Maple Leaf (train) - History

History

The original Maple Leaf passenger train was a Grand Trunk Western Railroad service between Chicago, Illinois and Toronto, Ontario. The service operated between Chicago's Dearborn Station and Toronto's Union Station on a route through Stratford, Ontario, Port Huron, Flint, Lansing, and Battle Creek, Michigan and South Bend, Indiana. The route between Battle Creek and Port Huron is still served by Amtrak trains 365 and 364, but is now called the Blue Water service. The Maple Leaf name was later applied to a joint Lehigh Valley Railroad/Canadian National overnight service between New York City and Toronto. The last LV/CN Maple Leaf ran on Feb. 4, 1961.

Amtrak and Via Rail introduced the Maple Leaf on April 26, 1981. The new Maple Leaf was the first collaboration between the two companies and the first New York to Toronto passenger service in a decade. The new train utilized Amtrak's Amfleet coaches with a dinette car; Amtrak crews were changed to Via Rail crews at the border crossing. A 1982 consist included a baggage car, two coaches and a dinette; time spent in customs ranged from thirty minutes to two hours.

The Maple Leaf was one of the last Amtrak trains to receive the new GE Genesis locomotive owing to the Via Rail's crews' unfamiliarity with the unit. The Maple Leaf retained the EMD F40PH until Via received its own Genesis locomotives in 2002.