Canadian Pacific Railway

GMD FP7 and F7B 1500 hp 65 mph

Christmas is fast approaching and travellers are heading east on No. 8 The Dominion led by 4036 stopped at Revelstoke
(due 10.05 A.M.) on Saturday December 23, 1961 having left Vancouver 8:00 P.M. the night before.
Joseph Testagrose Collection

4059 FP7 (GMD A306 2/1952) and 4431 F7B (GMD A257 11/1951) departing westward with empty stock cars.
Alyth Yard, Calgary. October 1954 CPR/Steve Morris Collection

Burns & Co. stock yard to the right of picture and old Alyth over pass in distance. Lots of changes since this photo was taken as dwarf signal was part of the old 12th Street East Interlocking. There were lots of cattle ranches in the interior of BC as well as stock loading just west of Calgary at Glencoe and Cochrane. During the 1940’s and into the 1960’s the largest cattle ranch in Canada was the Douglas ranch north of Ashcroft BC.

Patrick Burns built one of the world's largest integrated meat-packing empires, P. Burns & Co.

Note: 4059 was renumbered 1417 and regeared to 89 mph 1/13/1955 for passenger service.

4071 leads and RS-10 and a leased B&M B unit through Ely, Vermont north of White River Junction on the Boston & Maine past a neglected station where passenger service ended on January 3, 1965. This line was built in 1848 as the Connecticut & Passumpsic Rivers finally reaching the US/Canada border 110 miles north May 1, 1867 just on time for Confederation on July 1st. Leased by the B&M in 1887 and eventually acquired 11/1946. Note the Texaco gas station sign at far left.
July 1970 Jim Reddington/Joseph Testagrose Collection

4071 (FP7 GMD A372 9/1952) leads a pair of RS-3's and a B&M A unit on a time table train westbound through
Tarratine, Maine on the International of Maine. August 1970. Jim Wright

Note: 4071 has a long and interesting history. Built as a 65 mph passenger unit, it was regeared to 89 mph, equipped by GMD with a steam generator and renumbered 1427 11/1954 for The Canadian and other fast passenger trains. Cuts to passenger train service saw it returned to 4071 in 2/1966. Later, it operated in Montreal suburban service. Sold 10/1982 to CTCUM/MUCTC 1301 for Montreal area commuter service. Later, AMT 1301 it received a special paint scheme for Le Riverain a seasonal Montreal tourist train operated by AMT. It was retired and sold 11/2002 to Trains Touristiques de Chaudiere-Appalaches as TTCA_1301 a new tourist train operation on Chemin de fer de Quebec Central, the resurrected Quebec Central. It was discontinued at the end of season 2004 and put up for sale. Re-sold again it went to West Virginia Central for tourist train service repainted as Western Maryland 243.

It is approaching 8:50 a.m. on a wintery day in March 1967 and the Atlantic Limited lead by 4075 an FP7 (GMD A376 10/1952) is near the end of its overnight journey from Montreal via the shortcut across northern Maine to Saint John, New Brunswick. Note the two container cars next to the engines handling express. CPR was an earlier container operator. 4075 was numbered 1431 and re-geared for 89 mph and equipped by GMD with a steam generator in January 1955 for The Canadian which began service in April. Following removal of secondary service The Dominion it, and many other GMD FP7 A and B units were re-numbered back to their original numbers and re-geared for 65 mph. (4075 1/1966). 4075 and others were used on Montreal suburban (commuter) service. It was sold in October 1982 to MUCTC 1305, which took over the Montreal commuter service. Later, AMT 1305 and finally 1305 on the revived Quebec Central.