Special VIA liveries:

 

            VIA Rail Canada has often wrapped some of their F40’s in various advertising liveries. This page shows just some of the various liveries. The first such wrap was in 1990 when VIA wrapped F40 #6400 for Diet Pepsi. Unfortunately, I never took a photo of the unit. So I have used a screenshot from Microsoft Train Simulator of the unit.

 

 

            The second F40 to be wrapped was #6429. In 1992, the unit was wrapped by Home Hardware for a promotion. The unit remained in that livery for 10 years. While it was the Home Hardware unit, I was able to get some photos of it.

 

 

            Next, VIA wrapped a half dozen units for Kool-Aid, a popular sugary fruit beverage. Unfortunately, I never photographed any of those units until after they had had their liveries removed. So, I have included a Microsoft Train Simulator screenshot of F40 #6433 to show what the Kool-Aid scheme looked like.

 

 

            In 2002, VIA finally removed 6429’s Home Hardware wrap, but they wrapped it in a livery to advertise Telus, a phone/internet company. I’ve photographed it a few times and I’ve heard at least one person call the unit “The booger”! 6429 was rebuilt in 2010 and lost the ad.

 

 

Also in 2002, it was the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation’s 50^th anniversary. To celebrate this, VIA wrapped F40 #6403 in a special promotional scheme. The unit led a special train across Canada before being released to the regular fleet where it still wears the wrap. 6403 was also rebuilt in 2010 and lost the ad.

 

 

Some point later, VIA wrapped F40 #6411 into a livery promoting Operation Lifesaver and Direction 2006. I was able to photograph that unit on a couple occasions.

 

            Ironically on November 4, 2006, 6411 was leading the Ocean when it struck a car at a railway crossing! The two occupants of the car survived, but one can’t help but note the irony!

 

            6411 was rebuilt in late 2010 to early 2011 and lost the ad.

 

 

            In 2004, with the release of Spiderman 2, VIA wrapped F40s #6401, 6406, 6408, 6413, 6424, and 6434 in a livery promoting the movie. They even had a contest called “Spot the Spiderman train” where you could win a trip. I entered, but didn’t win. For the longest time, four of the units still wore the Spiderman 2 livery: 6401, 6406, 6408, and 6434. Perhaps with the upcoming release of Spiderman 3, those units may stay wrapped for a while yet. In 2010, three units were rebuilt leaving 6408 the last unit with the wrap.

 

 

            In late 2005, Budweiser paid to have a unit wrapped for a promotional “Superbowl Tailgate train” which was run to Detroit for Superbowl 2005. Former Spiderman unit #6424 was chosen for the task. After the unit was released into the regular VIA fleet. I only saw that unit once in the scheme on my Arizona trip, but I was unable to get a photo of it. That advertisement was short lived because by May, VIA had removed the ad leaving 6424 in the regular VIA livery. Since I couldn’t get a good shot of the unit, here’s a screenshot of the Budweiser unit in Microsoft Train Simulator.

 

 

            VIA’s next wrap was for a Quebec based lottery. F40 #6414 is the unit carrying the wrap. This unit has been nicknamed “The turd”. I have photographed that unit a few times.

 

 

            In 2011, VIA wrapped F40s 6445 and 6408, (the last Spiderman 2 unit) for Coors light beer. These units haven’t been rebuilt yet. They did that for a special train using VIA equipment called the “Silver Bullet Express.” I caught the equipment deadheading west on the Canadian and back east. Since 6408 was trailing, its wrap is apparently slight different then the wrap on 6445 so I included shots of both units. After returning to Toronto on #2, I thought they would head to Montreal for rebuilding, but they’ve since made runs on the Quebec City-Windsor corridor still wearing their wraps.

 

 

 

            After its stint as the Coors Light unit, 6445 roamed the VIA network for a few months. It then went in for rebuilt. After the unit was rebuilt, it became the first rebuilt F40 to be wrapped. It was done up in a special livery for the 100^th Grey Cup game and lead a train of wrapped coaches across Canada carrying CFL memorabilia and the actual grey cup. I photographed the train when it pulled into Union station next to the Maple Leaf on my 2012 Boston trip. The unit later got a VIA logo on the nose and I photographed the train when it was on display in Toronto in November.

 

 

            In 2017, Canada celebrated its 150^th birthday. To mark the occasion, VIA wrapped several F40s, LRC coaches, and lounge car Glenfraser to mark the occasion. The wraps are silver with cities presently served by VIA Rail. I was unable to get a good shot of an F40 in this livery, but I purchased a detailed model of an F40 in the livery by Rapido Trains.

 

 

            The unit depicted; #6402 was actually stranded in Churchill, Manitoba for months after the line was washed out and the railway and province couldn’t agree who would pay for the repairs. It and the rest of the train were actually loaded onto a ship that sailed to Montreal to unload the train! #6402 is now back in service.

 

            A number of P42s were also wrapped for Canada’s 150^th as well. This is the first time the P42s were wrapped since they entered service back in 2001. The locomotives were called “silver bananas”! Here is #904 with the wrap in Windsor.

 

 

            The following year was VIA’s 40^th anniversary. To mark the occasion, VIA modified the Canada 150 unit wraps to commemorate VIA’s 40^th anniversary as seen on #6436.

 

 

            It remains to be seen which units will be wrapped next.