By Railfan & Railroad Staff

MIDDLETON, N.S. — The Canadian National Railway built a new stretch of track in Middleton, Nova Scotia this month so that the Middleton Railway Museum Society can display its 4-6-0 steam locomotive. 

CN 1521 was built in Montreal in 1905 and ended up in the United States in the 1960s. It eventually returned home and was put on display in Upper Clements Park. Recently, it was deemed surplus and offered to Middleton. The locomotive is unique in that it is equipped with a Belpaire type firebox typically found on locomotives of the Pennsylvania Railroad. According to Nova Scotia Railway Heritage Society Chair Bill Linley, there is no other locomotive like it in Canada. 

CN offered its services and materials to create a new stretch of train to support the 75-ton locomotive and tender in front of the historic railway station in Middleton. Construction began earlier this month. There is no date set for the locomotive’s move. 

“CN is extremely pleased to support the effort to bring this rare piece of Canadian railway history back to Middleton, a founding line in our now tri-coastal network which provides essential transportation service to the economy, our customers and to the communities we serve,” said Robert Pace, board chair at CN. “This is the type and size of locomotive that would have run through Middleton to the great Canadian North and to the Pacific Coast – the engine was engineered to be a work-horse in the second wave of the industrial revolution.”