Recent vacation took me through Moncton, New Brunswick, Canada, where one of the only two steam locomotives in the province is displayed. Ex-CNR Pacific #5270 stands at the corner of Centennial Park, alongside a retired military tank and and F-100 on a pylon.



Moncton gets a certain amount of grief for the locomotive display, and paint condition, but the locomotive is largely in good condition if external appearance is an indicator. The cab is welded shut and windows have been replaced with sheet metal. Headlight glass and number boards have been replaced at least once, and unfortunately, the bell is missing. I don't know about the interior of the cab or the backhead "jewelry".



What Moncton should get, is some praise for surrounding the locomotive with a tall, iron bar fence, and a sturdy weather shed. The shed rafters are open, and pigeon poop abounds, but rust damage and vandalism, while not totally absent, remains largely under control.





The pigeon issue needs some resolution. A good power washing, painting by locomotive knowledgeable people, and some appropriate lubrication, would be my immediate prescription, as well as manicuring the surrounding gardens. Nevertheless, the locomotive appears much healthier than many park displays.











We have some Canadian steam caretakers in here. Perhaps they can shed more light on this locomotive.

Although it looks terrible 5270 is supposedly in halfway decent mechanical shape. Told by the son of the engineer that last ran her it was completely shoped immediately before being installed in the park. The cab was only recently welded in, id say within the last 8yrs. Also spent quite a lot of time without any fence around it so my best guess is that most stuff that can be stolen from the cab has been.

Well, that 20 + inch difference in fence height behind the tender there surely be won't stop folks from skimming under it to get to the loco....