Interview With Cal Sexsmith of the SHRA on Locomotive #5093
All Aboard! It’s hard to miss Locomotive #5093 as you make your way to Casino Regina. On display at its permanent home of the former Union Station, this locomotive acts as a reminder to a lively period of screeching metal against tracks and the bustling of passengers racing to catch the train. Beginning construction in 1911, Regina’s Union Station saw countless trains not unlike like locomotive #5093 flows in and out of the station. This transportation hotspot came to be known as the main passageway to and from Regina. Envision yourself waiting to greet a loved one on the platform or preparing to board the train in search of a new adventure. Locomotive #5093 invites guests of Casino Regina to take a step back in time and relish in this exciting and spirited era.
In this discussion we pick the brain of Cal Sexsmith where he shares some of the nuances behind railway travel. Cal Sexsmith is Chair of the Saskatchewan Railroad Historical Association (SHRA) as well as one of the owners and operators of the Saskatchewan Railway Museum. He has also served on the Board of Directors since 2012. If you would like to learn more about the work of Cal and the SRHA you can visit their website at: saskrailmuseum.org
Locomotive #5093 located outside Casino Regina, 2024.
I know that the railroad was incredibly influential in establishing Regina as a city. What are some of the ways in which this came about?
I think the first thing is, no railway no Regina! As they were building the railway across the country, every 125 miles they'd establish a division point where they would have all their office workers, locomotive servicing facilities and big freight yards. The division points in what became Saskatchewan were Broadview, Moosejaw, and Swift Current. So, Regina was not established as a railway town on the Canadian Pacific Railway. But they were looking for a location to move the territorial government to which at that point in time was in Battleford. I had heard that Qu'Appelle, not Fort Qu'Appelle but the town of Qu'Appelle up on top of the valley on the Trans-Canada Highway was the original thought, but for some reason it was moved to what became Regina. At that time, I believe the site was called Pile o’ Bones. The Northwest Mounted Police also relocated their headquarters to that location, which meant that the Canadian Pacific Railway did have to build a reasonably substantial facility in Regina even though it wasn't a division point.
What would have been the primary function of the Locomotive #5093?
Locomotive #5093 is what's called a Pacific type of locomotive. Pacifics were built for passenger service. They were the most predominant type of steam passenger locomotive in North America. Originally, it would have been used for the most important mainline passenger trains but when the larger mountain type and northern type locomotives were bought in the late 1920s it was downgraded for use on secondary passenger trains.
Most locomotives do not have an individual history, unless it was something like one that was used on a royal train or a first of its type. Generally, their class would have sort of a group history. They were also classified by their wheel arrangement. In English speaking countries, the most common method was what was called the light system, which was developed by master mechanics for the New York Central Railway sometime near 1800. Pacifics have a wheel arrangement which is described as a 4-6-2. The four means that they have four small wheels on the front of the engine. And those are used to guide the locomotive into curves. So, if they got four wheels, they could enter a curve at a higher speed than if they had two wheels. Locomotives with four wheels were originally built as passenger locomotives. The six stands for the six large drive wheels. There’s a rough rule of thumb out there that says the comfortable top speed for a locomotive in miles per hour is equivalent to the driver diameter in inches. So, 69-inch drivers mean that that locomotive would have been able to run all day at 69 miles per hour. Finally, the two means that there were two small trailing wheels. Those wheels were used to support the firebox. And again, the more wheels back there the bigger the firebox. The bigger the firebox, the more powerful the locomotive.
Canadian National locomotives with a letter J were a Pacific type of locomotive. Canadian National had several different designs of J locomotives, so all J4 locomotives, and there were 77 of them in total, were built to a very similar design. Each order of locomotives was given a sub-letter to identify them because there might be a few things that make them unique. There were 10 locomotives in the J-4-C class. They were originally built for the Canadian Government Railways And they numbered them from 468 to 477. And then, the Canadian Government Railways was amalgamated with the Canadian Northern Railways in 1918 to form Canadian National Railways. And at that time, they were at number 5090 to 5099. In fact, the first five J-4’s were actually built for the Intercolonial Railway, which then became part of the Canadian Government Railways, which then became part of Canadian National Railways. So, a lot of these locomotives, if they were built before 1920 have a somewhat convoluted history.
I also discovered there's been a total of four J-4 locomotives that have been preserved from different subclasses. There was the 5080, which was the very first J4A and it was in Prince Albert until very recently, and it's now been moved to Mossleigh, Alberta where it's undergoing a full restoration to operating status. And then the 5093 in Regina, or the 5107 in Kapuskasing, Ontario and the 5114 in Melville Saskatchewan.
Union Station, ca.1950
Image courtesy of the Regina Public Library.
I feel that today it can be hard to imagine just how important the railways were. Can you comment on some of the ways in which the railway shaped the daily life of Regina citizens?
Well, before the mid 1950s, it was really the only practical means of long-distance transportation for both freight and passengers. You've got to remember, I read somewhere that Saskatchewan didn't clear the snow from a lot of their highways until 1956. So, in the winter if you're going anywhere outside of the city, unless it was on a major highway, you are going by train. Basically, everything that we know today that goes by truck and by aircraft today would have gone by rail.
Before it was Casino Regina, this historic building was known as Union Station. Can you share any insight into the history of Union Station in Regina?
The first station that was built in Regina was what's called a Van Horn type. And it was a very simple wooden structure. A two-story building that was built in 1882 as the tracks arrived. In 1892 it was replaced by a brick building, as this became one of the more important stops. And then in 1911, they built the base of what's there now, and then heavily renovated, and expanded in 1931 and 32. What's unusual was that it is a Union Station. Union stations are very rare. A Union Station is any station where two or more railways, passenger trains arrive and depart at. Most of the time they had their own. There were a lot of places which had more than two railways and sometimes they would, they might have a union station but there might be someone else that didn't want to be part of the Union Station. So, in Regina not only was it a Union Station, but it was a union station for everyone in town.
Locomotive #5093 located outside Casino Regina, 2024.
I’m sure that Regina’s Union Station was a major hub. What are some of the jobs required of folks in order to maintain a functioning train station?
Well, it would be like an airport. You'd have ticket agents, you'd have baggage handlers, you would have red caps who helped passengers with their bags. So named because they actually wore a red jacket and a red cap. They had express workers, so the passenger trains also carried express and mail. Express was like what we'd send by a courier nowadays. It would go on the passenger trains. So, you'd have people that would be there in large express sheds associated with the station. You'd have people loading and unloading the express, sorting it and either delivering it to customers or having them come to the station to pick it up. And of course, express went both ways.
Advertisement featured in The Morning Leader on May 21, 1925
Image courtesy of the Regina Public Library.
Usually having a large space like that (Union Station) you'd also have restaurants for people between trains. Of course, then you have all the managers to keep all this functioning and running together. And then many stations were used for train control. They would need what they called telegrapher's who would basically report the trains when they came through to the train dispatcher who may or may not also be located in the station. They would also deliver orders and messages to the train crews because there were no radios. So, those types of functions would also be happening.
Close up of Locomotive #5093, 2024.
Canadian National Railways. [Advertisement]. (1925, May 25). The Morning Leader, 22(119), p. 5.
City of Regina Archives. https://7070.sydneyplus.com/archive/final/Portal/Default.aspx?lang=en-US. Accessed 2 July 2024.
Media, OH! History « Casinos Regina & Moose Jaw. https://casinoregina.com/about/history. Accessed 2 July 2024.