Number Plates

Dominion Atlantic Railway locomotives were distinguished by beautifully cast number plates which included a crown, indicating Royal Consent surrounded by a heraldic belt with the railway's name. Early versions used simple block numbers while later versions had numbers with curving serifs. Many of the later plates were made by Reginald R. Redden Snr. who worked in the DAR's Moulding Department from 1912 until his retirement as Chief Mould Maker on May 31, 1938. He created the DAR's name plates which appeared in the 1930s.^[1] The number plates appear to have been painted both red and black at different times. Number plates 1 to about 22 were a block lettering style. Numbers 23 and upwards used a curvier typeface. Locomotive No. 43 had the last known DAR number plate. After that point, locomotives transferred from the CPR at the end of the steam era retained the standard CPR style rectangular number plates.

A handful of DAR number plates have been preserved. Number plates for No. 37 and No. 43 are preserved at the Exporail Museum in Delson, Quebec, while DAR No. 39 is preserved at the National Railway Museum in York, England. Number plates for No. 32 and No. 33 are preserved in a private collections while the plate for No. 25 was displayed in the 1967 Confederation Train and later displayed at CN's Nova Scotian Hotel in Halifax, but its whereabouts today is unknown.^[2]

Details

A close examination of the surviving number plate to No. 32 Blomidon^[3] reveals the following information:

• Width: 17 & 1/16 inches
• Height: 25 inches
• Letters are 5 inches high
• Thickness: 3/8 inch
• Weight: 32 lbs

The plate is cast, but numbers appear to be brazed on, re-enforced by pins which attach through holes in the casting. A wide lug in the centre attached to the smoke box door of the locomotive through a threaded steel bolt. Remnants of dark red paint remain by the numbers and crown, a clue to the DAR's paint scheme.

References