General Information

Serial #

N/A

Part Number

1

Total Parts

1

AKA

N/A

Patents

N/A

General Description

Metal stencil with paper tape covering some parts.

Dimensions

Note: These reflect the general size for storage and are not necessarily representative of the object's true dimensions.

Length

182.8 cm

Width

60.0 cm

Height

4.0 cm

Thickness

N/A

Weight

N/A

Diameter

N/A

Volume

N/A

Lexicon

Group

Railway Transportation

Category

Miscellaneous

Sub-Category

N/A

Manufacturer

AKA

Unknown

Country

Unknown

State/Province

Unknown

City

Unknown

Context

Country

Canada

State/Province

Ontario

Period

ca. 1961

Canada

Established by a group of Commonwealth countries in 1950, the Colombo Plan for Co-operative Economic Development in South and Southeast Asia sought to relieve poverty through economic development as a way to counter the influence of communist political movements in the region. Under the plan, the governments of the participating countries supported the development of infrastructure like airports, roads, railways, and ports as well as health and educational institutions. Governments negotiated bilateral agreements directly to transfer physical capital and technology and to support skills development to build, maintain and operate the infrastructure. Canada participated in the program from 1950 to 1992. As part of the program, in 1960-61 the government of India ordered 25 locomotives from the Canadian Locomotive Company of Kingston for use by its port authorities. The locomotives were switchers used to shunt cars around portside railyards as they were either loaded with cargo from incoming ships or off-loaded onto ships. The Canadian government paid for the locomotives as part of its contribution to the Colombo Plan.

Function

To stencil letters onto a surface using paint.

Technical

The Indian government ordered at least three slightly different models of diesel-hydraulic switching locomotives for its ports all built by Davenport-Besler, all side-rodded 0-4-4-0 and all with Cummins prime movers. Wheel arrangements were 0-4-4-0 and 0-6-0. Most of the locomotives were 47-ton models but at least three were larger at 70 tons. According to McQueen and Thomson, authors of the "Constructed in Kingston A History of the Canadian Locomotive Companies", many of these locomotives were still in service at the turn of the 21st century. The Canadian Locomotive Company was one of two major builders of locomotives in Canada in the 19th and 20th centuries. This stencil represents a critical time in the history of the company as it struggled to cope with the end of steam as the primary motive power on Canada’s railways. With the advent of diesel power, it worked to re-tool its plant and its workers to build a new technology. The Colombo Plan helped sustain the company in the short term but wasn’t enough to make it profitable. In 1965 Fairbanks-Morse took it over and, in the summer of 1969, it ceased operations altogether.

Area Notes

Unknown

Details

Markings

Stencil reads: "CANADA INDIA/ [COLOMBO PLAN]/ DIESEL HYDRAULIC LOCOMOTIVES/ [MADRAS - BOMBAY - PORT TRUST]"

Missing

Appears complete

Finish

Grey metal stencil with traces of yellow and green paint.

Decoration

The outline of a maple leaf is placed between the words "CANADA" and "INDIA".