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Summerland locomotive featured in TV documentary

Story to recount incident at Slocan Lake in 1946
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The Kettle Valley Steam Railway’s locomotive will be featured in an upcoming television documentary. (Photo by Tom Burley)

The Kettle Valley Steam Railway’s locomotive will be featured in a new documentary.

The sounds of the locomotive could be heard in Summerland on Saturday, Oct. 31 during the filming of the documentary.

Doug Campbell, a brakeman and board member with the steam railway and a history buff, said the documentary is about engine CPR 3512, a 2-8-0 that was lost off the barge on Slocan Lake on New Year’s Eve, 1946.

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The engine, caboose and snowplow are believed to be in relatively good condition at the bottom of Slocan Lake, he said.

The railway’s engine, 3716, was built in 1912. It is a former Canadian Pacific 2-8-0 steam locomotive (N-2-b class) and is similar to the locomotive in the documentary.

Summerland’s locomotive is larger in boiler size and the entire locomotive weighs 17,000 kilograms more than the one from the 1946 incident. The Summerland locomotive was also built five years later, is oil-fired instead of coal-fired and has a larger tender, at

“It’s just that 3716 is a little larger in boiler size, and the locomotive overall weight is 38,000 lbs. heavier, built five years later, oil-fired vs. coal-fired, and has a larger tender with a capacity of 45,000 litres instead of 22,700 litres.

“The Kettle Valley Steam Railway is the only place in Canada with an operating CPR 2-8-0 configuration,” Campbell said. “Our access to track, steam locomotive expertise, ability to functionally operate without traffic constraints, and to suit film industry needs, were the major factors in the KVSR being selected to be part of this documentary.”

HogHead Media is producing a pilot television documentary series showcasing the history of trains in B.C., the economic and the social impacts of the railway systems and the people who are involved in it, said Producer Colten Wilke.

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John Arendt

About the Author: John Arendt

John Arendt has worked as a journalist for more than 30 years. He has a Bachelor of Applied Arts in Journalism degree from Ryerson Polytechnical Institute.
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