CNR 6167's 1960 Reprieve

As of 1959, the Mimico roundhouse had 13 Northerns on the property, 11 of which were stored serviceable (6112, 6126, 6137, 6167, 6178, 6182, 6201, 6236, 6244, 6245, 6251), and two that had been Removed From Service (6184 and 6204). After examining the condition of these locomotives as reported on the Form 507, I discovered that the best three were 6167, 6178, and 6245. These three engines had the most tube time remaining, with 6245 having the latest retube date (January 16, 1963), followed by 6178 (December 6, 1962) and finally 6167 (October 1, 1962). Of the three, 6167 had put on the least amount of mileage since being retubed (13,327 Miles), while 6245 had the most (20,230 Miles), and 6178 ranked second again (17,710 miles). I had wondered why 6178 was never mentioned in the story as it sounds like it would have been a suitable candidate for excursion service, but discovered that the locomotive was scrapped on April 10, 1960. Furthermore, it seems that ALL of the Northerns Stored Serviceable at Mimico had been scrapped between March and April 1960, with the exception of 6167 and 6245, which makes their survival even more curious.

If the Upper Canada Railway Society's intervention was the reason for keeping both engines, it would suggest that CN was approached before the 'cull' in March and April 1960. If that was the case, one would think that the other engines present (especially 6178) would have been mentioned in the tale and one would also think that after the UCRS picked 6167, 6245 would have been scrapped along with all the other Northerns on the property during the 'cull'. With 6167 chosen for excursion duties, there would have been no need for 6245 to remain on the property and if she was saved as a parts engine, one would think it would have made more sense to retain 6167's class mate 6178 instead. I too thought that 6245 would have been scrapped in March and April 1960 but was surprised to discover that 6245 was not scrapped until November 1961. All of this makes me wonder if the CNR had retained 6167 and 6245 for a reason, and that UCRS approached CN after the decision was made to retain the two engines, and that this was done after all the other Serviceable Northerns at Mimico had been scrapped.

One possible explanation is presented in Ian Wilson's book Steam Through London, where he mentions that "a master plan for dieselization on the central region was drawn up, which would see all terminals, save Mimico do away with steam locomotives. Heavy steam power would be concentrated at and if necessary, mothballed at Mimico. Any surge in traffic on the system could thereby be accommodated by displacing diesel units from Southern Ontario, and pressing steam into service at Mimico. It was anticipated that steam would survive until the late 1960s or 1970s" (Wilson 2003, 7). Further examination of the November 1959 Form 507 for the Southern Ontario District reveals that there were a total of 97 Northerns assigned to the S.O.D. and of those, 53 Northerns (including virtually the entire U-2-h class) were assigned to the Mimico Roundhouse although many were stored at Stratford and other terminals. Of course dieselization happened much faster then had been predicted, making this plan unnecessary, however, I wonder if management decided to keep a Northern or two around just in case.

In the end, the engine with the lowest mileage was chosen for excursion duty. I have been told that another important element in this decision was the fact that the man picking the engine did not care for the appearance of the U-2-h class, and opted for a more "CN" looking engine - 6167. Of course, had 6245 been chosen, it could have potentially operated until January 1965, had it received the same two one-year extensions on tube time that 6167 later received, which inturn allowed her to operate until September 1964.

To sum all this up, I suspect that 6167 and 6245 were retained as part of a Reserve Steam Fleet or similar concept, and that UCRS approached CN for a locomotive after the decision to retain the two engines as emergency power was made, and that this Reserve Steam Fleet idea spared 6167 from being scrapped in March and April of 1960, allowing the locomotive to remain at Mimico long enough for UCRS to ask CN for an excursion engine, thus giving the locomotive two reprieves from the scrapper in the space of a few months.

CNR 6167 Stored Serviceable inside the Mimico Roundhouse on June 27, 1959.
Photo Courtesy Robert Krone

CNR 6178 Stored Serviceable outside the Mimico Roundhouse on June 27, 1959.
Photo Courtesy Robert Krone

Clegg, Anthony, and Ray Corley. (1969). "Canadian National Steam Power". Trains & Trolleys. Montreal, Canada.

Wilson, Ian. (2003). "Steam Through London; A CNR Division Point In The 1950s." Canadian Branchline Miniatures. Orillia, Ontario.