Caption: Two fresh Big M's! The bright Action Red paint shines off CP Rail M636's 4700 and 4702 as they depart CP's Toronto (Agincourt) Yard heading north for the connecting track leading to the Belleville Subdivision, as seen from the Finch Avenue East overpass.

According to Dean & Hanna's CP "bible", units 4700 and 4702 were both outshopped from MLW on November 21st 1969. The processing stamp on this slide is November 1969, so it's safe to say this photo was taken sometime during late November and hastily developed. I would hazard a guess the pair made their maiden voyage west from Montreal to Toronto, and this was the same power departing back for Montreal.

The 3600 horsepower 6-axle units were the most powerful diesels CP had purchased to date (the M636's specifically for mainline road freight service) but they found the high-horsepower units had the usual MLW quirks and ailments, and didn't live up to the reliability of competitor GMD's SD40-2 model. The last 6-axle MLW units were officially retired in December 1993 (complete with ceremony at St. Luc), but a handful were briefly reactivated in 1994-1995 due to a power shortage.

Urban development was progressing to the west and south, but CP's Toronto Yard was still surrounded by rural Scarborough farmland. Some budding industrial development is starting to spring up to the north-east here, along with a new auto compound in the distance (soon to get rail sidings for autorack ramp loading). Today, Toronto Yard is surrounded by industrial/commercial development and no longer out in the boonies.

Reg Button photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection.