Caption: 1976.

Olympic year.

Montreal.

The first ever Olympic Games held in Canada.

If EXPO67 was THE even of the Sixties, then the Montreal Olympics was THE event of the Seventies.

A real big deal.

Have to thank the Olympics for this image * .

The pre Olympic construction boom in Montreal was unprecedented. Everything relating to construction was in short supply. Including construction equipment and vehicles. So much so that Toronto based truck rental and leasing businesses were paying chaps like me to drive brand new vans (built at the GM Scarborough Van plant – serviced by CN) to Montreal.

So, on a spring 1976 Saturday morning - after an overnight drive from Scarborough with a new white GM van as my wheels - captured everyone's favourite passenger power:

ALCO P A-4 #18

In charge of Amtrak train #68 the Adirondack (dome car operated north of Mechanicville, N.Y.).

Classic sight: Delaware & Hudson (ex ATFS) livery.

what more can I say?

The D&H acquired ATSF PA-1's no. 16 to 19 in 1967. Rebuilt 1974-1975 by Morrison-Knudsen with 251V12 engines and re-designated as ALCO model PA-4

April 1976 pre-SLR Kodachrome at CP Rail Westmount station, by S. Danko.

Postscript: And in Toronto we had a cousin of the PA in our back yard for over two decades! Imagine the RSD-17 in a cab car body: this is what THAT would have looked like!

Post Postscript: So why were the PA's in Amtrak service? * Have to thank, indirectly (and ironically), EMD due to problems Amtrak experienced with the new high-speed (100 m.p.h. Gearing (that's 162 k.p.h. In metric-eaze)) EMD SDP40F units (1973 – 1974). The SDP's developed a troubled reputation after reports of rough riding and several derailments blamed on its C-C trucks (which differed from EMD's freight C-C locomotives) causing the railroads over which Amtrak ran to impose speed limits starting in 1976-77. The replacement units, the EMD F40PH (1975 - 1992) took several years to produce, so in the interim the first generation power ( EMD E-8's and these Alco PA's ) remained in service longer that originally planned.

Post Post postscript: #18 is reportedly being restored to operating condition (with the 251V12 prime mover) as Nickel Plate #190 at the Oregon Rail Heritage Center.

(reference wikipeda)