Dominion Atlantic Railway Digital Preservation Initiative - Wiki
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Truro Roundhouse
Truro Roundhouse
The Canadian National Railway had a large 30 stall roundhouse with attached boiler house, machine shop, car shop and coal tower in Truro. DAR locomotives on the Truro Subdivision used the roundhouse to fuel and turn. Prince Street offered access to good views of the turntable leads allowing rail fans to snap many photos of visiting DAR locomotives. The tall structure of the Truro water tower with its tapered strut-work supports is another landmark of Truro locations,
The following information was furnished by Andrew Blackburn:
There were at least 2 stalls set aside in the CNR roundhouse for the DAR locos; one passenger train engine and one the freight engine. Toward the end of steam there may have been only one loco in Truro over night as the mixed only ran to Windsor.
In the picture "No. 44 at Truro Roundhouse in Truro in April 1949" the engine is still facing east and would be turned the next morning after the night's stay in the roundhouse. Coal and water also would be added.
As reported in the Truro Daily News on April 28, 1959, the last steam engine regular service to Truro was Pacific No. 2501 on April 28, 1959. The diesel returned that evening ending the steam era on the Midland line. The same newspaper stated in another article that the DAR will spend $2,000,000 converting the line over to diesel by buying 10 loco's.
The Truro roundhouse was demolished in stages. Most of the stalls were demolished after the end of the team era in the early 1960s but several stalls were retained and expanded to serve as a car shop.[1] They were finally closed and demolished in the first few months in 1990. The machine shop section of the roundhouse lasted as a storage shed until 2017, when it was demolished.[2]
Gallery
Truro with the Truro Roundhouse in foreground, and the DAR's Truro Subdivision tracks in the far left, August 28, 1931.
No. 1018 at Truro on December 28, 1941.
No. 2552 at the Truro Roundhouse on June 22, 1944.
No. 44 at Truro Roundhouse in Truro in April 1949.
No. 547 at the Truro Roundhouse, June 4, 1939.
DAR Flanger 905 at the Truro Roundhouse, circa 1950.
Boiler house and machine shop, the remnant of the Truro Roundhouse, Mar. 17, 2014.
References and Footnotes
- ↑ https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10209725145523782&set=gm.1108106962678393&type=3&theater&ifg=1 Andrew Blackburn, Facebook Post, Sept. 23, 2018
- ↑ [https://www.facebook.com/groups/AtlanticRails/permalink/1108117399344016/ Andrew Blackburn, Facebook Post, Sept. 23, 2018
External Links
A detail image of the 1931 air view from the Nova Scotia Archives McCully collection - helpful for identifying locations of Truro Roundhouse shots of DAR locomotives.
