CN LINES V12N3 - Canadian National Railways Historical Association

CNR Mechanical Department diagram sheets for U-4-a (above) and GTW U-4-b (below)
streamlined Northerns. Slight specification differences are evident.—Al Lill Collection
engine weight of 379,800 pounds. Boiler
pressure was 275 PSI, cylinders measured
24x30 inches, and 52,457 pounds of
tractive force (a 52% haulage rating) was
exerted. Vanderbilt tenders held 11,700
Imperial gallons of water and 20 tons of
coal, and rode on six-wheel trucks.
The well-insulated vestibule-type cabs
were equipped with a spinning-disk front
window on the engineer’s side. The centrifugal
force of the rotating glass threw off
rain and snow to maintain clear vision. A
curved gusset filled the angle between front
cab wall and running board, and was one
of the measures specified by Dr. Green to
improve air flow. The skyline casing roof
was carried back onto the cab roof.
The green paint of the tender and cab
continued forward along the wide running
board skirting, edged in gold, before tapering
to a shallow “V” on the lower nose (this
“V” treatment would become a staple of
pre-1960 CNR diesel liveries). The nose
itself was black, as was the portion of the
skyline casing and jacket corresponding to
the smokebox. The balance of the boiler
jacket was planished steel, and the running
gear was black. Identification was provided
by a pair of illuminated numberboards partially
recessed into the upper nose, and the
CNR’s trademark red-filled brass number
plate below the headlight (curved to match
the nose contour). Cast brass numerals were
applied over a red patch on the running
board skirts, and a CANADIAN NATIONAL
“tilted wafer” monogram (GRAND TRUNK
WESTERN on the U-4-b’s) initially appeared
on the flat sides of the tender coal bunker.
Esthetic Orphans
As striking as the U-4s were, the CNR
system’s only truly streamlined steam locomotives
were not duplicated. Despite their
publicity value—which was considerable,
particularly at their debut in the midst of
the Depression, and with No. 6400’s 1939
Royal Train and World’s Fair exposure—
the CNR simply was not in a position to
acquire additional passenger power in the
late 1930s. Viewed solely as an advertising
expense—with benefits accruing to the
CNR, the NRC, and the Canadian government—the
cost of shrouding the U-4
class appears to have been justified. The
135 unstreamlined 4-8-2s and 4-8-4s that
followed the U-4s onto CNR system rails
between 1940 and 1944, however, tell the
rest of the story. The Second World War
was raging and, with steel in demand elsewhere,
streamlined shrouding was a frill to
be eliminated without debate.
Contemporaries of the U-4-a’s, the five
S-4-b Mikados (Nos. 3801-3805) built by
CLC in the spring of 1936 were given
rudimentary skyline casings—not to
improve air flow, but rather to conceal an
external drypipe arrangement that replaced
the usual steam dome in an effort to avoid
foam and sludge from poor Prairie water.
Bullet noses, flanged stacks, and greenstriped
running-board skirts—but no
other attempts at streamlined styling—
placed CNR Class U-1-f 4-8-2s Nos.
6060-6079 firmly in the “bandwagon”
league of semi-streamlined steam locomotives
(with the likes of the NC&StL’s
4-8-4 “Dixies”), as did the running-board
skirts applied as an afterthought to CNR
K-5-a Hudsons 5700-5704 of 1930. The
U-1-f’s were built by MLW in late 1944,
with the war’s end in sight, and proved to
be the final new steam locomotives
acquired by Canadian National. Prior to
retirement from active service (as late as
April 1960 for some), the U-1-f’s lost
their only real claim to fame—their conical
“bullet” noses were removed at Winnipeg
in favor of a more conventional
smokebox door arrangement.
Thanks in large measure to its use in all
manner of CNR advertising—out of all
proportion to their actual number—the
distinctive U-4 silhouette remained an icon
of modernity even after the war. When Pt.
St. Charles’ shop forces built a 1:5 scale
locomotive model for a Christmas 1945
department store promotion, they delivered
a likeness of U-4-a No. 6400.
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