The Locomotive Shop

The Locomotive Shop was the biggest building of the 12 in the complex, it measured 307 feet X 773 feet, taller than the Calgary Tower by over 150 feet it had a total area of 238,864 square feet. And it included the Air Brake, Blacksmith, Boiler, Carpenter, Electrical, Erecting, Machine, Maintenance, Paint, and Sheet Metal Departments. Steam locomotives were rebuilt and overhauled here on tells the last one was out shopped in 1957. By that time, the CPR had completely dieselised their fleet of motive power and Ogden's Locomotive Shop was converted for rebuilding and overhauling diesel locomotives. This was the era. I worked in when I started there in 1965. When you entered the building from the Northwest corner and walked down the left-hand bay you found the blacksmith department which extended halfway down the shop, there they built and rebuilt locomotive springs, they also repaired and manufactured Maintenance of Way tools, such as crowbars, lining bars, spike pullers, and adzes. They also made railway spikes, track bolts, whistle posts, and other railway signs. They have a large steam hammer that they used for heavy castings. Next, we came to the Pipe Shop one of the smaller departments. It had bins to store the air brake pipes that were stripped from locomotives that were being overhauled. They also add threading machines for cutting threads in iron pipe, and benches with vices for soldering copper air brake pipes. The next department was the Sheet Metal Shop where I worked we had benches to work on light sheet metal with bending machines to make locks for projects we were assembling like toolboxes. There was a table with an acetylene and oxygen flame where soldering irons were heated. One bench was dedicated to the repairing of air filters by braising with an oxygen acetylene torch. These filters came from the doors of the locomotive hatches on diesels with had outside walkways select, and from the louvers of the units that were covered in. We had a big area, where we dismantled radiators and soldered them; we then reassembled them and tested them under air pressure in a big tank of water where we looked for leaks. We had a sheet-metal sheer that would cut a sheet of metal up to 16 gauge and 8 feet long. We had bending breaks that could put a right angle bend on sheet-metal 8 feet long. We also had tools for punching holes, and running beads on circular sheet-metal to form elbows, and other sheet-metal fabrications. The next shop was the Boilermakers department where they worked on heavier metal 1/8 of an inch; they had a hydraulic brake that could bend metal. Up to three quarters of an inch thick. They also had large shears to cut thick metal, and a large punch to put holes in the material being worked. These were old machines that probably date back to the opening of the shops in the steam era. There was also a test rack where 2 steam generators could be rebuilt and tested, the steam generators were used on the passenger diesels to heat the train, as the coaches were still equipped with steam heating pipes and appliances. The next department was the maintenance bench here a couple of Carpenters and Pipefitters worked at maintaining the buildings in the shops.besides them was where the Truck Gang worked they dismantled the incoming wheelsets of the locomotives coming in for servicing, they sent the traction motors to the electrical department, and the wheels to the wheel shop. They then reassembled the trucks when all the components have been overhauled.The final department was the Paint Shop here, they painted the locomotive hatches, station name signs, toolboxes and any other projects that needed paint. There was some real craftsman here that could do gold leaf painting, which went back to the days of the elegant railway coaches painted Tuscan Red and gold leaf numbers and names to identify them.More tomorrow on the south side of the shop, and the Center Bay.