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Caption: Duck, Duck...Goose! A CN freight sits near VIA's Belleville Station on CN's Kingston Sub, awaiting departure westward. Four of CN's unique GMD-built Canadian Safety Cab-equipped GP40-2 units are in charge today: matching zebra-striped GP40-2L(W) units 9624, 9416, and third sister unit, plus newly acquired GP40-2(W) 9670 still bearing her former owner GO Transit's colours.
CN and GO Transit were the only two roads to order the safety cab-equipped GP40-2 model, and GO sold 10 of their 11 commuter-service units off to CN around summer or fall 1991 after enough F59PH's were around to render some of GO's older power surplus. They had the GO markings removed but were put into freight service in their old GO colours with new CN numbers 9668-9677, numbered above CN's last order of units. From cross-referencing other photos, the units only ran like that for a year or so, as most appear to have visited the paint shop during 1992 for their zebra stripes.
Ron Visockis photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection slide.
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Great information Dan, as always. Hard to believe how commonplace CN’s wide nosed GP40-2′s once were. Doubtful a single model locomotive will ever again dominate the landscape.
I’d imagine seeing yet another train full of GP40-2W’s back then was equivalent to seeing yet another train of GE C44′s or SD70M-2′s trackside today…not really worth going out of the way to shoot, because the next train will probably have the same thing.