Ever see at Via E8?

Me neither, until today...
http://www.mountainrailway.com/Roster%2 ... 1898-1.jpg

Full story here, about half way down:
http://www.canadianrailwayobservations. ... O_0209.pdf

Not surprising considering how rare they were. VIA only obtained 2 of the just 3 CPR ever owned and they only lasted a few years in VIA colours before being retired. If I ever saw one I wouldn't know it. Back then I couldn't tell the difference between an E8 and a FPA.

When did Via buy their locomorives? There's a well known story about one (Or was it the pair) being offered to a Canadian railway museum and being turned down which caused CPR to scrap both of them, so I assume they remained under CPR ownership during their time with Via.

Here's a good description of the history of the CPR E8A's which includes their final fate: http://www.okthepk.ca/dataCprSiding/cpr ... 070101.htm

It's a shame they were scrapped. VIA should have donated one of them to a museum since they were the few E-units ever purchased by a Canadian RR.

Tom6921 wrote:It's a shame they were scrapped. VIA should have donated one of them to a museum since they were the few E-units ever purchased by a Canadian RR.

I'm pretty sure Via never took ownership of them. I'm quite certain I've read that CPR offered at least one to some organization like the Canadian Railway Museum and they turned down the donation.

Sadly, I can't find any online referances to this. I'm guessing I might've read it in some publication like Railpace or Trains over the years.

Edit - This seems to state that Via took ownership of them, but then goes on to claim that Canadian Pacific when they were done decided not to donate one since they weren't significant and representative of CPR passenger diesels (Why would CPR be involved if they were Via owned?).

http://www.canadianrailwayobservations. ... O_0507.pdf

Also says something interesting about the scrapped unit that makes it sound like the damage it recieved was minor and it was only scrapped because CPR was trying to get out of the passenger business and didn't see a point in putting $5,000 into it to repair it.