Caption:
VIA Rail train #5 Super Continental is minutes out of Union, first stop is CN St. Clair West
North of Parkdale, January 26, 1980 Kodachrome by S.Danko
Notable: that painted nose on GMD FP9A #6519 appears to be a quick attempt to erase the noodle.
Third car is an ex CP Chateau in crew dormitory service
Shocking:
The VIA Super Continental disappeared from VIA timetables effective November 15, 1981, replaced by daily (un-named) service:
sleeper equipped trains #7 & #8 Capreol – Winnipeg;
coach trains #109 & #110 Winnipeg – Regina – Saskatoon;
Budd car trains #681 & #682 Saskatoon – Edmonton;
the sleeper equipped Skeena trains #9 & #10 Edmonton – Jasper – Prince Rupert
and VIA service on CN between Winnipeg and Saskatoon? And Jasper and Kamloops? You were on your own !
sdfourty
|
Excellent shot! The building on the left at Dundas & Lansdowne used to be home to National Cash Register in the 60′s, but by the time of this photo was probably home to grocery chain Knob Hill Farms (who took over a number of vacated industrial buildings in the Toronto area and turned them into grocery stores or what they called “food terminals”). It later became a No Frills, I think about 1/3 of the building survives now. Odd siding arrangement here, I think one of those was a service track and lead to a small storage yard east of Lansdowne.
Thank you for sharing this gem. Parkdale makes an honourary appearance in this classic STC video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eAzNkDLRCao
I note that behind the FP9A there’s an FPB4 – and some people claim VIA never used these ‘in the West’, yet here’s one on the Super!