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The Canadian National Class Z-1-a was a series of six electric locomotives built by General Electric for the Canadian Northern Railway in 1917. They were used in service through the Mount Royal Tunnel in Montreal until retirement in 1995, operating for 76 years, 7 months and 12 days. [1]
They were classified as a Box-Cab model 0440-E-166-4-GE-228-A by General Electric, delivered new to the Canadian Northern Railway. They were very similar to 6 units built for the Butte, Anaconda and Pacific Railway, as was the electrification system. Each unit weighed 174,000 lb (79,000 kg). They had a B+B wheel arrangement, a maximum continuous tractive effort of 19,600 lbf (87 kN), capable of operating at a maximum safe speed of 55 mph (89 km/h). [1]
They were given the following classification: Class: Z-1-a by the CNoR in 1919; CN continued to use the same classification after 1919. One unit, CN 6713, was retired in 1993 and was then cannibalized for spare parts to supply the remaining class Z-1-a locomotives. [1] Another, CN 6712, was donated to the Town of Mount Royal, and was stored at that city's municipal garage pending selection of a suitable display site. Such a site was never found; the unit was cannibalized and scrapped in 2011.
Four locomotives were preserved.
The Canadian National Railway Company is a Canadian Class I freight railway headquartered in Montreal, Quebec, which serves Canada and the Midwestern and Southern United States.
Exo, officially known as Réseau de transport métropolitain, is a public transport system in Greater Montreal, including the Island of Montreal, Laval, and communities along both the North Shore of the Mille-Îles River and the South Shore of the St. Lawrence River. It was created on June 1, 2017, taking over from the Agence métropolitaine de transport. The RTM operates Montreal's commuter rail and metropolitan bus services, and is the second busiest such system in Canada after Toronto's GO Transit. In May 2018, the former Réseau de transport métropolitain (RTM) was branded as Exo.
Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) was a Canadian railway locomotive manufacturer which existed under several names from 1883 to 1985, producing both steam and diesel locomotives. For a number of years it was a subsidiary of the American Locomotive Company. MLW's headquarters and manufacturing facilities were in Montreal, Quebec.
The Canadian Northern Railway (CNoR) was a historic Canadian transcontinental railway. At its 1923 merger into the Canadian National Railway, the CNoR owned a main line between Quebec City and Vancouver via Ottawa, Winnipeg, and Edmonton.
The EMD FL9 is a model of electro-diesel locomotive, capable of operating either as a traditional diesel-electric locomotive or as an electric locomotive powered from a third rail. Sixty units were built between October 1956 and November 1960 by General Motors Electro-Motive Division for the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad.
The EMD SD40-2 is a 3,000-horsepower (2,200 kW) C-C diesel-electric locomotive built by EMD from 1972 to 1989.
The St. Clair Tunnel is the name for two separate rail tunnels which were built under the St. Clair River between Sarnia, Ontario and Port Huron, Michigan. The original, opened in 1891 and used until it was replaced by a new larger tunnel in 1995, was the first full-size subaqueous tunnel built in North America. It is a National Historic Landmark of the United States, and has been designated a civil engineering landmark by both US and Canadian engineering bodies.
An electro-diesel locomotive is a type of locomotive that can be powered either from an electricity supply or by using the onboard diesel engine. For the most part, these locomotives are built to serve regional, niche markets with a very specific purpose.
Deux-Montagnes or Two Mountains Line was an electrified commuter rail line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It was owned by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services throughout the Montreal area.
Deux-Montagnes station is a future terminus station of the Réseau express métropolitain (REM) in Deux-Montagnes, Quebec, Canada. REM service at the station is scheduled to begin in the fourth quarter of 2024. The station will serve as the terminus of the Deux-Montagnes branch of the REM.
The Mount Royal Tunnel is a railway tunnel in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. The tunnel is the third longest in Canada, after the Mount Macdonald Tunnel and the Connaught Tunnel, and connects the city's Central Station, in Downtown Montreal, with the north side of Montreal Island and Laval and passes through Mount Royal.
Montreal Central Station is the major inter-city rail station and a major commuter rail hub in Montreal, Quebec, Canada. Nearly 11 million rail passengers use the station every year, making it the second-busiest train station in Canada, after Toronto Union Station.
The Mascouche line is a commuter railway line in Greater Montreal, Quebec, Canada. It is operated by Exo, the organization that operates public transport services across this region.
The ALCO FA was a family of B-B diesel locomotives designed to haul freight trains. The locomotives were built by a partnership of ALCO and General Electric in Schenectady, New York, between January 1946 and May 1959. Designed by General Electric's Ray Patten, they were of a cab unit design; both cab-equipped lead FA and cabless booster FB models were built. A dual passenger-freight version, the FPA/FPB, was also offered. It was equipped with a steam generator for heating passenger cars.
The Confederation type is a locomotive with a 4-8-4 wheel arrangement used on Canadian railways. Most were built by the Montreal Locomotive Works (MLW) in Montreal, Quebec, and the Canadian Locomotive Company (CLC) in Kingston, Ontario, for the Canadian National Railway (CNR). The "Confederation" type was later given the more common designation "Northern" type. They were the backbone of the CNR locomotive fleet from the 1930s to the 1950s. Eight locomotives of this type have been preserved from the CNR and 2 CPR fleets.
The Memory Junction Railway Museum preserved a collection of railway memorabilia in southeastern Ontario. It closed in 2017 and its collections were auctioned in 2021. It was located in the former Grand Trunk Railway station of Brighton, Ontario, which opened in 1857 and served intercity rail passengers until the 1960s.
The CN electric multiple units were a fleet of electric multiple unit (EMU) railcars built in 1952 by Canadian Car and Foundry (CCF) for the Canadian National Railway for use on the Deux-Montagnes line in Montreal. The cars remained in use until June 2, 1995 when the reconstruction started. The MR-90 entered service late in 1995. Several have been preserved.
The Canadian National Class Z-4-a was a batch of nine electric "boxcab" type locomotives built by English Electric for the Montreal Harbour Commissioners, later National Harbour Board of Canada from 1924 to 1926. The Port of Montreal decided to de-electrify its railway system in 1940, and so in 1941 the fleet of locomotives were traded with Canadian National Railway for seven steam switcher locomotives. They were given the classification Class Z-4-a by CN and renumbered. They would subsequently be renumbered in 1949 and finally 1969. Here they complimented the older GE built boxcabs, the class Z-1-a. Both boxcab types served the Mount Royal Tunnel route in Montreal for many years until retirement in June 1995.
Canadian National 1392 is a preserved 4-6-0 "ten-wheeler" type steam locomotive. It was built in 1913 by the Montreal Locomotive Works originally for the Canadian Northern Railway before it was absorbed into the Canadian National Railway. No. 1392 became famous in later years for pulling a plethora of small excursion trains throughout Western Canada. As of 2023, the locomotive is owned and operated by the Alberta Railway Museum and is based in Edmonton, Alberta.
Canadian National Railway No. 6400 is a preserved 4-8-4 “Confederation” or “Northern” type locomotive built in June 1936 for the Canadian National Railway (CNR).