Caption: CP RS18 8751, handling today's "Moonlight", is captured here in a rare photo working the CN-CP interchange at Brampton diamond during its trip south on the Orangeville Sub enroute to Streetsville Junction. The unit has uncoupled from its train (visible sitting on the main track in the distance) and is backing around on the south leg of the interchange track, either lifting or setting off cars. Note the neat NCHX covered hopper lettered for CIL (Canadian Industries Ltd) just behind the power. The diamonds for the CN Halton Sub north and south mainline tracks are visible at the lower left.

1950's maps show the Brampton interchange track split off from the Orangeville Sub just south of Rosedale Ave. and continued south to the diamond, where it curved east around the south end of the J.W. Hewetson Shoe Co. building, crossed Mill Street and lead into the CN station grounds. By time this photo was taken, the interchange had been extended north to just south of English Street, and at the south end the track ended to the right just out of frame at a switch to CN's Halton Sub (protected by dwarf signals), that CN used to access the interchange. One can see a crossover north of the diamond that allowed CP to come off the Orangeville Sub and access the south end of the interchange track for southbound lifts and setoffs (best reference online I can find is this 1968 aerial).

North of the diamond just south of Vodden was a siding that branched off the interchange track and headed east to Dale Estates (a large Brampton greenhouse operation, helping give Brampton its "Flower City" nickname). There are accounts of fresh flowers being shipped out of the CPR Brampton Station on passenger trains back in the day, but apparently the boilerhouse at the end of the spur once took hoppers full of coal.

I haven't been able to nail down an exact date when interchanging here between CN & CP was discontinued, but have heard it was sometime in the 80's. A source mentioned some modern OBRY traffic for CN was still billed as interchanged at Brampton (on paper), even though the physical interchange actually happened at Streetsville with CP, who then forwarded the cars to CN.

The mothballed Brampton interchange track remained mostly intact and connected to CN into the 2000's until signal upgrades and track work in the area around June 2007. It was during that time when CN removed their switch and dwarfs for the interchange track, and some of the rail at the sound end was buried (the northbound and southbound OBRY signals were also replaced, as CN maintained the signal system while CP maintained the physical diamond, even in the OBRY era). Some speculate OBRY having an active interchange here with CN would have allowed them to reduce their operating costs by abandoning or selling off the southern portion of their ex-CP Orangeville/Owen Sound Sub between Brampton diamond and Streetsville, but nothing ever became of that idea.

Roger Heed photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.