Living Fossils -- Montreal Quebec, May 1995

Because it went through a 3-mile tunnel under Mont Royal, the Deux-Montagnes commuter line was electrified from the day it opened in 1918. Of the five electric locomotives on the line when it opened, four of them were still in service in May 1995, when this video was taken. They made their last runs less than a month later.

[@williamcharles9480]

It's just simply amazing that their service life was so extensive. Talk about bang for your buck.

[@Isochest]

Electric locos have few components especially dc ones like these. That's their beauty and viability

[@raakone]

Towards the end, though, it became a liability, spare parts had to be either custom made, or ordered from Poland or China.

[@ricardlupus]

Thanks for putting this up. I really enjoyed it, especially the cab and machine room sequences which are a real rarity.

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

Great video, nice stereo sound. As a former Montréalais, I spent a lot of time trackside watching those fossils, back and the 70s and 80s and have a fair collection showing each unit, mostly at Val Royal and EJ.B and also along the first portion of the line. ThAnks for sharing. BTW, I cut my teeth on the Speed Graphic, back in 1958, as a young military photographer, back in the early 50s

[@MrWireguy]

Thanks for saving those moments for posterity. So many times, on my daily commute, I stood in the front vestibule of the first coach and watched that Pyle headlight bob up and down and from side to side as I anticipated the next anomaly in the track ahead. What testimony to making things "to last" !!!

[@andrewiantorno6942]

Wow I love all forms of locomotion steam and diesel and electric. But to see these still run in the mid 90s is amazing!

[@simplygregsterev]

Great video. I remember riding these to go up to see family in Laval. Its crazy to think just how old these were in 1995

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

Great video. While stationed at Canadair in1970 with an RCAF project, I lived within 2 blocks of Val Royal station and the train was my favorite way of getting downtown

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

I shot individual slides of each of those fossils at Val Royal or Cartierville in the 70s and 80s. The 90s (pre-abandonment) operation was never like ‘back in the days’, after VIA cars were added, instead of heavyweights. Great video - thanks for shearing

[@andrewdawson7175]

I live a few blocks away from what was the Val Royal station. Last month the RTM started using some of the dual mode Bombardier Traxx locomotives on the Deux Montagnes line. It was the first time that I've ridden on the line by a locomotive hauled train since 1995!

[@MrMASSEYJONES]

Excellent video. I’ll reserve my opinion about the VIA cars, having photographed the line extensively in 35mm slides, during 10 years, 1970-80, while living a block away from Val Royal station.

[@paname514]

Très belle vidéo de ce superbe matériel historique. C'est exceptionnel qu'un matériel aussi antique soit utilisé en service régulier dans une grande ville. Pas mal de locomotives électriques utilisées aujourd'hui ont plus de 50 ans, mais dans les années 1950 et 1960 la technologie était déjà éprouvée et performante (à peine moins performante que les locomotives actuelles). Alors qu'en 1917 lorsque les locomotives Deux Montagnes ont été construites, la technologie était assez nouvelle et est devenue très vite dépassée. On remarque que la voie était en très mauvais état. Elles ont néanmoins été battues par les rames de métro La Brugeoise de Buenos Aires, en service entre 1913 et 2013! En France, les Z100 du Train Jaune de la ligne de Cerdagne sont en service depuis 1908. Aussi, à Paris, de nombreux rames de métro Sprague Thomson construits entre 1910 et 1930 ont été transformées en trains de travaux utilisés jusqu'en 2011.

[@TDIMAXDIESEL]

1898 !! Wow those loco are really old ! Thank for sharing!

[@lukethegeneralelectrice60p80]

I like how the CN Boxcabs are in Deux-Montagnes line but AMT has taken over the Deux-Montagnes line in 1996

[@robertbalic5194]

You must already know that there was one of these retired locomotives (6710) that is displayed in front of Deux-Montagnes terminal station. It has been relocated on Chemin d’Oka near the IGA in Deux-Montagnes and is presently being sandblasted for its new look. (rust and lack of maintenance has taken its toll) The hole line will be completely ripped off and replaced by the REM (high speed train in 2023) if everything goes by schedule.🤞 Type : REM MONTREAL and you’ll get a preview

[@AMTFan1]

Awesome video! I'm amazed to see those pictures of the old trains on the Deux-Montagnes line just before being rebuilt in 1995. Do you have more videos of these or when the train line was reopened later in 1995?

[@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo]

***** Glad you like it. What you see is about all I have of the boxcabs. I took some shots of the MU's and the diesels, which I didn't include in the video. And my camera and I have not been back to Montreal since.

