Caption: Canadian National's newest name train, the Cabot, was just five weeks into its service life when I photographed it in Drummondville, Quebec, 62 miles east of Montreal on Tuesday, July 4, 1967. It began on Thursday, June 1, 1967, as a through 966-mile service from Sydney, Nova Scotia via Edmundston, New Brunswick to Montreal, Quebec. This route was the main route for freight to the Maritimes. Local services on the line that CN discontinued included a tri-weekly local from Moncton to Edmundston. They also cut similarly scheduled mixed trains that required an overnight stay at the intermediate division point of Monk if travelling between Edmundston and Joffre, the freight yard near Quebec City.

CN anticipated large travel volumes for Centennial Year events, notably Expo 67, the Worlds Fair in Montreal. Their new train reduced pressure on the Halifax - Montreal Ocean and Scotian services by offering a speedier, direct service for passengers from Newfoundland and eastern Nova Scotia. Train 18 left Montreal daily at 6.45 p.m. and arrived in Sydney at 9.15 p.m. the next day, easily connecting with the Newfoundland 'Night Boat' in North Sydney. In Nova Scotia, CN discontinued the overnight Halifax - Sydney conventional train on May 31, 1967, and added a through Sunday Railiner service.

The launch also saw the discontinuance of similarly numbered trains 18 and 19, the remnant of the old Maritime Express on the Moncton - Montreal route via Campbellton, New Brunswick. Local stops between Campbellton and Charny were then served by RDC's on Trains 618 and 619. On Wednesday, May 31, CN introduced another through coach, sleeping and dining car service to Gaspe on Trains 118 and 119 from a connection with the Montreal - Campbellton, Chaleur, Trains 16 and 17, at Matapedia, Quebec. At the same time, CN cut off Matapedia - Gaspe RDC's Trains 616 - 617 and except Sunday Mixed Trains 246 - 245.

The Cabot was a lengthy train. It included two coaches with reservations required for distances over 160 miles, unreserved coach(es), diner, lounge, coach-lounge, cafe car and four sleepers for the entire run. An Island series, 8 section 4 bedroom sleeper served Montreal - Edmundston and, an E-series 4 section, 8 duplex roomette, 4 double bedroom car ran between Montreal and Moncton.

The Cabot featured unusual motive power as CN assigned a pair of MLW C-424s and a steam generator car between Montreal and Moncton. They had 75 mph gearing, which was appropriate to both flat running and the curvy and hilly former National Transcontinental line through Edmundston. A pair of RS-18s often provided the power from Moncton to Sydney. However, the late James Hardie's photographs at Glen Bard show a pair of MLW cab units charging up the grade with 14 cars in tow. In this picture, MLW built MR-24b 3219 stands ready to depart Drummondville at 8:11 p.m. on the Fourth of July. MLW delivered 3219 in the summer of 1966. CN leased many of its 41 C-424s in the U.S. and Mexico. When MLW purchased 3219 on Tuesday, January 26, 1984, I think that they sold it to the NdeM.

An indication that the new Cabot was a success came in October 1967 when the premier train, the Ocean, added through Sydney cars at Truro and began to operate via Edmundston. The following summer season from late June through early September, the Cabot again ran as a through, separate train from Sydney but serving Campbellton while the Ocean continued to run via Edmundston. This seasonal pattern continued until Wednesday, January 7, 1970, when the Ocean once again travelled via Campbellton. From then until the end of though cars in late October 1979, the Scotian handled the cars west of Truro.