CLC's 2000th Locomotive, 1942

In 1942, CPR 2396 was specially painted as 'CLC 2000' to commemorate its building of the Canadian Locomotive Company's 2000th locomotive. Featured on a 1946 CLC brochure (top photo), it was one of 52 heavy G3 Pacifics built by CLC for the CPR between 1940 and 1943. CPR 2396's delivery took place on July 28, 1942. Earlier, on February 10, 1942 a Whig-Standard article mentioned the first locomotive of 40-locomotive order #C-593. CPR 2378 was delivered on January 30:

CPR's usual passenger paint scheme was temporarily replaced by a special paint scheme, logo and lettering for CLC 2000:

The panels on the tender and running boards were maroon, trimmed with three-quarter inch gold stripes that were hand-painted. Unfortunately, colour builder's photos of this and other CLC locomotives are rare to non-existent, there being only a handful ever made. Detail views of the cab side and tender:

CLC's 1000th locomotive was CPR 2-8-0 1835 delivered in October 28, 1911. Number 3000 was Calcutta Port Commissioners D51, shipped to India on December 22, 1958. A lithographed souvenir card of CLC 2000 was produced for publicity and sales use:

Photos above from Canadian Locomotive Company Fonds, Queen's University Archives. This remarkable photo was posted to Vintage Kingston Facebook group. It shows CLC workers informally posed alongside the special Pacific. In the photo are: Gord Hart, Harry Miller, Ed Hamilton, and Alonzo Purvis.

CLC 2000's completion was a rare moment of celebration for the company. However, the milestone received little national fanfare, perhaps due to wartime austerity. The only news published in the July 24, 1942 Whig was a scant two paragraphs alongside a photo of a bewhiskered French-Canadian 'tar', not a specially-painted steam engine!

However, the same day, the Whig published a CLC ad inviting women to join the wartime workforce: