The Canadian Locomotive Company, commonly referred to as CLC, was a Canadian manufacturer of

railway Rail transport (also known as train transport) is a means of transport that transfers passengers and goods on wheeled vehicles running on rails, which are incorporated in tracks. In contrast to road transport, where the vehicles run on a pre ...

locomotives located in

Kingston, Ontario Kingston is a city in Ontario, Canada. It is located on the north-eastern end of Lake Ontario, at the beginning of the St. Lawrence River and at the mouth of the Cataraqui River (south end of the Rideau Canal). The city is midway between To ...

. Its works were located on the south side of Ontario Street between William and Gore streets on Kingston's waterfront.

Early beginnings and bankruptcies

The CLC had its beginnings with a number of predecessor businesses. It began business as the ''Ontario Foundry'' in 1848, but after commencing construction of locomotives it became known as the ''Kingston Locomotive Works''. The first steam locomotive was turned out on Wednesday, December 20, 1854. This was the first of four locomotives for the

Grand Trunk Railway The Grand Trunk Railway (; french: Grand Tronc) was a railway system that operated in the Canadian provinces of Quebec and Ontario and in the American states of Connecticut, Maine, Michigan, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont. The rail ...

of Canada, which was being built at that time. A further order of five locomotives for the GTR followed in October and November 1856. However, less than three dozen locomotives were built before the business went

bankrupt Bankruptcy is a legal process through which people or other entities who cannot repay debts to creditors may seek relief from some or all of their debts. In most jurisdictions, bankruptcy is imposed by a court order, often initiated by the debtor ...

in 1860. The ''Canadian Engine & Machinery Company'' was a shareholder-owned successor company founded in 1865. It too ran into financial troubles during the depression of 1878-1879 and also went bankrupt. It was re-organized in February 1878 as the ''Canadian Locomotive and Engine Company Ltd.'' (CL&EC). After yet another re-organization in April 1881, the plant was updated and expanded. The

syndicate A syndicate is a self-organizing group of individuals, companies, corporations or entities formed to transact some specific business, to pursue or promote a shared interest. Etymology The word ''syndicate'' comes from the French word ''syndicat ...

investors An investor is a person who allocates financial capital with the expectation of a future return (profit) or to gain an advantage (interest). Through this allocated capital most of the time the investor purchases some species of property. Type ...

who owned the Canadian Pacific Railway also owned a large portion of the CL&EC, and when funds were needed to further work on the CPR, their shares were sold to the respected locomotive builder

Dübs and Company Dübs & Co. was a locomotive manufacturer in Glasgow, Scotland, founded by Henry Dübs in 1863 and based at the Queens Park Works in Polmadie. In 1903 it amalgamated with two other Glasgow locomotive manufacturers to create the North British ...

, of

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Scotland Scotland (, ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. Covering the northern third of the island of Great Britain, mainland Scotland has a Anglo-Scottish border, border with England to the southeast ...

, which eventually gained control effective January 1, 1888. CL&EC became a major supplier to the CPR, delivering nearly one-third of their locomotives over many decades. These "Dübs-boilered" locomotives were regarded as durable and long-lasting.

CLC is formed and finds modest success

In January 1900, following the decision of both the CPR and the GTR to build their own locomotives, the CL&EC once again became insolvent, and the plant was closed. It was bought by new investors and incorporated in February 1901 as the ''Canadian Locomotive Company Ltd.'' Improvements followed which allowed production of one locomotive per week. Reorganization once again took place under new management in June 1911 although the name remained the same. CLC contributed to the

war effort In politics and military planning, a war effort is a coordinated mobilization of society's resources—both industrial and human—towards the support of a military force. Depending on the militarization of the culture, the relative si ...

in two

world wars A world war is an international conflict which involves all or most of the world's major powers. Conventionally, the term is reserved for two major international conflicts that occurred during the first half of the 20th century, World WarI (1914 ...

by manufacturing armaments and

munitions Ammunition (informally ammo) is the material fired, scattered, dropped, or detonated from any weapon or weapon system. Ammunition is both expendable weapons (e.g., bombs, missiles, grenades, land mines) and the component parts of other weap ...

, as did the competing shops of the Montreal Locomotive Works, the CPR, and others. Large numbers of locomotives were also built for the war effort and for reconstruction afterwards. By the end of

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...

steam technology was at its peak, but production was declining except for

export An export in international trade is a good produced in one country that is sold into another country or a service provided in one country for a national or resident of another country. The seller of such goods or the service provider is an ...

s to

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic, Pacific and Indian Oceans. Its metropolitan area ...

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and

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

. One of the last groups of steam locomotives, completed in 1955, was 120 broad gauge,

streamlined Streamlines, streaklines and pathlines are field lines in a fluid flow. They differ only when the flow changes with time, that is, when the flow is not steady. Considering a velocity vector field in three-dimensional space in the framework of ...

4-6-2 Under the Whyte notation for the classification of steam locomotives, represents the wheel arrangement of four leading wheels on two axles, six powered and coupled driving wheels on three axles and two trailing wheels on one axle. The locomo ...

types for passenger service in India. CLC felt its future lay with diesel locomotives, but lacking expertise it sought out opportunities with existing builders in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territori ...

. Canadian National Railways Class U-2-a No. 6100.jpg, CLC built the first 4-8-4 locomotive for Canadian National Railways in 1927.

