Hello Everyone!
I just recently found this great forum through a search for anything to do with Locomotive 6069 here in Sarnia. For those that know the history of this great locomotive and how it came to be in Sarnia, you will be interested to know there is a small group trying to get underway to look after the old girl and give her a bit of much needed TLC. City council is looking for volunteers to help out occasionally with work on the old Locomotive. There is a meeting coming up this month to discuss the long term plans for the Locomotive. I am putting together a short list of work that needs to be done to her and if anyone would like to help or can add to the list of repairs then please post here.

I have been doing a search on the forum for 6069 and would like to clear up a couple of points that were made.
She does have her windows covered over not by sheet metal but purpose built"plugs" which are removable from inside the cab. Her original windows appear to be stored inside the cab. Her interior appears to be intact with most guages still fitted even the seat covering is intact!

Steam trains are a bit of a mystery to me as am just getting my feet wet. We have lived in sarnia since 1976 and have known about the Loco since the 80's. Having clambered all over her the last couple of days getting technical photos of her current condition to share with the 6060 group, I have gained a bit more of an interest in her and her well being.

It is a shame that she wasn't kept in running condition and given the funds and parts she probably could return to steam again but she would need Major work to enable her to once again become live.

If anyone has photo's of her in the park over the years I would love to see them as we are unsure of when and why her whistle was removed.

Like I said I am new to all this and we hope to get e group formd to look after her and once that happens, access to the cab to start repair work!.
Look forward to hearing from everyone and to sharing photos and info of 6069.
Best Regards,
Project-6069

Welcome to RYPN!

I am delighted that someone is looking after this beauty. As a big time fan of Canadian steam and former Sales Representative for VIA Rail Canada I am delighted to hear of any Canadian steamer being looked after. Unfortunately I lost my job with VIA Rail to Jean-Luc Pepin in the 1981 cuts 6 months after joining.

I like both CN and CP steam which each had their own esthetic styles. I also remember an excursion from Toronto to Gravenhurst and back behind 6060 in 1975. I had tickets to ride behind 6060 when she towed 6218 to Fort Erie for display in 1973. To read what has happened to 6218 since is heartbreaking.

Best of luck,
Kevin Gillespie
Moderator, RYPN

Maybe 10 or 12 years ago I was passing through Sarnia and decided to have a look at 6069. To my amazement I found the cab door unlocked and all the gauges sill intact and in good condition!! I couldn't believe it!! For the life of me I could not figure out how that engine could sit there for over 30 years and not have the gauges stolen or damaged.
I have since seen it several times, but with the door locked, so I have no idea if they are still there.

Thanks for the welcome! Her guages are still inside. I have pics on the computer but not sure how to load them on here?

Keeping a rabid pit-bull in the cab, always a little hungry does wonders, I'm told. Perhaps flashing all that hardware on line isn't such a great idea?
CNR should wake up and smell the ployes, regarding operating their very elegant steam survivors.

Any further verification or other information on CPR's look towards resurrecting a second steam locomotive?

Good idea will not post pics of her. We do hope to get her cab cleaned up a bit and made more secure than it is now.

Best wishes for your work with CN 6069. This prominantly-displayed park engine (just off the freeway entrance to Ontario via the Blue Water Bridge) definitely deserves to be cared for.

My advice would be to try to recruit three or four active, competent mechanics, with a bit of skill in welding and fabricating, painting, and mechanical work generally. A few such people can go a long way toward repairing and stabilizing the locomotive while you convince the city government of the need to construct a shelter to preserve the work that is done. Recent retirees - from any trade - who find they don't like being inactive are prime candidates for getting sucked into a project of this type.

You don't need to be an ace museum curator to oversee the project. Just don't throw anything away until it's replicated in kind, don't go nuts with a cutting torch amputating rusty metal, don't take too much apart at once, don't let a volunteer take parts "home for repair" without a receipt, don't blast the machinery full of sandblasting grit and you can't go far wrong. To see what a handful of dedicated, competent volunteers can do with one of these engines, you have only to go to the CNE grounds in Toronto to see the 4-8-4 there. It can be done.

And let us have a visit at Owosso if you want more cheap advice. We're only two hours west, depending on how badly the U.S. border officials are acting up.

One more piece of advice in addition to what Aarne said. Please, PLEASE do your research on the paint scheme! All too often some of these restoration groups really don't know what they are doing and the engines end up looking like something out of Thomas the Tank Engine with red side rods and every nut and bolt painted gold or something. That is exactly what they did with ex-CNR Mogul #86 here in London, Ontario recently, an hour east of Sarnia. It now has red side rods, gold staybolt heads and a number plate painted black and silver instead of the CNR tradition red and brass! Yuk!

Aarne is also right about 6213 in Toronto. It is probably THE best kept park engines around, thanks to Grant Kingsland and a few of his friends. He would actually be a good person to contact for advice. I have his email address if you want to contact me off list for it.

Thanks for the kind advice and tips. The repaint that was last done was pretty much spot on but I am concerned about valve handles etc that were painted red both in the cab and outside. Is this original or not?
I ventured down there today through a heavy snowfall and felt so sorry for her. I call her the lady in waiting.!

One of the volunteers that has offered to donate time is a licensed welder and the cab neds some metal repair at the engineers entrance way aongst other repairs. There are no funds avalable to do an in depth strip and paint but will have to see what the meeting this month brings.

Have you folks achieved a degree of organizational entity, i.e. a mailing address for correspondence/funding, incorporation, et al?

I will also echo the comments re: 6213 in Toronto being a good model in terms of both the work done and the organization. For items such as paint colors, etc. I would recommend taking a look at the CN 5700 in St. Thomas. From what I can gather this engine is still in fairly original condition inside and out. I wouldn't replicate in general what this group in St. Thomas has done - they have had a lot of problems - but the 5700 may well be the best-preserved CN display engine (along with the 6400 in Ottawa - also worth a visit).

Chris.

No not yet,we are in the early stages hence the creation of an independant email address engine6069@sympatico.ca.
Once the meeting gets underway, I hope to create a non profit group to look after her.

Yes it is Chris. It has been over 25 years since the engine was painted, so it is starting to fade a bit, but it is still in excellent condition. I wish we could take credit for painting it way back when, but that was the excellent work of the Canada Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa before it came to St. Thomas.


If you are referring to the problems I think you are Chris, they are well in the past. We are doing just fine now, thank you. Although not set in stone, it looks very positive that we will have ownership of the former Michigan Central locomotive shop sometime this year. (knock on wood)

Project 6069

Did you receive an identification to the purpose of the cast handle part found in the ballast by 6069??


"T"

I did recieve an email that stated that the cast handle that was found was in fact the operating handle to open or shut the main water valve between the tender car and the locomotive. Does this sound right?