Collectors' Item 11
by Omer Lavallee
More than a decade elapsed
between acquisition by Canadian Pacific of its first diesel-electric
locomotive and the application of this form of motive power to main line use. In the
interval, a considerable fleet of diesel-electric switching locomotives was
built up. The first road units were acquired in 1949, the year in which the Company took
delivery of its last steam locomotive.
Among the first diesel road engines put into service in that year were
three six-axled,
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2,250-horsepower passenger
"A" units, numbered 1800-1802. These locomotives, built by
Electro-Motive Division of General Motors at LaGrange, Ill., are of builder's
model E8. Though diesel locomotives of other builders and designs are adaptable for
passenger service basically by changing gear ratios and providing steam generating
equipment, Canadian Pacific's three E8s are the only diesel-electric
locomotives specially designed as passenger units for any Canadian railway. They are geared
for an 85 mph top speed.
One axle on each three-axle truck is an idler; thus only
about two-thirds of the locomotive's total weight
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is available for traction. This is a
unique characteristic of these locomotives, as are their 36-inch wheels -
smaller than practically all other units on CPR lines.
Initially, the 1800s were used on the Montreal-Boston
passenger service, in conjunction with the Boston & Maine Railroad. Similar B&M
units, assigned to the same service, ran through to Montreal while the Canadian Pacific's
E8s regularly were seen in Boston. After the withdrawal of this run, the 1800s were
reassigned to service out of Montreal, where they are today seen on main line and suburban
services.
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