Super Continental

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Super Continental

The Super Continental under Canadian National pulling into Pembroke on September 6, 1965.
Overview
Status	Discontinued
Locale	Canada
First service	April 24, 1955; 69 years ago (April 24, 1955)
Last service	January 14, 1990; 35 years ago (January 14, 1990)
Former operator(s)	Canadian National (1955–1977) Via Rail (1977–1981; 1985–1990)
Route
Termini	Montreal Vancouver
Distance travelled	2,930 mi (4,720 km)[1]
Average journey time	73 hours, 20 minutes[1]
Train number(s)	Canadian National Railways 1, 2, 3, 4
Technical
Track gauge	4 ft 8+1⁄2 in (1,435 mm)
Route map

The Super Continental was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated by the Canadian National Railway from 1955 until 1977, when Via Rail took over the train and ran it until it was cancelled in 1981.^[2] Service was restored in 1985 but was again eliminated in 1990. The original CN train had a Montreal–Ottawa–Toronto-Winnipeg–Saskatoon–Edmonton–Jasper–Vancouver routing with daily service.

Following

Deliveries of the new cars were essentially completed by 1954, but CN waited until April 24, 1955,[1] to introduce its new transcontinental flagship Super Continental to replace its former flagship, the Continental Limited.^[3] Not coincidentally, this was the same date that competitor Canadian Pacific Railway introduced its new streamlined transcontinental train The Canadian.^[4][5] Before its introduction in regular service, the equipment that was to be used for the Super Continental was displayed at some of the stations on the train's route.^[6][7] The Super Continental reduced the travel time between Montreal and Vancouver by up to 14 hours, removing the need for a fourth night aboard the train.^[6][8] The journey was advertised as the longest single run of a diesel locomotive powered train in North America without changing locomotives.^[9]

In 1960, CN and CP both introduced "transcontinental local" trains, which were really reconfigurations of existing services, that were intended to serve passengers on shorter trips that followed the same routes as the Super Continental and The Canadian. On CN, the

By the 1960s, Canadian passenger trains were in serious decline, largely thanks to government subsidies for automobiles travelling the then-new Trans-Canada Highway and for airlines. The Continental Limited, the Super Continental's predecessor, was cut back to a Montreal to Saskatoon train in 1964 and then discontinued the following year. The CN nevertheless aggressively marketed its services, even while CP was losing interest in operating The Canadian. To help combat the perception that the CP route through the Rocky Mountains was more scenic, CN in 1964 acquired a set of six ex-Milwaukee Road "Super Dome" cars (rechristened "Sceneramics" by CN) that had formerly seen service on the Olympian Hiawatha. These were placed into service between Winnipeg and Vancouver. CN also refurbished the coaches that were used on the train, adding new luggage racks and lounge areas to some cars.^[11] A new secondary train along the route, The Panorama, was placed into service in 1965. It was later discontinued in 1969. But despite CN's best efforts, ridership continued to decline throughout the 1970s, and the train operated at a loss. In 1969 it was estimated that the Super Continental operated at a loss of $14,058,030.^[12]

CN applied to the Canadian Transport Commission to discontinue the Super Continental in 1971, but the commission declined the application, forcing CN to continue service despite falling revenue.^[12][13] With losses increasing to $55.9 million in 1975, CN again submitted an application to discontinue the service in 1976 and was again denied by the commission.^[14]

On April 1, 1978, a new

Three occupants of an automobile, one of whom was the driver, were killed on March 26, 1956, when the car they were in was struck by the Super Continental at a little-used level crossing in Quibell, Ontario, about 175 miles (282 km) east of Winnipeg. The train was travelling at high speed in this area at the time. Police on the scene could not initially indicate a cause for the collision.^[21]

As the Super Continental pulled into the station in Ottawa on October 9, 1956, the last four cars of the train derailed on a switch. The train was moving at slow speed for entry into the station, so no injuries were reported, but several wheels needed to be replaced. The derailment delayed the train by 8 hours that day.^[22]

On February 13, 1960, the Super Continental, running 3 hours late, collided head-on with a 39-car freight train near Osawin, 32 miles (51 km) west of Hornepayne, Ontario. The passenger train's engineer was killed and 33 passengers and 4 railwaymen were injured.^[23][24][25]

The westbound Super Continental collided head-on with a freight train that was leaving a

An eastbound freight train and the westbound Super Continental collided at around 2:30 am on September 28, 1974, at a location about 105 miles (169 km) north of Kamloops. Initial reports indicated the accident may have been caused by an "automatic switching malfunction" that put the freight train on the same track. The freight train was travelling at 25 mph (40 km/h) while the Super Continental was travelling at 35 mph (56 km/h). The engineer and a trainman on the freight train were both killed; there was at least one report of looting among the passengers, but many of the children aboard the train stayed asleep through the accident.[28]^[29]

On August 8, 1980, the eastbound Super Continental derailed twelve cars at a location about 120 kilometres (75 mi) east of Jasper, Alberta. The train remained upright with only one broken arm reported for personal injuries.^[30]

In the morning of February 8, 1986, as passengers were getting breakfast, the Super Continental ran head-on into a CN freight train about 16 kilometres (9.9 mi) east of Hinton, Alberta. The collision created a massive fireball that sped along the train's length; both trains buckled from the impact.^[31] Initial reports stated that at least 29 people died in the accident, although this was later reduced to 26, then later 23.^[32] making it one of the more deadly incidents in Canadian railway history.^[33] Subsequent investigation showed that the freight train passed a stop signal and ran through a closed switch to pull in front of the Super Continental.^[32]

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