Canadian Pacific No. 972

Canadian Pacific No. 972 is a preserved D-10j class 4-6-0 "Ten-wheeler" type steam locomotive that was built by the Montreal Locomotive Works in 1912 for the Canadian Pacific Railway.
It was used for pulling branch line and mainline freight trains for the Canadian Pacific Railway, until it was removed from service in 1959. It was subsequently stored in front of the Weston shops with several other steam locomotives in the form of a scrap line.
It eventually became famous for pulling multiple mainline excursion trains throughout the state of Pennsylvania under the ownership of George Hart.
In 1971, No. 972 visited the Strasburg Rail Road in Strasburg to promote the future opening of the Railroad Museum of Pennsylvania. On October 25, 1975, No. 972 led a double-headed excursion train in front of Ex-Florida East Coast (FEC) 4-6-2 No. 148 from Bethlehem to South Plainfield, New Jersey. That trip was a "Farewell to the Lehigh Valley" trip, since the LV was to be merged into Conrail the following year. However, that trip was also plagued by the poor condition of the trackage they rode on, and rain was down pouring across the states of Pennsylvania and New Jersey that day.
No. 972 subsequently returned to Jim Thorpe to continue pulling excursion trains throughout Carbon County. The locomotive returned to the Strasburg Rail Road to pull a tourist train for the National Railway Historical Society (NRHS) in March 1979. In October 1983, during the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Reading Company, No. 972 was relettered to 'Philadelphia and Reading', and it was selected to pull an excursion train in commemoration of the occasion, since none of the preserved Reading steam locomotives were available at the time. After Andrew Muller founded the Blue Mountain and Reading Railroad (BM&R), No. 972 began pulling trains out of Reading. In 1985, No. 972 was relettered again to 'Cumberland Valley' to pull commemorative trains for the 150th anniversary of the founding of the Cumberland Valley Railroad (CV). By the end of that year, however, the locomotive was removed from excursion service, since Hart's contract with the city of Jim Thrope expired. While making negotiations with the city to renew his contract, Hart moved No. 972 back to Strasburg for a heavy rebuild.
Since No. 972 was stored on Strasburg property for a rebuild that hadn't been paid for, the locomotive was sold to the Strasburg Railroad as a compensation. With the locomotive now under their possession, the Strasburg Railroad made plans to masquerade No. 972 as a Pennsylvania Railroad (PRR) G5, in order to fill in for their recently-retired PRR locomotives 1223 and 7002. This masquerade was to include replacing its firebox with a Belpaire one and moving its headlight to the top of the smokebox door.
Today it's still at the Strasburg Railroad but it's stored outdoors and disassembled in the Strasburg Railroad's yard. As a result of this, Hart had gave up on steam locomotive preservation, and he sold off all of his equipment.
==Trivia==
*In early 1966, No. 972 became the last steam locomotive to be sold by the CPR. Steam locomotive historian and former Reading Company employee George M. Hart purchased it with the hopes of using it to pull his own mainline excursion trains under his private company Rail Tours Incorporated.
*It was sold to the Strasburg Railroad in 1995, who had an initial plan to rebuild it to pull their own tourist trains.
*As of 2022, the tender is still lettered Cumberland Valley Railroad.
*The locomotive was moved to York, Pennsylvania to be refurbished, and later that same year, it was brought back under steam, and it began pulling excursion trains over the Maryland and Pennsylvania Railroad (MPA) between York and Delta. On one occasion, the locomotive pulled an excursion train on the Western Maryland (WM) mainline towards Cumberland, Maryland, and it returned to York on a double-headed excursion lead by CPR 4-6-2 No. 1286, another locomotive formerly operated by Hart.
*By the mid-1990s, Rail Tours had been facing some financial trouble, and they could no longer afford to pull steam-powered excursion trains. 
*As time progressed, however, the Strasburg Railroad had already rostered five operational steam locomotives, which was more than their crews could handle at the same time, and No. 972's rebuild was cancelled as a result.
==Gallery==
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Cp0972b9.jpg|No. 972 sitting, disassembled in the Strasburg Railroad's yard.
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Category:4-6-0 locomotives
Category:4-6-0 steam locomotives
Category:Six-coupled locomotives
Category:Steam locomotives
Category:Tender locomotives
Category:Canadian steam locomotives
Category:Canadian Pacific locomotives
Category:Locomotives
Category:Built in 1912
Category:Strasburg Railroad Engines
Category:Freight locomotives
Category:MLW locomotives
Category:Excursion locomotives
Category:Preserved steam locomotives