Caption: Three of CN's plentiful GP9 units, 4463, 4403 and 4600, sit in front of the station at Danforth in east-end Toronto on an eastbound freight as a member of the crew walks the platform, appearing to be eyeing the station. It's April 1961, and the last steam engines on the system had just been retired the previous year in favour of hoards of first-generation diesels such as GMD's popular GP9 model. Notes by the unknown photographer of this negative indicate the train was of ample size at 103 cars long, which would likely have required a helper engine for the eastbound grade here during the steam era. Freight cars visible in the background are parked in the adjacent Danforth Yard, CN's main east-end Toronto freight yard that would hold importance until its gradual decline after the "Toronto Bypass" and Toronto (MacMillan) Yard opened to the north of the city. Today the yard has been redeveloped into housing, and this location is now home to Danforth GO Station.

For the modelers out there, CN's 44/45/4600-series GP9's were regular or "heavy" freight units, as opposed to the light-weight 41/42/4300-series units. 4403 is one of the earliest such GP9's, exhibiting the old Pyle reflector style or "ash can" barrel headlights, a Phase 1 carbody configuration and early bolted stanchions. The other two units are later Phase 2 GP9's, but feature a unique-to-CN carbody louvre arrangement that moved one of the 2x3 set onto the next door, in order to spell out the full "Canadian National" lettering clearly. These units all had smaller 1000 gallon (imperial) fuel tanks, versus the more common 1333 gallon (imp, or 1600 US gallons) found on other railways. Rooftop-mounted spark arrestors and a long hood mounted bell are typical CN fare. In a way it's fitting that similar-looking CN GP7 4803 is preserved at the Toronto Railway Museum, a good representation of all the early CN Geeps that once handled freight in the post-dieselization era.

Original photographer unknown, Dan Dell'Unto collection negative.