Caption: This might not be the most dramatic photograph, but it is somewhat historical…

This narrative is based on my best recall from 39 years ago…

I took this photograph on the longest school day ever. I’m guessing it was early April, 1976. I had recently joined the Ontario Rail Association in Toronto. At that time, they were in the final stages of restoring Pacific-type #1201. I believe that the initial portion of the restoration was performed by the folks at the Science and Technology Museum in Ottawa. At some point, the locomotive was sent to the ORA / CPR in Toronto for completion.

I say this was the longest school day, because I just couldn’t wait for it to end. I was in Grade 9 and I wanted to be down at John Street so badly. This was the first day that the locomotive would be fired back to life. If all went well, they hoped to run the locomotive for the first time in many, many years.

My classroom clock stopped repeatedly, but finally I was able to race downtown. I was relieved to arrive and see the testing still in progress. They had lashed-up #1201 with S-2 diesel #7032. They ran back and forth on the shop track repeatedly. As I recall, it was a very chilly day, but nobody seemed to mind the wait. Finally, the diesel was disconnected. With two shorts blasts on her whistle, #1201’s throttle was eased back and she gracefully broke into stride. I can’t describe the excitement of the small gathered crowd… it was simply thrilling! This photograph was taken very shortly after her first solo run.

Recently, I found this 35mm negative, but it was pretty badly damaged. I held little hope that the image could be returned to acceptable standards. The good folks at DigMyPics.com did a great job with the initial high resolution digital scan. It still took me a couple of hours (and perhaps a malted beverage or two) to Photoshop out the remaining scratches and damage. I’m rather delighted with the final result, and I hope that you’ll enjoy the photograph as well.

Trivia: The painting of the locomotive was supervised by ORA volunteer Bill Miller. He was a real gentleman and a very experienced professional painter. The paint finish was mirror-like. In fact, it was so reflective that the wispy clouds can be seen here on the tender.

Here is Mr. Danko’s historic image of a test run on a late April winter’s day with MLW RSD17, #8921…

http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=12256

If you missed my previous upload, here is #1201 and FP7-A #4038 during the delivery back to Ottawa...

http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=16859