All aboard for Lac du Bonnet, Pointe du Bois and Slave Falls
Locomotive #3
Over 90 years ago, before Manitoba Hydro was even a gleam in anyone’s eye, Locomotive No. 3, pictured above, ran on the Winnipeg Hydro Tramway.
Built in 1882 by Dubs & Company in Glasgow, Scotland and purchased by Winnipeg Hydro in 1918, she hauled construction supplies and staff provisions, as well as staff and locals, between Lac du Bonnet, Pointe du Bois and Slave Falls. The only other means of transportation between these communities at that time was by water.
Locomotive
The tramway operated as a private railway for the greater part of the first half of the 20th century. In 1962 a paved highway was constructed between Lac du Bonnet and Pointe du Bois after it proved to be a more economical option than operating and maintaining the railway.
When the tramway closed sometime in the 60s, Winnipeg Hydro donated Locomotive No. 3 to the Vintage Locomotive Society, Inc. She eventually became part of the Prairie Dog Central Railway and operates to this day from May to September out of the Inkster Junction located just outside Winnipeg.