Historic Journey: Canada's Iconic Steam Trains and their Legacy

Steam train with antique texture

Imagine it if you can: clouds of steam and smoke blow out of the smokestack.  The shrill and piercing sound of the powerful whistle as this metal beast prepares to depart from the station. The wheels rotate slowly, and the inevitable “choo-choo” sound the steam train is known for. The last-minute good-byes, frantic waves, and kisses were blown into the air to and from loved ones watching as it slowly moved away. That’s just part of the allure of the machine seen in the steam train Canada image.

They came in many colors and captured the interest and excitement of the young and old, male and female alike when the first ones appeared in the early to mid-1800s. For the next century and a half, these steam engine trains grew in popularity and relevance.  Moving goods and people all over the Canada and other parts of the world. 

These machines made it possible to move from one corner of the country to the other in a fraction of the time it would have taken using other means of transportation available then. For example, the East and West coast of America was connected through a network of railway lines 3000 miles long that allowed people and goods to go from New York to California in a matter of days. That kind of railroad journey would have taken weeks or months by other means.

This Steam Train Canada image shows the exterior of the train

The movie industry is not immune to the appeal of these trains, as can be seen from popular films centered on activities on these locomotives. They include The General (1926), Shanghai Express (1932), Alfred Hitchcock’s The Lady Vanishes (1938), Strangers on a Train (1951), and, of course, the unforgettable Murder on the Orient Express (1974) by Agatha Christie.

Modern trains make it faster to move around, but once you have seen them in real life, it is almost impossible not to fall in love with these Steam Engine Train Images.

This image of an antique steam engine can be found on display in Haliburton, Ontario. It is a tribute to the trains from Canadian National Railroad that carried logging from the Haliburton region more than a hundred years ago.

CN Rail Steam Train Canada History

This steam engine No. 2616, technically known as class N4A, was produced by the American company Brooks Locomotive Co. for service with the Grand Trunk Railway in 1911. The train had the original number of 767; she represented the last word in motive power and transportation. The train had an up and down history. At first, she was in mainline service on our eastern lines. Then, in 1926 steam engine 2616 operated in Allandale and then in 1929 went into service in Lindsay, Ontario, where she was assigned to the Belleville-Lindsay way freight. For 17 years straight, the old steam train was in operation.

For a majority of the 17 years in operation, she pulled the Belleville-Lindsay way freight. The train was operated by engineer Fred Varcoes of Lindsay. Remarkable, for more than 30 years, steam train 2616 never broke down, or at least there were no records of any mechanical malfunction. It is extraordinary for a steam locomotive to operate for such a long period and not break down. Locomotive train No. 2616 was retired in January 1959.

The reliable stream train Canada now stands as a proud symbol of an era in which steam in Haliburton Canada.