A very special occasion last weekend has given us the perfect opportunity to revive this blog’s field trip series (in a limited capacity for now!). For our first new installment in over a decade, we’re taking you to our friends and fellow railway history aficionados at the Waterloo Central Railway. In 2022, both they and the South Simcoe Railway held their last steam-powered excursions and brought their respective steam locomotives in for maintenance. At the time, these were the only two active standard-gauge steam locomotives operating in Ontario. Thanks to Waterloo Central’s restoration efforts, the streak was broken and Ontario saw its first steam-powered heritage rail excursion in nearly four years.

The Waterloo Central Railway is an organization that we’ve covered in past field trip installments. The subject of today’s post is Waterloo Central no. 9, an 0-6-0 switcher that was brought to the Waterloo area in 2007 when Waterloo Central was formed. Waterloo Central no. 9 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in February 1923 for the Essex Terminal Railway in Windsor, Ontario. Its 0-6-0 wheel arrangement was common for steam-powered switchers, which were used in yards and terminals in a similar capacity to our diesel locomotive no. 7020. No. 9 served in this role with the Essex Terminal Railway until 1956.

The reactivation of no. 9 coincided with the first annual Waterloo Railway Exposition, hosted jointly by the Waterloo Region Model Railway Club and the Waterloo Central Railway. In addition to riding behind no. 9 and a model railway open house, this event featured numerous vendors and clinics among other things. The first excursion of the day departed the Waterloo Central shops in St. Jacobs and arrived at the Farmer’s Market station at 11:00 a.m., reversing the whole way up to about Scotch Line Road where a runpast was done for passengers, then pulling forward the rest of the way back to the Farmer’s Market station for 1:00 p.m. This was done a second time between 1:30 p.m. and 3:30 p.m., an additional excursion that was added after the first one sold out quickly. The events of the day drew hardcore railfans, curious locals and everyone in between in large numbers, not including those already aboard the train.

Though unrelated to last weekend’s events, this might be a good place to highlight another way Waterloo Central is in the process of bringing steam power back to this province. Through a successful fundraising campaign, they acquired steam locomotive no. 1238 from Manitoba’s Prairie Dog Central Railway in 2023. No. 1238 is a 4-6-2 Pacific-type steam locomotive built by the Montreal Locomotive Works and delivered to Canadian Pacific in 1946. It was preserved in the United States and spent the better part of the last six decades south of the border, finally returning to Canada in 2015 and put in storage. Waterloo Central intends to restore 1238 to operating condition. Once that happens it will be by far the largest operating steam locomotive in Ontario, and among the largest presently running in Canada. 1238 was part of a series of light 4-6-2 Pacifics designed for branch line passenger service, and one could argue that its future on Waterloo Central would somewhat resemble its time in revenue service. Its restoration will undoubtedly be a landmark moment in Canadian railway preservation. You can learn more about 1238 and how to support its restoration on this webpage: https://waterloocentralrailway.com/equipment/cpr1238/

Written by Adam Peltenburg; photos by author unless otherwise specified