Atlantic & Canada

During the summer of 1961, Bill Vigrass planned a trip with friend Bill Garrison to escape the heat and humidity of Cleveland for the cool climate of Atlantic Canada (concentrating on New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). This trip occurred right as CN was in process of revamping its image, introducing Alan Fleming's famous "noodle" logo. It would be a while before the image was applied (beyond experimental applications) to locomotives and rolling stock in quantity. In that summer of '61, the designer hoped the new image would last for 50 years; the image has been with us for 64 years and still looks stylish.

CN still ran a lot of service (first class and mixed trains) in the Atlantic Provinces and was only a year past the dropping of the fires on its last steam locomotives. "The two Bills" found a lot of variety in the motive power in charge of the services in these parts. This piece celebrates some of that variety. Although they recorded action on the CP and other carriers, to keep the length manageable, this article concentrates solely on some of the CN action they documented.

CN 47-Ton #775 - St. John's, Newfoundland - July 22, 1961

Hands-down the busiest engine in the St. John's Terminal was terminal switcher CN 775. Built in August 1948 as Newfoundland Railway 5000, this was one of three diesels (all GE 47-tonners) the railway would turn over to CN in 1949 (when Newfoundland joined the Confederation). In 1969 the 775 was sold to the Northern Railway of Costa Rica, becoming their locomotive 15.

The world population of 47-ton GE dropcabs was less than 50 units. The bulk of these were narrow gauge, including the three 42" gauge units for Newfoundland. BTW, Trans-Canada Airlines' (TCA) Vickers Viscounts had taken "the two Bills" from New York to Halifax (via Boston) and then from Halifax to St. John's on July 22nd. TCA (a CN subsidiary) was founded in 1937; in 1965 it became Air Canada.

CN NF210 #940 - Tickle Harbor, Newfoundland - July 23, 1961

C-C trucked NF210 940 (A1836: 1/60) cautiously heads mixed M4 past a meet with Train 1 the "Caribou" at Tickle Harbour. Train 1 is 80 miles into its 547-mile journey to Port Aux Basques, and if on-time, this meet was scheduled at 4:43 PM Newfoundland Daylight Savings Time, 1 hour-30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Standard Time.

The 940 would go on to serve CN successor (of the Newfoundland railways operation from April 1980) Terra Transport. Retired in 1989, today the engine can be found at the museum in Whitbourne, NFD. Bill's notes on Train 1's consist indicate that there were two 900s pulling a 12-car train, including coaches, a diner and a few 8 Section-1 Drawing Room sleepers (all non-air-conditioned). blank, blank, blank, blank, blank, blank,

CN 70-Ton #31 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - July 28, 1961

Delivered to CN as the 7805 during 1950, this GE 70-tonner was renumbered to 1531 in September 1954 and finally to the 31 from June 1956. Here, it heads mixed train M251, due out of Charlottetown at 1745. If on-time, this train will tie up in Tignish at ten minutes past midnight, after having covered 115.5 miles of line. The 31 was retired by CN in December 1967

Thirty-eight of GE's intermediate-size locomotive found homes on mainline, regional and short-line railroads in the Provinces; CN was the largest employer at 18 units,

CN H1244 #1639 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - July 29, 1961

The next morning, "the two Bills" were riding Train 39, the Charlottetown-Moncton Boat Train. Power for this train was one of CN's unique H1244s, the 1639, built by CLC in October 1955. These units were 10 inches longer than a typical H12 and also rode on 8'-10" wheelbase road trucks. This engine was on the CN roster for just under 11 years; the last of these H12s were retired at the end of December 1968.

Train 39 provided only coach accommodation (also transporting a baggage car, an RPO and the express boxcars shown behind the 1639) and was scheduled to take 3 hours and 35 minutes to cover the 53.4 miles from Charlottetown to Borden. The consist was transferred to a CN ferry to make the 9.5-mile crossing of the Northumberland Straight and then would resume its rail-borne journey, tying up in Moncton, NB at 1:40 pm.

The backdrop for this shot is a portion of the Richardson Romanesque-style Charlottetown CN station, which opened in July 1907. The building still stands at the corner of Water & Weymouth Streets, although now repurposed.

