Prairie Dog Central's 8454

I was browsing through old photo albums when I came across some photos I took of the Prairie Dog Central railway back on August 18, 2001.

I was surprised to see engine 8454 front and center. 8454 is an MLW S-3, built in 1952 for CN. I saw it in Moose Jaw last summer at the Parrish and Heimbecker elevator.



I remember that my father-in-law, my son and I all took the train from Inkster Junction to Warren and back. It was fun. Here's the engine running around the train at Warren.

Parrish and Heimbecker

I was in Moose Jaw, Saskatchewan recently and I couldn't help but notice Parrish & Heimbecker's massive elevator in downtown Moose Jaw. I like grain elevators, but this massive concrete structure is not exactly a thing of beauty!

P&H is celebrating its 101st year of operation as a private, family-owned business. They have about 40 locations featuring elevators, sidings, and terminals.

What really caught my eye was P&H's switcher, #8454. This is a loco with a story! It was built by MLW as an S-3 as CN 8454 in January 1952. It was eventually sold to Manitoba Paper in April 1963, then it went to Pine Falls Paper, then to Railside Locomotive Services. RLS leased it to the Prairie Dog Central when the steam engine died. In August 2005 it went to P&H.

Pretty, isn't it? There are lots of photos of this unit on the web.