Representing American manufacturers

In 1948 CLC became the Canadian representative for Baldwin Locomotive Works which also owned

Whitcomb Locomotive Works The Geo D. Whitcomb Company was founded by George Dexter Whitcomb (1834–1914), of Chicago, Illinois, who started a modest machine shop in 1878, and began the manufacture of coal mining machinery, laying the foundation for the concern that beca ...

. However, the result of this collaboration was less than outstanding — the Whitcomb locomotives built for the Canadian National Railway with Sterling diesel engines proved problematic, and orders for Baldwin-designed locomotives were modest. CLC then turned to

Fairbanks-Morse Fairbanks, Morse and Company was an American manufacturing company in the late 19th and early 20th century. Originally a weighing scale manufacturer, it later diversified into pumps, engines, windmills, coffee grinders, radios, farm tractors, fee ...

, a manufacturer of opposed piston diesel engines primarily used in

maritime Maritime may refer to: Geography * Maritime Alps, a mountain range in the southwestern part of the Alps * Maritime Region, a region in Togo * Maritime Southeast Asia * The Maritimes, the Canadian provinces of Nova Scotia, New Brunswick, and Prin ...

applications that was itself attempting to break into the railway locomotive market. Baldwin's shares in CLC were acquired in 1950 by the newly formed Canadian Fairbanks Morse. Orders were more extensive and longer-lasting, especially for the Train Master and Consolidated line designs. However, the Fairbanks-Morse designs proved to be no match in the marketplace for the

ALCO The American Locomotive Company (often shortened to ALCO, ALCo or Alco) was an American manufacturer of locomotives, diesel generators, steel, and tanks that operated from 1901 to 1969. The company was formed by the merger of seven smaller locomo ...

-designed locomotives offered by the Montreal Locomotive Works or to the

Electro-Motive Division Progress Rail Locomotives, doing business as Electro-Motive Diesel (EMD), is an American manufacturer of diesel-electric locomotives, locomotive products and diesel engines for the rail industry. The company is owned by Caterpillar through its sub ...

-designs constructed by

General Motors Diesel General Motors Diesel was a railway diesel locomotive manufacturer located in London, Ontario, Canada. It was established in 1949 as the Canadian subsidiary of the Electro-Motive Diesel division of General Motors (EMD). In 1969 it was re-organiz ...

. By 1957, orders had fallen off and Fairbanks-Morse eventually left the locomotive business in both Canada and the United States. Following the departure of Baldwin and MLW, the Canadian market was left to just two companies,

General Electric General Electric Company (GE) is an American multinational conglomerate founded in 1892, and incorporated in New York state and headquartered in Boston. The company operated in sectors including healthcare, aviation, power, renewable en ...

and General Motors Diesel. Before this however, CLC also sought more opportunities in the export market with the involvement of

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, exporting small industrial locomotives of Davenport-Besler design. In 1955 CLC bought the Davenport-Besler Corp. Inc., including its inventory of

Porter Porter may refer to: Companies * Porter Airlines, Canadian regional airline based in Toronto * Porter Chemical Company, a defunct U.S. toy manufacturer of chemistry sets * Porter Motor Company, defunct U.S. car manufacturer * H.K. Porter, Inc., ...

locomotives. A Canadian-only DTC (Diesel Torque Converter) was built for the CPR featuring a diesel-

hydraulic Hydraulics (from Greek: Υδραυλική) is a technology and applied science using engineering, chemistry, and other sciences involving the mechanical properties and use of liquids. At a very basic level, hydraulics is the liquid counte ...

design rather than the conventional diesel-electric. On July 26, 1965, CLC became ''Fairbanks-Morse (Canada) Ltd.'' and was no longer an independent Canadian company. Locomotive construction dwindled even further as the company branched out into industrial machinery such as marine engines and weigh scales. None of this could save the company.

End of CLC

Declining business and a

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strike Strike may refer to: People * Strike (surname) Physical confrontation or removal *Strike (attack), attack with an inanimate object or a part of the human body intended to cause harm *Airstrike, military strike by air forces on either a suspected ...

in April 1969 closed the plant that June. It was demolished in August 1971 after having constructed over 3000 locomotives from its earliest beginnings, making it at the time, Canada's second largest commercial builder after Montreal Locomotive Works. The site of the old plant (known as "Block D") sat vacant for 35 years while several proposed developments failed to materialize or obtain municipal approval. It would be the last vacated portion of Ontario Street's formerly industrial waterfront to be developed. After work to negate the effects of a century of industrial pollutants in the soil, it has recently been redeveloped with three high-rise apartment/condominium buildings (Locomotive Apartments, Carruthers Wharf, and Royal George), a high-rise hotel (Marriott Residences Inn), and a small municipal park (Battery Park).

Clients

* Canadian Pacific Railway * Canadian National Railway

References

External links

Canadian Locomotive Company
''Trainweb'' {{Authority control Defunct locomotive manufacturers of Canada Companies based in Kingston, Ontario Rail transport in Kingston, Ontario Defunct manufacturing companies of Canada Defunct rolling stock manufacturers of Canada History of manufacturing in Ontario Vehicle manufacturing companies established in 1901 1901 establishments in Ontario Vehicle manufacturing companies disestablished in 1969 1969 disestablishments in Ontario