Caption: The very first new EMD/GMD SD40-2 unit for CP Rail, 5565, sits in sparkling action red paint outside the Alyth Yard diesel shop in Calgary, Alberta. Delivered to CP on February 16th 1972, 5565 was less than a month old when this photo was taken, and possibly on its first maiden voyage out west. GP9 8611 in older maroon & grey script paint sits in the background.

CP 5565 was part of the first order of CP SD40-2's, 5565-5588, built at GMD's London, Ontario assembly plant and delivered in February-March 1972. They were numbered above CP's SD40 series (5500-5564), and the new "Dash 2" model featured a number of improvements on the earlier SD40 design (that CP had had teething problems with). Impressed with their reliability, they became CP's main 3000-horsepower 6-axle road power across much of the system for decades, with CP eventually accumulating over 500 new and secondhand units (CP was the third-largest SD40-2 owner, behind BN and UP).

CP 5565 was retired and sold to Progress Rail in 2007, eventually falling off the radar (possibly scrapped or stored out of service somewhere).

Doug Wingfield photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.