Gone, but Not Forgotten (It is in my "backyard")

The picture on the front of this post card shows what the diesel engine number 9000 looks like with a similarly painted B unit as it hauls freight out of Oshawa, Ontario on April 3, 1953. The locomotive

has had a bit of an identity crisis over its years. It was built in May of 1948 as an F3A class, V-1-a by EMD. It was later reclassified as a V-1-A-a in January of 1950 and once again reclassified in September of 1954 as a GFA-15a. After seeing 33 years of service on the Canadian National Railway (CNR) mainlines, it was retired on October 8, 1971. The locomotive travelled over 4.1 million kilometers (2.6 million miles) during its time in service. The CNR had used diesels for about 20 years before they ordered this one; but, these other diesels were always used in yards for shunting around cars. This locomotive was intended to be used for regular road freight service. Number 9000 is worthy of preservation because it was the first production road freight locomotive built for a Canadian railway. It was donated by CNR to the Alberta Pioneer Railway Association in November of 1971. It is currently being kept and used at the Alberta Pioneer Railway Museum in the northeast of Edmonton in Alberta, Canada. The association of volunteers restores train-related memorabilia (including Number 9000). It was ready for service, after being painted in the CNR freight colours, in 1996, just in time to "star" in the move "In Cold Blood".

The photo on the front is credited to J. Wm. Hood. It was published by JBC Visuals out of Toronto, Ontario. I can find nothing about the history of the JBC Visuals Company.