Caption: The fourth and final TEE trainset purchased by the Ontario government for use on the Ontario Northland Railway’s Northlander operation is seen making its southbound station stop at the 1917 Orilla station headed for Toronto.

Less than a year since arrival on Canadian soil, the 4 sets arrived originally numbered 1900 – 1903 and were renumbered to 1980 – 1983 soon after. With the retirement of the European power cars due to poor performance in harsh Canadian temperatures in 1979 and replaced by modified F-units, they would again be renumbered to 1984 – 1987 and the sets finally retired in the early 1990s. Some cars were sent back to Europe for display in a museum, while a couple still remain on the ground in a fenced lot in North Bay.

Since the removal of the tracks in 1996, the station, owned by the city, has continued to serve as a stop for Ontario Northland buses, a Service Ontario office, and other small operations until April 8, 2019 when the property was purchased by a numbered company. The city had attempted to sell the property a few years earlier but paused the sale until the structure could be designated a protected heritage site. A partner of the company, Eric Pong, recently announced the intentions of the owners to use the building as an art gallery and museum focusing on the heritage of the site and Orillia’s railways.

More Orillia:
Eastbound Canadian, April 1979 by Barry Schroeder.
Hooping orders to the westbound Canadian, June 1980 by Steve Danko.

Dorothy F. Wiener Photo, Jacob Patterson Collection Slide.