Caption: It's a little nippy out on this cold morning at Bayview Junction, as less-than-a-year-old CN GP40-2W units 9658 and 9657 in charge of train #409 meet eastbound VIA Rail passenger train #70 with FP9 6528 and FPB4 6866 in the lead.

You might not know it, but this photo was taken just days after VIA Rail as it currently exists was formed: CN's VIA branding had started in 1976, but VIA officially became a Crown corporation just three days earlier on January 12th, when CN (still a Crown corporation itself) spun off its passenger operations into a new separate entity. Here, the power and most of the train still sport CN colours, but a VIA-painted coach is visible on the head end. Over the next few years, most of the former CN & CP passenger equipment VIA acquired would be repainted into the common blue and yellow scheme (with a few exceptions, such as old equipment retired early on, and a few stragglers like an FPB4 that lasted in zebra stripes until retirement).

Checking a 1976 timetable, if my calculations are correct train #70 would have hit Bayview Junction around 9:15-9:25am in the morning, if running on schedule. Being inside riding the steam-heated passenger cars was probably quite nice on days like this!

Reg Button photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection.