Caption: Canadian National Railway 9104 begins its journey at Saint Eustache sur le lac with train 360 and a consist made up of 4 wooden commuter coaches. Note the truss rods, the tilted 'wafer' logo on the side of the cars, the sagging on the first car, and the two sets of marker lanterns, allowing the motor to run around the train without needing to relocate lanterns. Scheduled 7 days per week, as per the 1948 timetable, 360 will depart at 1330h inbound to Montreal.

The necessity of these locomotives ties directly to the geography of the line. In the early 1910s the Canadian Northern Railway was in need of a direct route into downtown Montreal, aiming to avoid both the competing Grand Trunk and Canadian Pacific Railways in the process. With access from the east, west, and south limited, the railway chose to approach from the north by boring a tunnel beneath Mount Royal. Coming in at approximately 3.1 miles in length, the tunnel would be unsuitable for steam locomotives due to the fumes and smoke, leading to the CNoR looking to GE for electric locomotives.

Built by General Electric from 1914 through 1917, the six box cab locomotives, numbered 600 - 605, were geared for 55mph passenger service under the 2,400 volt DC system running from downtown Montreal to Val Royal station, opening for service October 21, 1918. The electrification would later be extended to Saint Eustache sur le lac in the late 1920s (see 1945 view of station here). With the nationalization of numerous Canadian railways under the Canadian National Railways banner beginning in 1919, the locomotives would be renumbered to CNR 9100 - 9105 that year. They would retain these numbers until November 1949, when they would lose their 9's, becoming 100 - 105. In February 1969, they would be renumbered a final time to 6710 - 6715.

With the growth of transit in and around Montreal, commuter operations had been taken over by the Commission de Transport de la Communauté Urbaine de Montréal (CTCUM - later STCUM) in 1982, with CN providing equipment, crews, and maintenance. The end for such aged equipment was to come in the mid 1990s as new MR90 cars were ordered from Bombardier. Retirement of these and other electric motors serving these lines came on June 2, 1995 as equipment and infrastructure were upgraded, including a new 25kv electrical system, and CTC installation, eliminating the few remaining sections of train order operation in Canada. Agence Métropolitaine de Transport/AMT would fully take over operations on January 1, 1996. Of note, all GE box cabs retained their wooden doors and windows, as seen above on 9104, almost until retirement. They would be upgraded to steel in 1992 (see 6711 photo below).

Of the original six, four box cabs have been preserved: 6710 at Deux-Montagnes station(1), 6711 at Exporail(2), 6714, former 9104, at the Connecticut Trolley Museum, East Windsor, Connecticut(3), and 6715 at the Museum of Science & Technology in Ottawa(4).

It is worth noting CN had other electric power for these commuter operations including Electric Multiple Unit cars which will be detailed in a future post. As for locomotives, CN also rostered three steeple cab units built by GE in 1950, numbered 200 - 202, later 6725 - 6727, and another set of box cabs - nine in total - built by English Electric in Preston, Lancashire, England. These had been built for the Port of Montreal in 1924 - 1926 as the (now old) Port aimed to reduce smoke and fumes present in the area. Like the Mount Royal Tunnel a few years earlier, they too ran a 2,400 volt DC system. Numbered 101 - 109, the Commissaires du Port de Montreal motors served until 1940 when electric operations were discontinued at the Port due to excessive costs. The motors were exchanged to the CNR, who at the time was looking to increase its roster of electric power for commuter operations. In return, the CNR exchanged handful of 0-6-0 switchers to the Port. Further reading on Port of Montreal electrification can be found here.

CN GE box cabs:
Through East Junction.
CN 6714 (9104) in the noodle scheme.

CN English Electric box cabs:
At Val Royal.
Side Profile at Pointe St. Charles.

CN GE Steeple cabs:
Light power at East Junction.
Double header at Val Royal.

Information per a number of UCRS and CRHA newsletters.

Original Photographer Unknown, Jacob Patterson Collection Slide Duplicate.