them — and the modern U-2 class 4-8-4 steam locomotives before them— were harbingers of an industry striving to remain competitive. As much as I lamented the passage of the FPA-4s and the generation they represented, I was careful not to resent their demise. Experiencing these remarkable ma- chines in their prime was a rare pleas- ure, made richer with the knowledge that they had fulfilled their mandate and enriched the trackside experience. They also did much to perpetuate that experience, ensuring that a new gener- ation of observers can perhaps look up- on an F40 with similar respect a decade or more from now.


TOP LEFT: Though entering their third decade of service, VIA Rail Canada felt the classic MLW cab units projected a modern, streamlined image and featured one on the cover of its October 1983 timetable issue. COLLECTION RAPIDO TRAINS, INC. ABOVE: An FPA-4 leads the Atlantic in heavy fog beside Bedford Basin at Mill Cove, Nova Scotia, shortly after leaving Halifax, in August 1985. BELOW: VIA FPA-4 6781 is added to Train 11, the Atlantic, at Moncton, New Brunswick, on June 16, 1987, after the recently assigned F40PH-2 failed prior to departure from Halifax.


40 MARCH 2013 • RAILFAN.COM


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