Canadian Pacific 1246

Built in June 1946 by the Montreal Locomotive Works in Montreal, Quebec, No. 1246 was used by the Canadian Pacific Railway to operate in Alberta and Saskatchewan in Western Canada, and it travelled for 655,773 miles during her time on the CPR between July 1946 and March 1958. Despite having a 4-6-2 wheel arrangement, No. 1246 was primarily used for freight service, and records only show the locomotive hauling passengers for a total of thirteen months. The G5c was overhauled for the sixth and final time by the CPR at Winnipeg, coming out of Weston Shops on June 15, 1958.[1] However, the locomotive never operated for the CPR again after the overhaul.

Canadian Pacific 1246 pulling a passenger train at Steamtown USA in Bellows Falls, Vermont August 1970. Note that it has Green Mountain lettering on the tender.

After sitting idle for seven years, No. 1246 became one of three G5 class locomotives to be purchased in May 1965 by F. Nelson Blount his Steamtown, U.S.A. collection in North Walpole, New Hampshire, and the collection was subsequently moved to Bellows Falls, Vermont.[2] The other two G5s of Steamtown were No. 1293 and No. 1278. In June 1967, Canadian Pacific 1246 was sold to the Green Mountain Railroad and relettered to Green Mountain. No. 1246 was back under steam in 1969, and it was able to pull more passengers than ever, as it pulled multiple excursion trains between Bellows Falls and Chester alongside No. 1293. It remained under Green Mountain ownership until was sold back to Steamtown in July 1973 and reverted to its CPR lettering. In December that same year, No. 1246 assisted No. 1278, which masqueraded as Delaware and Hudson 653 at the time, with an excursion to Rutland, Vermont, and to pay tribute to a deceased Rutland 4-6-2, No. 1246 was also briefly renumbered 82. Before Steamtown left its Bellows Falls location in the fall of 1983, No. 1246 led the "farewell to Vermont" excursions alongside Nos 1293 and G3c No. 2317. There were two such 100-mile (160 km) excursions "through a landscape of covered bridges, rushing streams and scenic countryside".[3] The final train had the capacity of 800–1000 passengers.[4]

After operating in Steamtown in Scranton, Pennsylvania between 1984 and March 1986, it was decided that No. 1246 was inadequate for service as it was deemed too light for the heavy grades and sharp curves of the Scranton line.[5] After being deemed inadequate for the collection, the National Park Service sold it at an auction on October 29, 1988 to the Connecticut Valley Railroad, and then it arrived in Connecticut in April 1989. Between 1996 and 2008, the locomotive would be put on static display in Essex, until it was sold again to the Naugatuck Railroad which is operated by the Railroad Museum of New England, in Thomaston, Connecticut. As of 2021, No. 1246 remains in outdoor storage in Thomaston. Whether or not the locomotive will run again is up for debate.