[@AMTFan1]

I've added your video to the public playlist I've created: "AMT Deux-Montagnes train line". I hope it doesn't bother you.

[@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo]

***** I'm honored to be included.

[@JeanYvesGirard]

Hi there I just found this video , I am the one with the green shirt on the video around the 5.47 time , I was wondering are you the guy who took this video , is that you who send me the pictures ?

[@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo]

Bonjour, JenYves! So glad you found my video. C'est longtemps, n'est-ce pas? The person who sent you the pictures was likely Oren Helbok. He was with me on this trip. When he photographs somebody, he usually sends them a copy of the photograph.

[@johnlanelli3968]

Canadian National and New York Central two of my favorite railroads!

[@yixnorb5971]

The Illinois Central was using 1926 cars up until the late 70s.

[@mikeytrains1]

Let's be glad that ONE of them is still around, just not running.

[@steveember8972]

Some lovely nostalgic footage - wish I'd had the chance to ride this line with those sturdy looking motors! Love the old style pantographs reaching up so high. I noticed sign for 3,000 volts - were these DC locomotives?

[@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo]

It was 2400V DC.

[@Isochest]

@@SpeedGraphicFilmVideoLater raised to 3000v dc

[@marcleslac2413]

Steve ember i totally agree as a Montrealer myself born in 2003 i knew and loved the amt era and i hope il love the rem era

[@urbanlegend3972]

In the early 1960s, I routinely rode on this commuter line pulled by these boxcabs among other type locos as well as the MU (Multiple Units). When purchasing a ticket from the attendant in Val Royal station, it was the conductors job onboard to check that ticket and then tear it in half to keep his proof-of-purchase and then hand you the other half so, under those rules, the passenger never got to possess an intact ticket. However, one day I got lucky because for whatever reason the conductor either overlooked me or didn't bother tearing mine and so I still have that little green cardboard ticket from decades ago as a souvenir. Incidentally, even after the AMT took over the line from the CNR in 1996, two-way radio communications between traffic control and each train still referred to the station as Val Royal and not its AMT-renamed "Bois Franc" all the way up until 2020 when the line was again closed in preparation for the future REM upgrade.

[@marcprovost3380]

Why were they using via cars at the end, im from montreal and saw 6711 ang 6710 but never understood why in all my 16 years of life.

[@honestycounts9352]

Must be hard to get SPARE PARTS for something that was originally built in 1918? (order parts on E-Bay, for a 1918 loco?) No?

[@ricardlupus]

I recall reading that the CN maintenance crews that took care of these locomotives sometimes had to manufacture spare parts themselves.

[@paname514]

Sure. Paris metros trains are kept so long - at least 50 years, sometimes 60, with the Sprague Thomson metros turned into work trains lasting nearly 100 years - that parts availibility is a serious issue and can influence the withdrawal of some trains. Most of the time they have to remanufacture parts or be creative.

[@K-Effect]

I think they rarely broke parts

[@anasiacameronelijahedcpndc4324]

they look like a combination Like The Pennsylvania Railroad B1's and the LIRR/PRR DD1'S And The PRR Boxcabs

[@andrewdawson7175]

The locomotive cousins of CN's Deux Montagnes line were on the Butte, Anaconda & Pacific in Montana

[@K-Effect]

They look like giant toasters

[@K-Effect]

The Z-1-a locomotives lasted 76 years. Why are they retired?….. was it because they were too well-built and General Electric needed to sell them something that would only last 12 years with endless amounts of maintenance, factory recalls and upgrades?

[@simplygregsterev]

Because the line was changed 24kv DC to 25kv AC in the mid 90s. Now its in the process of being converted for REM 15kv DC.

[@daveyboy_]

Thsts when shit was built to last

[@K-Effect]

I think it’s a disgrace they retired these a month after this video is made

[@rottenroads1982]

Class 1 Railroads Have to Electrify. It's either electrify or convert all Deisel locomotives to run on Bio-Diesel or become Electric. Also, Boxcabs must return. It's either they be Rare, or be Square, and I say, The Boxcabs *Be SQUARE.*

[@teddawg327]

think GG-!s could still be working

[@北海道牧場主]

客車数両で重連。この当時のELはかなり非力だったのか。

[@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo]

The locomotives, which were not double-ended, operated in pairs so that they did not need to be turned in the Montreal terminal.

[@北海道牧場主]

@@SpeedGraphicFilmVideo Thank-you!

[@tengotrax4669]

Northeast corridor but Canada

[@Isochest]

It's a pity such locos never had the chance to haul transatlantic passenger and goods trains. The electrification should have spanned Canada and probably would have made US railroads lobby their Government to ameliorate hostility to Rail electrification.