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Caption: Swinging around the curve at Bayview Junction and ready to tackle the hill, Amtrak F40PH 344 leads five Amfleet cars and three VIA Tempos on joint VIA-Amtrak train #81, the "International", heading up the Dundas Sub on its trip from Toronto to Chicago. A few of the local railfans are visible on the right, hanging out near the junction sign (probably awaiting more exciting things, and not all that impressed by the usual F40 and Amcans).
Due to the success of the joint VIA/Amtrak "Maple Leaf" the year earlier, in 1982 it was agreed to extend an Amtrak service from the US cross-border to Toronto, which became the "International". In its later years, it was moved from the Dundas Sub routing here to the Guelph Sub, and was eventually cancelled in 2004 due to funding, ridership, and border delays (Bill Thomson caught the final train at Sarnia, by then running with P42's and Superliners: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=30806).
Reg Button photo, Dan Dell'Unto collection.
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I see foamers at right.. prob people we know too
Has anyone else noticed how much 344 shows up in Amtrak shots (in Ontario) from the 80s? If it isn’t on the International, it’s on the Maple Leaf.
If Amtrak had any other units regularly assigned to “Canada” trains, it isn’t obvious from the photographic record – but 344 must have been close to writing the citizenship test.
I’ve noticed quite a few of those Amtrak 33x/34x units on both trains, perhaps that group was assigned to a maintenance outpost in the US nearby. I think it was 339 that had a small “VIA” applied on the nose too.