Curtain Call for VIA FPA-4s Effective 1986-1989
Rappel pour les FPA-4s de VIA En vigueur 1986-1989
LEFT: A former Canadian Pacific Park-series sleeper-lounge-dome-observation car brings up the rear of the Atlantic at Folly Mountain, Nova Scotia, amidst waning fall foliage in Oc- tober 1987. An unusual F40PH-2/FPA-4 pair- ing led the train on this day.
BELOW: On
February 17, 1987, during the first week of F40PH-2 operation on VIA’s Maritimes routes, the eastbound Atlantic and Ocean pause side- by-side at Moncton, New Brunswick. At this time, the Ocean terminated in Moncton, while the Atlantic continued east to Halifax.
Right place, right time
VIA’s new GMD F40s weren’t with- out their teething pains, however, and one of the displaced MLW cab units had, perhaps, the last laugh on June 16, 1987, when it came to the rescue of an ailing successor. I happened to be aboard the westbound Atlantic that day, settling into a dome seat in a for- mer Canadian Pacific Park-series ob- servation sleeper, when assigned F40 No. 6412 balked prior to departure. One of CN’s A1A-retrucked RS-18 road switchers was pulled from its terminal switching duties to lead the trouble- some F40, along with F9B No. 6615, out of Halifax. The light-footed road switcher did its best, but was hard- pressed to make up much time as the train loped through Nova Scotia. A blue-and-yellow mirage appeared upon arrival
at Moncton, however, and
erased any concerns I might have had about poor timekeeping. Freshly scrubbed and standing by on an adja- cent track, FPA-4 No. 6781 had been summoned to replace the pinch-hitting RS and lead that day’s Atlantic for the rest of its trip to Montréal. Going home in style, indeed.
New regulations passed down by Transport Canada required Reset Safe- ty Controls in all leading locomotives. Rather than upgrade the venerable cab units, it was decided to sell them off in view of looming budget cuts and service reductions. The FPA-4’s rolled their last miles for VIA in 1989, and some would go on to find homes with new owners abroad. Had I not left the Maritimes soon af-
ter the FPA-4s did, I’d still be drawn to the sight of passenger trains winding alongside Bedford Basin or stepping across Tantramar Marsh. The players changed that week in February 1987 — and they’ll change again — but, as Shakespeare wrote, “The play’s the thing.”
Kevin J. Holland is a freelance writer, editor, and publications designer based in Burlington, Ont.
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