Caption: Anyone out there needing to foam knew that Bayview was the place to be in the 1970s. Sure, it could still be, but the lack of communication back then (phones, scanners, etc) meant we had to go where the action was, and maybe pick up some information that might send us out on the prowl.
Another drawing card was the CP/TH&B "Starlite". I get to thinking this was the only regular mainline train that I never knew by any number. I just knew it by name. Did it have a number?
Here is a solid set TH&B making its way back to Toronto from Hamilton with 76, 402 and 75 leading the way.
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Did it always run as an extra? I see in your other shots it is flying the white flags as well. Or is it simply an extra because it’s on CN trackage?
I could be out by a mile, but those look like CP torpedo tubes on top of the 402. CP being one of the few who could actually swap that kind of part.
Fantastic shot as always!
Thanks, Marcus, for the compliment. Your cheque will be in the mail.
Regarding the “extra” question, since it wasn’t a scheduled train shown in the (employee) timetable…not a first, second, third, or fourth class train…the Starlight was an extra and had to display signals (flags)!
Great shot Arnold….such an historic photo, showing what once was and not just the TH & B. But how any railfan could go anywhere to get a photo…and being safe while doing so.
CN9317: Thanks for the observation. Never had an employee timetable never really knew the status. Since it ran daily for a number of years I did not think of it as “extra”. It was much more ‘regular’ than the scheduled trains.
Arnold, operating rules are a fascinating subject and these days you can find both the current CROR (Canadian Rail Operating Rules) and the old Uniform Code of Operating Rules (in effect at the time of your photo) on line. Good chance that you could find scans of employee timetables as well!
Here’s a link to an employee timetable of the Oakville sub in 1961.
http://rollymartincountry.blogspot.com/2016/06/cnr-1982-bayview-go-trains-and-1961.html
I agree, great shot Arnold!
Regarding the torpedo tubes, 402 had some work done at Agincourt around this time, and the tubes got painted Action Red.
That style of tube wasn’t standard on CP. The roof-mounted air tanks that CP used on their passenger GP9s (8500-8529) were shorter and broader, because they had to sit farther forward, ahead of the dynamic brake blister.
The two pairs of long skinny torpedo tubes could also be seen in Canada on NYC/PC/CR 7439-7440, based in St. Thomas, and on any GTW 4900-series geep assigned to a run-through service.
John and all: Thanks for the wealth of information. All these years I have complained about the removal of the Beach Sub. I’m still convinced that somehow it could have been worked as an express by-pass, especially now that GO threatens to come to Niagara.
Thanks for the tube info Jakob.
Bad assumption on my part. You see red tubes, CP has them atop of their GP9′s also, which quickly leads to swappable.