We are pleased to announce that the TRHA has acquired the “F7 Park Diesel” to provide backup to our “mini-whit” miniature railway engine.

The F7 has seen service in Roundhouse Park before as it was built and owned until now by Michael Guy.  In recent years, it has been used in backup service by the Golden Horseshoe Live Steamers in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada.

We are quite certain the the body of this engine was part of an amusement park locomotive, likely for a 15″ gauge or an 18″ gauge system.  Hence the term “Park Diesel” has been used to describe it. We also tend to call it an F7 but with its squared off nose, perhaps it should be called an FPA-4 (see image below). It is not a scale model of a full size engine so either just might do.  Most amusement park diesels were only roughly to scale and built instead for rugged daily service.

Michael and I discovered the body of this engine in a railway fan’s collection in Wasaga Beach, Ontario while we were purchasing a full size speeder.  Michael bought the body and then built a 7 1/2″ gauge chassis for it with a gas-hydraulic system to power it, just as he did for the mini-whit locomotive.  For many of us, the locomotive brings back fond memories of riding behind such miniature locomotives in years past.

In the photos below, the Park Diesel has been pressed into service as our mini-whit was off working as a travel ambassador (Watch for our report on her adventures soon). 

Posting by Russ Milland; Photos by Lance Gleich

Click on each image for a closer look!

FPA-4 Models from Rapido Trains