On Tuesday, CN J class 4-6-2 No. 5080 was loaded onto a heavy-haul trailer for the 450 mile journey to its new home at the Aspen Crossing Railway in Mossleigh, Alberta, just south of Calgary. Rochelle Watt, marketing manager for Aspen Crossing, tells Trains News Wire the locomotive is expected to arrive at its new home on Thursday or Friday.
Once No. 5080 arrives in Mossleigh, a $1 million restoration is expected to begin, led by veteran Canadian steam preservationist Al Broadfoot. Broadfoot previously led B.C. Rail’s steam program in the 1980s and 1990s and spearheaded the restoration of Canadian Pacific 4-6-4 No. 2816 in the late 1990s and early 2000s.
Officials at Aspen Crossing say they expect the restoration to take two to five years. Once No. 5080 is up and running it will lead excursions on Aspen Crossing’s 14 miles of former CP trackage.
CN No. 5080 was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1914 and spent most of its career in Manitoba. CN donated the locomotive to Prince Albert in the 1960s.
