Caption: One of those rare-to-find angles: GO Transit GP40TC 603 shows off the as-built rear end of its long hood a day before the official launch of GO Transit service on May 23rd 1967, sitting at GO's Willowbrook Yard by the former CN Mimico Yard freight car repair shops that GO used in its early days. Note the old CN yard tower in the background. The old facilities GO took over were located at the northeast part of CN's Mimico Yard, off Judson Street (by Willowbrook Road) and east of present-day Islington Avenue (also see Bill Thomson's photo here).

Eight GP40TC (Toronto Commuter) units were built by GMD London in late 1966 for the Government's of Ontario's new experimental passenger commuter service, basically a GP40 on a longer SD40 frame that allowed a separate HEP generator to be included at the rear. They initially emerged sporting the numbers 600-607 and were delivered in a solid coat of very very dark blue (but with black underframes) and CN noodles on the cab sides. They were used for a few months in CN freight service before GO's startup, and later had their cabs and frames painted white and GO logos applied in preparation for GO's "Day One". The unique units, later numbered 9800-07 and finally 500-507, served GO for two decades until they were retired and sold to Amtrak in 1988, after the first order of new F59PH units rendered them surplus. A few rebuilds and paint jobs later, and they're still in service on Amtrak as de-turbo'ed "GP38H-3" units.

John F. Bromley photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection.

(A note to the modellers out there, the rear ends were modified a few times over their service lives on GO, notably the HEP hood section and rear end/anticlimber setup, so always consult era-specific prototype photos when possible. I also checked data sheet diagrams, and verified that the GP40TC frame shows the same end-to-end measurements as a standard SD40 frame).