File:DSC00560 - Steam locomotive CN 5702 (48167631796).jpg

English: In 1927, U.S.-based New York Central Railroad designed a new type of locomotive based on the 4-6-2 “Pacific” type. It would become a 4-6-4 type, baptized “Hudson” by its designer, in honour of the river along which his tracks ran. He commissioned American Locomotive Works to build the locomotive. Equipped with an improved boiler and a larger firebox requiring the addition of a dual-axle rear truck, this locomotive was designed essentially for speed. Indeed, on many high-traffic hauls, trains were required to reach and maintain top speeds in the order of 160 kph.

More than 500 locomotives of this type were operated by various North American railway companies.

Equipped with wheels 2 metres high—the highest at the time—Canadian National’s “Hudson” locomotives were configured for speed at the expense of pulling capacity. Finally, as with all locomotives primarily assigned to passenger trains, Canadian National’s “Hudson” locomotives were among the first to be removed from service during the 1950s given the rapid dieselisation of the motive power fleet.

Two locomotives of this series of five were preserved. The Museum acquired No. 5702 in 1960. The 5703 is preserved at Elgin County Railway Museum, in Ontario.

All the information used with the pictures was taken from information at the Canadian Railway Museum Site.

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