Heritage Park in Calgary, Alberta, has just given Canadian Pacific 2-10-4 “Selkirk” 5931 a fresh facelift, unveiling its new paint job on Tuesday. The locomotive is one of only two surviving Selkirks. The official unveiling featured a ribbon-cutting ceremony and speeches from museum and local officials.

With help from donors and the City of Calgary, the museum raised $67,000 for the restoration. The locomotive has called Heritage Park home since the 1980s and needed thorough cosmetic work after years on outdoor display. The museum says removing the old paint revealed more corrosion than the surface showed.

Canadian Pacific 5931 was built in 1949 by the Montreal Locomotive Works and was one of 36 Selkirk locomotives the railroad took delivery of between 1929 and 1949. Designated a “T1c,” it was among the final six Selkirks built for CPR. These engines were assigned to both freight and passenger trains over the Selkirk Mountains in British Columbia, after which they were named.

CPR 5931 was retired in 1959 and displayed at Mewata Park in Calgary until 1981. During that time, it carried the number CPR 5934. The original 5934 was meant to be donated, but it was scrapped before CP could present it to the park. After the locomotive was relocated to Heritage Park, it reclaimed its true number. Sister locomotive CPR 5935 survives at the Canadian Railway Museum in Saint-Constant, Quebec. 

— Nick Stewart