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Caption: The foliage is getting up already, it is almost the end of May as I am looking out from the Wolf Island bridge (old Hwy2; now Plains Rd) grabbing a shot of a Hamilton-bound GO. Interesting thing about this train, and something largely forgotten by the fans, is the presence of an APU (Auxiliary Power Unit) behind the GO 720. There were only 3 of these on the GO roster, 800-802. This unit, 802, as well as the other two was a former Northern Pacific F7B. These helped with head end power (HEP) as the twelve car train needed light and heat and all this was a excess burden on a GP40 leader. Once GO acquired their fleet of F59PHs, the APUs were no longer needed. One was sold and two were scrapped in 1995.
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Wasn’t there an FP9 on the tail end for this need? Hard to tell.
On this particular move, there was another GP40 on the trailing end. I failed to record the number.
This is cool
They sure lasted into the 90′s..
WOW! Did not realize GO ran 10+ coach long trains back in the day! Special occasions or commonplace??
Stuart: My memory fails me. I THINK GO ran two trains a day into Hambone from Toronto at that time. Maybe 3. Out early morning from Ham and back early evening. And yes, they were lengthy trainsets.
Great shot again! Miss those ex Rock Island GP40s, remember them as a kid.
For a while, until ridership dropped in the mid 1990s and they got rid of the last of the old equipment, they did run 3 12-car trains using 2 older locos and either one of the APUs or APCUs. 2 of them ran out of Hamilton, and the other out of Oshawa.
Excellent info, Thanks.
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16931
and one @ Toronto by James Adeney
They still only run 4 trains from The Hammer in the morning and 4 trains back. I figured with all the work their doing there would be more. My GF is looking forward to the station in East end as she’s up with the Chickens to go to job in Toronto.