Super Continental - Inauguration of Service

Inauguration of Service

Deliveries of the new cars were essentially completed by 1954, but CNR waited until 24 April 1955 to introduce its new transcontinental flagship Super Continental to replace its former flagship, the Continental Limited. Not coincidently, this was the same date that competitor Canadian Pacific Railway introduced its new streamlined transcontinental train The Canadian. However, despite the new and refurbished equipment and a new black-and-green, yellow-trim paint scheme, the Super Continental's mixture of equipment paled in comparison to CPR's all stainless-steel consist, produced for them by the Budd Company. An additional important distinction was that The Canadian featured scenic dome cars, which the Super Continental did not use. CN chose not to purchase dome cars for reasons of economy, although it has also been claimed that dome cars might interfere with the electrified catenary used in Montreal's Central Station by commuter trains of the former Canadian Northern raillines. In 1964, CN purchased used dome cars from the United States to use on the portion of the route between Edmonton and Vancouver.

Although the CNR was not completely dieselized until 1960, the Super Continental was from the outset hauled exclusively by a variety of diesel locomotives, including Montreal Locomotive Works FP-2s and FP-4s, Canadian Locomotive Company C-liners in eastern Canada, as well as General Motors Diesel FP9 units in western Canada.