No. 544, No. 32 and No. 25 posed in the Kentville Railyard, May 14, 1937.

• 

  The Five Locomotive Line-up, Head-On View, of locomotives No. 2552, No. 999, No. 544, No. 32 and No. 25 posed in the Kentville Railyard, May 14, 1937.

• 

  Locomotive No. 32 at the Kentville Station, circa 1938.

• 

  DAR locomotive No. 32 in the Kentville Scrap Line, circa 1941.

• 

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

• 

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

• 

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

• 

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

• 

  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)
• Ingenium Archives, Science and Technology Railway Collection, STR04003, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/STR04003/ Builder's photo.
• McQuinn Collection, Canada Science and Technology Museum, [Ingenium Archives, Science and Technology Railway Collection, STR09773, http://collection.ingeniumcanada.org/en/id/STR09773/]
• N-4002 (in Kentville yard shunting observation car) (Bad link?)
• Merrilees Collection, Library and Archives Canada, Vol. 5059

References and Footnotes

• 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.