Did Santa Fe run trains into Canada?

[RobertInOntario]

Did Santa Fe run trains into Canada, particularly passenger trains from 1930 to 1960? I.e., did passenger Santa Fe (AT&SF) trains run into Toronto and Ontario back then? Just wondering if anyone had info on this.

I was surprised to see a BNSF freight train running yesterday on the CN line near my office -- it was neat to see that!

Thanks in advance!
Rob

 

[viperman]

Not sure, but I've seen CN trains outside of OHare Airport here by Chicago

 

[interurban]

WE see a lot of BNSF units up here these days, and a few other roads too.
As for Santa fe,in the old days I will inquire for you Rob.

 

[railohio]

The closest the Santa Fe ever came to Canada was Chicago. They never operated passenger trains or had through cars to Toronto.

The BNSF power seen in Toronto is part of a run-through agreement with the railroad you saw it on, Canadian National. It is very common to see major railroads share motive power in this age as it's much easier to simply change crews at the interchange point and let the whole train continue to its destination. Sometimes in this process the recieving railroad will send the power out again for its own use. At some point Canadian National got a hold of BNSF power and on its own train sent it to Toronto.

Canadian National has had a presence in Chicago for many years, first through its subsidiary Grand Trunk Western and in more recent times through its outright acquisition of Illinois Central and Wisconsin Central. Although Canadian National has owned Grand Trunk Western for years it was mostly an independent operation until the 1980s when it was formally merged into its parent.

 

[interurban]

I have see BNSF in the CP yards in Toronto.

 

[kf4jqd]

Have you checked to see if there is a Santa Fe Yahoo Groups? I am a member of the CRIP (Rock Island). There is all kinds of information I can get there. Is there a historical society web site? Another good source if there is.:thumb:

Andy

 

[RobertInOntario]

WE see a lot of BNSF units up here these days, and a few other roads too.
As for Santa fe,in the old days I will inquire for you Rob.

Thanks, Chris -- I appreciate that! I was surprised to see a BNSF unit the other day but they're obviously not that rare. Still a nice change though! Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

Thanks, Brian. Interesting ... that's the sort of info I was looking for. I had a hunch that AT&SF never ran passenger trains into Ontario but just wanted to check. I believe that CN ran passenger trains into the Chicago area in the 1940s and 1950s, right? Thanks again, Rob

 

[60103]

Robert: I've seen a variety of roads coming through Brampton, including Santa Fe (they always zip through while I'm driving the car or have the camera packed away.)
The first Santa Fe unit I saw was in Brampton -- GM London was building them and had to send them out east for painting.
Now that ATSF is in BNSF, they have a lot more entanglements with the CNR empire, and we might get all sorts of interesting run throughs, as well as power exchanges.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Robert: I've seen a variety of roads coming through Brampton, including Santa Fe (they always zip through while I'm driving the car or have the camera packed away.)
The first Santa Fe unit I saw was in Brampton -- GM London was building them and had to send them out east for painting.
Now that ATSF is in BNSF, they have a lot more entanglements with the CNR empire, and we might get all sorts of interesting run throughs, as well as power exchanges.

Thanks, David. It appears that in the past, AT&SF did not run passenger trains into Ontario, but that freight trains are now fairly common. I'll be on the lookout for more BNSF units now. Take care, Rob

 

[train1]

On the CN corridor (Windsor to Toronto) you can guarantee seeing the old style silver SF units and 'pumpkin schemes as lease units on a daily basis.

Looking out my backdoor

 

[Russ Bellinis]

Santa Fe never ran into Canada with passenger service or otherwise. I don't think they run into Canada now. I think what you guys are seeing is pool power. Most if not all major railroads share or pool their power. When a railroad is short on power units due to heavy seasonal shipments or even just a lot of power units in the shop they can borrow units from the pool. They pay back the pool by providing power units to the pool at a later date. The BNSF units you saw were probably from the power pool.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Santa Fe never ran into Canada with passenger service or otherwise. I don't think they run into Canada now. I think what you guys are seeing is pool power. Most if not all major railroads share or pool their power. When a railroad is short on power units due to heavy seasonal shipments or even just a lot of power units in the shop they can borrow units from the pool. They pay back the pool by providing power units to the pool at a later date. The BNSF units you saw were probably from the power pool.

Interesting. The amount of power sharing seems surprising but it does make sense. Thanks, Rob

 

[RobertInOntario]

On the CN corridor (Windsor to Toronto) you can guarantee seeing the old style silver SF units and 'pumpkin schemes as lease units on a daily basis.

Looking out my backdoor

Thanks for this info. I've seen the pumpkin scheme but I didn't think the old style silver SF units were still in use except on heritage trains. Or, maybe these are heritage trains? Just curious! Rob

 

[Russ Bellinis]

I think BNSF is just like the old S.F. was regarding power. When S.F. fiirst came out with the red & silver war bonnett scheme in the '80s, it was decreed that they would only be found on high speed container trains. Then reality set in, and they discovered that when they needed power to get a train out, and the only power units available were red & silver war bonnetts, they used red & silver war bonnetts even for a drag freight. There are still quite a few red & silver war bonnetts in existance. At this time no repaint jobs will be done with red & silver, but until they are all repainted, the red & silver war bonnetts will continue to run.

 

[RobertInOntario]

I think BNSF is just like the old S.F. was regarding power. When S.F. fiirst came out with the red & silver war bonnett scheme in the '80s, it was decreed that they would only be found on high speed container trains. Then reality set in, and they discovered that when they needed power to get a train out, and the only power units available were red & silver war bonnetts, they used red & silver war bonnetts even for a drag freight. There are still quite a few red & silver war bonnetts in existance. At this time no repaint jobs will be done with red & silver, but until they are all repainted, the red & silver war bonnetts will continue to run.

Thanks again. But I'm really showing my ignorance here (I'm still fairly new to this hobby) ... The red & silver paint scheme that came to my mind was their colours from the 1950s & I wasn't aware that there was a 1980s red/silver. If you have time, could you please refer me to any photos on the web? But only if you have the time to do this! Thanks, Rob

 

[Russ Bellinis]

The only red and silver warbonnetts from the fifties left are on privately owned locomotives, and perhaps museum pieces. Virtually all of the passenger locomotives painted in that scheme in the 1950s & 1960s, have been sold or rebuilt into something else. Most of the old f-7 streamliners were rebuilt into cf-7 switchers, and all of those have been sold. the only ones I know of that may still belong to BNSF are the 4 on the L.A.Junction Rwy. The LAJ is a subsidiary of BNSF, so their equipment technically belongs to BNSF. In the 1980s S.F. painted a bunch of the locomotives that they wanted to use in high speed intermodal service in the red & silver warbonnett scheme as a pr move. Virtually any locomotive you see pulling a freight train with a red & silver paint scheme is left over from the 1980s & 1990s.

 

[RobertInOntario]

Thanks, Russ. That's really interesting! I'd probably like to visit the LAJ but it probably won't be in the near future! I'll keep trying to spot the BNSF units though. Thanks again, rob