Canadian National 6060

No. 6060 was constructed in October 1944 by the Montreal Locomotive Works in Montreal, Quebec, as the first of the Canadian National Railway's (CN) 20 class U-1-f 4-8-2 "Mountain" types.[1] The U-1-f design was very different compared to the U-1-a design in mechanical and cosmetic details.[2] Their 73 in (1,854 mm) driving wheels gave the U-1-fs balancing high-speed with no flaws.[3] They were painted in CN's olive green livery around its running board skirt panels, cab, and tender.[4] The U-1-fs' front smokebox had a bullet nose cone design mounted, which earned them the nickname Bullet-Nosed Bettys.[4][5] The U-1-fs were the last new design of steam locomotives built for the CN.[6]

No. 6060 was first assigned to pull short freight trains between Montreal, Quebec, and Brockville, Ontario for three round-trips before entering main line passenger service, pulling the Continental Limited and International Limited trains.[7] In 1959, it was retired and sat in storage on a siding outside in Winnipeg, Manitoba, awaiting to be sent to the scrap yard. But three years later, No. 6060 was rescued for preservation by CN engineer Harry R.J. Home who purchased the locomotive for $1 and put it on static display at the Jasper station in his hometown of Jasper, Alberta.[1]

6060 operating on the Alberta Prairie Railway in 2004

In 1973, CN reacquired 6060, and they restored it to operating condition for excursion service in 1971, as a replacement for U-2-g Confederation 6218, and after being restored by CN in 1973, hauled excursions for their steam excursion program until 1980, when CN ended the program.[8]

That same year, to commemorate the Province of Alberta's 75th anniversary, 6060 was presented to the people of Alberta as a gift. After more than five years of retirement, it was restored a second time with the help of Harry Home, the Province of Alberta and volunteers from the Rocky Mountain Rail Society. 6060 travelled under her own power to Vancouver, British Columbia, in 1986 to participate in the Steam Expo, part of the Expo 86 world's fair, alongside several other steam locomotives, including Canadian Pacific Railway (CPR) 4-6-4 2860, CPR 4-6-2 1201, CN 4-6-0 1392, and Union Pacific (UP) 0-6-0 4466. After Expo 86 ended, the 6060 and 2860 doubleheaded back to Alberta, though when they got there, 6060 developed a mechanical failure, forcing it to be taken off the excursion, while 2860 returned to Vancouver.[9]

After several years of storage at the Alberta Railway Museum near Edmonton, 6060 was moved to Stettler in 1998 to operate regularly in the service of Alberta Prairie Steam Tours (APST). More than a decade later, it continued to transport thousands of excursion passengers every summer until it went out of service in early 2011. Several years later, the APST began performing an overhaul on the locomotive, and as of 2023, the overhaul is still under way.[10]