Coquitlam British Columbia - Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) put together the CP Canada 150 Train in celebration of Canada's 150th year in existence.
 
The train is of course the Royal Canadian Pacific (RCP) equipment that you've seen before.
 
However it's a bit different in a few ways.
 
First, it's profiling the CP 1401 on the head end, the recently rebuilt GMD FP9A with all the latest high tech goodies on board.
 
So it leads the pack with CP 1900 (GMD F9B) second, and CP 4107 (GMD FP9Au) trailing.
 
None of these are CP originals unfortunately, but nonetheless they are great to see.
 
The train itself is different from the standard RCP fare in that it has the Stage Car (CP 42901 used on the CP Holiday Train), to be the entertainment venue for the event stops along the cross country tour.
 
Coach CP 102 "Smokey Smith" is decorated with a "Spirit Of Tomorrow" wrap, and all those little squares get filled with audience comments over the course of the trip.
 
The rear of the train has CP1 and CP2 that previously were painted in Hunter Harrison's "System Red" paint that everybody hated.
 
Now they are in the standard Tuscan paint.
 
The train headed West from Calgary, Alberta, then started the tour at Port Moody the day after arriving here in the Port Coquitlam (POCO) Yard.
 
The plan was to have the train arrive and overnight in the POCO Yard then head over to Port Moody Friday afternoon for the first event.
 
Then it would head back Eastward about 21:00 hours.
 
While waiting for the train near Westwood Street the 1401 did NOT sound good.
 
Something was amiss in that locomotive.
 
Wow, what a smoke show!
 
It was likely due to them running a little cool, since they had just left the yard.
 
The 1900 was pumping out the most pollution.
 
Oddly enough, the unit that sounded the worst, CP 1401, was the only one not smoking.
 
But it sounded like it was ready to blow a power assembly to me.
 
Later on the next day, the scuttlebutt is the unit (1401) had broken down up country.
 
As a result CP had to send in a rescue unit, CP 4106.
 
Obviously it's still serviceable and filling in as a trailing unit for a A-B-A-A configuration.
 
The CP 1401 was last seen still leading.
 
Andy Cassidy.