New Page 1

 

To go to previous page click here

MONTREAL

MONDAY 22nd JULY

STCUM #406  emu at Deux Montagne

I bought tickets for Deux Montagne, attempting to speak in French but receiving an answer in English. The trains are made up of three two-car emus sets in unpainted metal. The line from Montreal Gare Centrale runs through the Mount Royale Tunnel, the reason for its electrification early this century. It is only in the last three years that the original locos and coaches have been replaced. It has been re­electrified and totally rebuilt at 25 KV AC. The line runs through the suburbs for about 10 miles and has a respectable off-peak service and appears well used.

Montreal Windsor station with STCUM gallery double deck train to Dorien

  Back in Montreal I walked across to the Windsor station, the old CP terminal, which is now used by the suburban diesel services to Dorion. The train was a three car double deck push-pull set built in the 1950s and propelled by an F unit in the silver and blue livery of the STCUM (Montreal passenger transit authority). I alighted at Dorval where the CP and CN main lines parallel each other. There is a VIA station on the CN and a suburban station on the CP.  

STCUM #1301 FP7 at Dorval on a Dorien to Montreal Windsor train

A freight headed a St.L&H SD40-2 #5532 and a SD40 and GP40 leased from HLCX roar west through Dorval

I spent about five hours there with 24 trains passing. A French Canadian enthusiast was there as well so I gleaned plenty of information from him. The traffic was a mixture of VIA, STCUM and heavy freights, these latter largely on the CP.  

An eastbound freight  at Dorval headed by CP Rail SD40-2 #5567 and three more SD40s, the second being a Norfolk Southern loco.

STCUM rush hour commuter train on the CP tracks

STCUM  GP9 #1313 on a Montreal Windsor-Beaconsfield

VIA LRC-2 #6917 at the head of a Montreal - Toronto service leaves Dorval on the CN tracks

I returned to Montreal and walked to the student hostel, about 10 minutes from the station. Montreal, as the first large American city I had seen was less intimidating than I expected because the eyes concentrate on the street level and not on the towers. The most obvious difference then is the width of the streets.

To return to top of page click here

To go to next page click here

For locomotive observation for this section click here