HomeMy WebLinkAboutThe Citizen-Thresher Reunion, 2004-09-09, Page 45In the engineer's seat
Scott Pearson takes his prized possession out for a test spin, the first after restoring the
locomotive in 2001. (Courtesy photo)
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PAGE A-12. THE CITIZEN, THURSDAY, SEPTEMBER 9, 2004.
Thresher Reunion 2004
Man revives a piece of his childhood
When Scott Pearson was little he
and his grandpa used to ride the rails.
At Port Elgin's North Shore Park
that is. And now because of
Pearson's determination, a piece of
his past is part of the present and will
be featured for a second time at the
Thresher Reunion.
In the early 1970s a young tool
and die maker/ entrepreneur from
Port Elgin named Doug Schlenker
had a vision for his tourist town. He
created a three-inch scale, 16- inch
gauge Winton Mogul locomotive
engine.
Gauge is the technical term for
distance between the rails. Mogul is
the name given a steam locomotive
with a 2-6-0 wheel arrangement,
which is two leading wheels, six
driving and none trailing.
The design of the model
locomotive is the work of a man
named . Winton Brown, who
developed this model back in the
1950s. "There are a few other
examples of this engine in the
United States, including Steam
Town in California," said Pearson.
Schlenker's model was started in
1971 and completed in the summer
of 1973 then immediately put into
service as the motive power for the
Port Elgin and North Shore
Railroad. This tourist railroad was
set up in Port Elgin's North Shore
Park on the shore of beautiful Lake
Huron.
The first season of operation the
locomotive was plagued with
technical problems that jncluded a
lack of power and poor draft. The
culprit of both problems was an
eccentric from the Stephenson valve
gear that was installed backwards on
the main axle.
It was during this time that
Pearson experienced his first train
ride on the Port Elgin and North
Shore Railroad. He was just 18
months old.
"Ironically out of all the Pearson
grandchildren I was the one scared
by the noise of safety valves and
steam whistles and screamed until
taken away from the machine," he
said.
By 1978, the little locomotive had
pulled more than 150,000
passengers around the half-mile
track in Port Elgin's park. The train
attracted children of all ages.
However, the town of Port Elgin
experienced major changes in the
1970s as the Bruce Nuclear Power
Plant cane on line, said Pearson.
Continued on A-13
Future owner
Scott Pearson visits his
favourite old locomotive, circa
1982, in Collingwood. (Courtesy
photo)
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