CN S12 #8240 - Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick - July 29, 1961

Following the 55-minute crossing on CN ferry "MV Abegweit" (to the right of the locomotive), Train 39 is passing another Canadian-only locomotive switching out the freight cars for the ferry. CN 8240 was an MLW model S12, one of 11 built in mid-1958. This locomotive was retired on June 19, 1985, one of three of the S12s retired that day.

"MV Abegweit" began service on the New Brunswick-Prince Edward Island crossing (acting as an ice-breaker, in addition to performing the ferry duties) from August 11, 1947. The ship had a capacity of 19 railroad cars, 60 autos and 950 passengers. Canadian rail de-regulation led t o the abandonment of the Prince Edward Island rail network, with the last train running on December 28, 1989. The Confederation Bridge (opened on the last day of May 1997) superseded the ferry service. Today, the "MV Abegweit" is the property of the City Yacht Club in Chicago.

CN FPA4 #6764 - Moncton, New Brunswick - July 29, 1961

At Moncton "the two Bills" waited on the arrival of CN's Train 1 "Ocean Limited," which had a 20-minute layover (4:00-4:20 pm), during which a 22-roomette sleeper was added to the train's already substantial summer consist. Five sleepers had originated with this train in Halifax. Leaving Campbelltown, Train 1 would have four locomotives pulling 23 cars - 17 of which were sleepers!

FPA4 6764 served for both CN and then Via (into 1989) before joining the roster of the NY&LE. Not long after this photo, CN selected the "Ocean Limited" to experimentally operate the passenger cars demonstrating its new image.

During the course of their summer 1961 trip, "the two Bills" managed to rack up 1,844 miles using CN trains, along with almost 117 miles on CN ships.

Acknowledgements: Without Bill's notes on the trip, this piece would not have been possible. In addition, several websites, along with "Trains" and "X2200S" were used to prepare this piece. Craig also helped with the roster details.

