Calgary Alberta - At the end of October five SD70ACU locomotive numbers CP7020, CP7021, CP7022, CP7023 and CP6644 were delivered by Progress Rail of Mayfield, Kentucky, to the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP).
 
The units were rebuilt from CP's 9100 series SD90MAC's.
 
They were wrapped in blue plastic so the livery could not be seen as they are something special.
 
CP Train 499-30 departed St. Paul, Minnesota, on 30 Oct 2019 heading for Calgary.
 
On 1 Nov 2019 they were set off for some reason for a day at Moose Jaw, Saakatchewan.
 
Look carefully at the photo of shrink wrapped CP7021 and you will see that the plastic wrap on the nose must have come off at some point so was then replaced.
 
Guess it took a while to find gorilla tape in Moose Jaw?
 
On 2 Nov 2019 the units were picked up in Moose Jaw by Train 499-31 and forwarded to Alyth then pushed into the heritage lead at CP's headquarter complex in Ogden Yard.
 
Train 499-31 was photographed on 2 Nov 2019 at Strangmuir, 35 miles east of Calgary on the Brooks Subdivision, and then again at Indus, Ogden, and Alyth Yard, Calgary.

       

Some observations:

• The undercarriages of the five units are all of a different colour. Some of the colours remind me of the colours of military equipment such as green for army (CP7020), light blue-gray for air force (CP7023), white for navy ships (CP7021), rusty brown for who-knows-what (CP7022), and black, again for who-knows-what (CP6644);
   
  
• the unit CP 6644 number could be a reference to D-Day, as in 6 Jun 1944 (6-6-44), when Allied Forces invaded Fortress Europe at Normandy, France;
   
  
• A Remembrance Day ceremony honouring CP's 33,000 employees who served in World Wars I and II is held there every year. I surmise that the unveiling of these five units will take place there on 11 Nov 2019 in conjunction with the ceremony.

It will be very interesting to see what the livery is on each of the five units.
 
It appears to me that they will have a military or service theme.
 
The Remembrance Day ceremony, which is open to the public, is held at CP's Memorial Square located adjacent to the top parking lot by 69th Avenue Southeast and Ogden Dale Road Southeast entrance in Ogden.

Canadian Pacific held their annual Remembrance Day ceremony at the Veteran's Monument in Ogden Yard at Calgary on 11 Nov 2019.
 
It was well attended with about 500 people in attendance.
 
At the ceremony they unveiled their five tribute locomotives adjacent to the Royal Canadian Pacific Pavilion, on a curved track in brilliant sunlight.
 
I must commend the CP and their staff for this tribute to service men and women in previous wars, many of whom did not return from foreign battlefields, and those serving today.
 
Following the ceremony there was a light lunch served inside the pavilion.
 
The five SD70ACU locomotives:

• CP 7020 - in NATO Green with black markings, representing army vehicles in temperate regions;
   
  
• CP 7021 - in Desert Sand with black markings, representing army vehicles used in Iraq and Afghanistan;
   
  
• CP 7022 - in Royal Canadian Navy Shipside Grey and Oxide Red, representing military ships;
   
  
• CP 7023 - in a 2 tone "Sky Camouflage" pattern of Light Ghost Grey and Medium Grey, the colours used on today's Royal Canadian Air Force aircraft
   
  
• CP 6644 - a memorial to the troops who fought at D-Day, 6 Jun 1944, as they invaded fortress Europe, painted in RAF Dark Green and RAF Ocean Grey, the camouflage colours used on WWII Spitfire aircraft. Black and white "Operation Overlord" stripes as used on Allied aircraft on D-Day adorn the rear of the locomotive.

       

All of the locomotives, except for CP 6644, have the Canadian Flag on the engineer's side and the American Flag on the conductor's side, honouring the Armed Forces of both countries and recognizing that CP operates in both countries.
 
The five units will be placed in regular revenue freight service.
 
Cor van Steenis.