Caption: A few months into the VIA Rail takeover of CP's passenger services, ex-CP FP9 1406 pulls into CN's Newmarket Station on the northbound VIA Canadian, passing two vans on the rear of a CN freight on the adjacent track. When VIA took over, the former CP Canadian was rerouted off its traditional routing over CP's MacTier Sub to/front Toronto and onto CN's Newmarket Sub that ran north out of Toronto slightly to the east.

Part of the takeover involved the sale of CP's stainless steel Budd passenger equipment to VIA, and most eventually received new blue letterboards and VIA logos, but some of the passenger power was a different story. Unlike other ex-CP units that received the blue and yellow paint of their new owner, FP9 1406 and a few others would remain in full CP colours (complete with CP Rail lettering) until retirement in the early 80's due to passenger service cutbacks. The plan was to slowly cycle the ex-CP power through CN's Pointe St. Charles shop for rebuilding and upgrading to VIA/CN standards, but only a handful of units were ever done before the cuts (the 6550/6650-series units). 1406 and a handful of other unrebuilt 1400's would be purchased back by CP for their engine blocks and other components to be used in the ongoing GP7u/GP9u rebuild program. The hulks would eventually be scrapped.

Today, Newmarket still sees passenger service in the form of Barrie Line GO Transit trains, but they stop at GO's own station on the north side of Davis Drive. The old CN Newmarket station, originally built by the GTR in 1900, is now home to Newmarket's Chamber of Commerce.

Barry Schroeder photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.