Atlantic & Canada Adventure 1961
Text by Art Peterson; all photos by J.W. Vigrass; from the Krambles/Peterson Archives, except as noted.
During the summer of 1961, Bill Vigrass planned a trip with friend Bill Garrison to escape the heat and humidity of Cleveland for the cool climate of Atlantic Canada (concentrating on New Brunswick, Newfoundland, Nova Scotia and Prince Edward Island). This trip occurred right as CN was in process of revamping its image, introducing Alan Fleming's famous "noodle" logo. It would be a while before the image was applied (beyond experimental applications) to locomotives and rolling stock in quantity. In that summer of '61, the designer hoped the new image would last for 50 years; the image has been with us for 64 years and still looks stylish. CN still ran a lot of service (first class and mixed trains) in the Atlantic Provinces and was only a year past the dropping of the fires on its last steam locomotives. "The two Bills" found a lot of variety in the motive power in charge of the services in these parts. This piece celebrates some of that variety. Although they recorded action on the CP and other carriers, to keep the length manageable, this article concentrates solely on some of the CN action they documented. CN 47-Ton #775 - St. John's, Newfoundland - July 22, 1961 Hands-down the busiest engine in the St. John's Terminal was terminal switcher CN 775. Built in August 1948 as Newfoundland Railway 5000, this was one of three diesels (all GE 47-tonners) the railway would turn over to CN in 1949 (when Newfoundland joined the Confederation). In 1969 the 775 was sold to the Northern Railway of Costa Rica, becoming their locomotive 15. The world population of 47-ton GE dropcabs was less than 50 units. The bulk of these were narrow gauge, including the three 42" gauge units for Newfoundland. BTW, Trans-Canada Airlines' (TCA) Vickers Viscounts had taken "the two Bills" from New York to Halifax (via Boston) and then from Halifax to St. John's on July 22nd. TCA (a CN subsidiary) was founded in 1937; in 1965 it became Air Canada. CN NF210 #940 - Tickle Harbor, Newfoundland - July 23, 1961 C-C trucked NF210 940 (A1836: 1/60) cautiously heads mixed M4 past a meet with Train 1 the "Caribou" at Tickle Harbour. Train 1 is 80 miles into its 547-mile journey to Port Aux Basques, and if on-time, this meet was scheduled at 4:43 PM Newfoundland Daylight Savings Time, 1 hour-30 minutes ahead of Atlantic Standard Time. The 940 would go on to serve CN successor (of the Newfoundland railways operation from April 1980) Terra Transport. Retired in 1989, today the engine can be found at the museum in Whitbourne, NFD. Bill's notes on Train 1's consist indicate that there were two 900s pulling a 12-car train, including coaches, a diner and a few 8 Section-1 Drawing Room sleepers (all non-air-conditioned). blank, blank, blank, blank, blank, blank, CN 70-Ton #31 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - July 28, 1961 Delivered to CN as the 7805 during 1950, this GE 70-tonner was renumbered to 1531 in September 1954 and finally to the 31 from June 1956. Here, it heads mixed train M251, due out of Charlottetown at 1745. If on-time, this train will tie up in Tignish at ten minutes past midnight, after having covered 115.5 miles of line. The 31 was retired by CN in December 1967 Thirty-eight of GE's intermediate-size locomotive found homes on mainline, regional and short-line railroads in the Provinces; CN was the largest employer at 18 units, CN H1244 #1639 - Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island - July 29, 1961 The next morning, "the two Bills" were riding Train 39, the Charlottetown-Moncton Boat Train. Power for this train was one of CN's unique H1244s, the 1639, built by CLC in October 1955. These units were 10 inches longer than a typical H12 and also rode on 8'-10" wheelbase road trucks. This engine was on the CN roster for just under 11 years; the last of these H12s were retired at the end of December 1968. Train 39 provided only coach accommodation (also transporting a baggage car, an RPO and the express boxcars shown behind the 1639) and was scheduled to take 3 hours and 35 minutes to cover the 53.4 miles from Charlottetown to Borden. The consist was transferred to a CN ferry to make the 9.5-mile crossing of the Northumberland Straight and then would resume its rail-borne journey, tying up in Moncton, NB at 1:40 pm. The backdrop for this shot is a portion of the Richardson Romanesque-style Charlottetown CN station, which opened in July 1907. The building still stands at the corner of Water & Weymouth Streets, although now repurposed. CN S12 #8240 - Cape Tormentine, New Brunswick - July 29, 1961 Following the 55-minute crossing on CN ferry "MV Abegweit" (to the right of the locomotive), Train 39 is passing another Canadian-only locomotive switching out the freight cars for the ferry. CN 8240 was an MLW model S12, one of 11 built in mid-1958. This locomotive was retired on June 19, 1985, one of three of the S12s retired that day. "MV Abegweit" began service on the New Brunswick-Prince Edward Island crossing (acting as an ice-breaker, in addition to performing the ferry duties) from August 11, 1947. The ship had a capacity of 19 railroad cars, 60 autos and 950 passengers. Canadian rail de-regulation led t o the abandonment of the Prince Edward Island rail network, with the last train running on December 28, 1989. The Confederation Bridge (opened on the last day of May 1997) superseded the ferry service. Today, the "MV Abegweit" is the property of the City Yacht Club in Chicago. CN FPA4 #6764 - Moncton, New Brunswick - July 29, 1961 At Moncton "the two Bills" waited on the arrival of CN's Train 1 "Ocean Limited," which had a 20-minute layover (4:00-4:20 pm), during which a 22-roomette sleeper was added to the train's already substantial summer consist. Five sleepers had originated with this train in Halifax. Leaving Campbelltown, Train 1 would have four locomotives pulling 23 cars - 17 of which were sleepers! FPA4 6764 served for both CN and then Via (into 1989) before joining the roster of the NY&LE. Not long after this photo, CN selected the "Ocean Limited" to experimentally operate the passenger cars demonstrating its new image. During the course of their summer 1961 trip, "the two Bills" managed to rack up 1,844 miles using CN trains, along with almost 117 miles on CN ships. Acknowledgements: Without Bill's notes on the trip, this piece would not have been possible. In addition, several websites, along with "Trains" and "X2200S" were used to prepare this piece. Craig also helped with the roster details.
New: 1 July 2022

Atlantic & Canada Adventure 1961