Railway on track to restore locomotive RECORD STAFF March 20, 2009 Jeff Outhit RECORD STAFF KITCHENER Two large cranes carefully hoisted 86 tonnes of pink locomotive into the air and onto the tracks yesterday. The 1956 diesel engine was then towed to a siding in St. Jacobs, for restoration. For four decades, the locomotive hauled rail cars around a New York chemical factory. It was shipped to Kitchener this week, strapped on top of a rail car. After restoration, it's expected to start hauling tourists next year between Waterloo and Elmira, on the Waterloo Central Railway. "I'm really happy," said Carson Wiebe of the Southern Ontario Locomotive Restoration Society, a charity that restores old trains. It took about an hour to set the old locomotive onto the tracks, while train buffs watched. The engine won't stay pink. Plans are to repaint it green, yellow and black, to match original Canadian National colours. "I have been unable to find anybody that knows why it got painted pink," Wiebe said. The locomotive has low mileage but is damaged. The engine froze and cracked when it was left outside in winter without being drained. Praxair, a company with operations here and in New York, donated the diesel to railway buffs. The engine is one of only 47 built and there may only be three of its kind still around. Once restored, it will back up a 64-tonne diesel that has less pulling power. jouthit@therecord.com
