Caption: MONSTER CANADIAN

A mega monster of a 30-car summer Canadian consist threads its ways to Toronto's Union Station at Bathurst Street bridge, dwarfing the little 10 car GO trains puttering in and out of the corridor on a sunny morning just after 8am.

Today's consist featured 30 matching stainless steel Budd passenger cars including 5 domes, 7 Chateau sleepers, 12 Manor sleepers, 3 diners, 2 coaches and a baggage. 4 GMD F40PH-2 locomotives (3 on the head end, one on the rear) provided the power on this long train, whose rear end stretches all the way to Peter St. by the Skydome/Rogers Centre.

The train was so big they had to split it in two at Union Station to load it on two separate platforms, thus necessitating the F40 on the tail end to keep the other half of the train supplied with power when it was split.

After boarding and coupling both sections back together, the Canadian departed for Vancouver half an hour late, zipping past Bathurst St. again at 9:30am in a cloud of white 2-cycle EMD smoke.

More at Bathurst Street:
The first rebuilt F40 on its maiden voyage west: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=4210
New and Old GO power morning mingling: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=11141
GO and VIA train mania after rush-hour: http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=11000