Single level cab car 9832 in service past Clarkson Station. Photo by Michael Taylor. Click here for more of his Canadian railroad photographs.

By Daniel Garcia and James Bow.

These were the first coaches bought by GO Transit when it began operations in 1967. They were unique among GO coaches in that some were self-propelled. Much like the GP40TC’s that sometimes pulled them, these coaches were modified from a standard model — in this case, the then-new H-1 class of subway cars ordered by the TTC. (This same design was later used on the CN/VIA Tempo intercity cars and the Montréal Expo Express trains. Thanks to Mark Walton.) That way, if the service didn’t quite meet expectations, they could have been rebuilt and resold, possibly to the TTC or CN in Montréal. Fortunately, GO passed its initial trial period with flying colours.

With GO Train service confirmed, GO ordered an additional 14 cars in 1968, to compliment the 32 “regular” coaches, 8 cab coaches, and 9 self-powered coaches. The self propelled coaches were powered with a little 330hp Rolls-Royce diesel engine and were thus confined to provide midday, evening and weekend service on the Lakeshore line. 7 of these coaches had one cab, and the other two had cabs at both ends. With these cars running on only 330hp (outpowered by the GP40TC’s HEP engine, which alone generates 500hp), they were quickly deemed unsuitable for the heavy service required during peak times. When demand for off-peak service increased, these coaches were finished as locomotives. 30 more coaches, all non-cab, were bought in 1974, and another 30 in 1976.

In the mid 1970’s, GO Transit was on the verge of choking on its own success. The solution came in two parts: first to begin service to Milton, and then second purchase higher capacity cars. In 1974, GO borrowed a number of CP’s gallery cars in service in Montréal, in exchange for an equal number of single level cars. They ran in service on the Lakeshore line. Interestingly enough about these cars, each features its own HEP engine and generator, which meant that GO could use any of the non-HEP equipped engines without the need of an APU/APCU (Thanks to Mark Walton).

After a number of coaches were removed from regular service in 1989, the remaining cars were numbered 100-116 for the cab versions, and 1000-1105 for the normal coaches. Prior to that, 20 coaches were sold to the Ontario Northland railway. The ONR coaches were rebuilt and continue to provide service several times a week between Toronto and northern Ontario. Five more coaches were sold to the ONR in 1994. Eleven cars were sold to the railway maintenance company Pandrol-Jackson in 1991 and 80 more to the Quebec government (1993) where, after awaiting rebuilding for 6 years, they have just been put into service on Montreal’s newest commuter line.

GO’s single level coaches were not without their problems. They were not built to the commuter friendly design that the Bi-Level coaches would be built to, and their design owed a lot to the passenger cars of long-distance trains. The underpowered cab motors would serve to tar reputation of the entire fleet. However, it is impossible to diminish the importance of these cars to GO Transit. They were there when the system was born, and they saw the system through its critical first decade in service.

	A single level cab car leads a train of bilevels. Photo donated from the collection of Daniel Garcia.
	GO GP40Tc 606, in GO’s original paint scheme, leads a train of single cars on the Lakeshore line
	Here’s another shot of GP40Tc #606 in GO’s original paint scheme. Photograph by Joseph Testagrose.
	Single level cab car leads a train of bilevels. Until the advent of special cab cars for the bilevel trains, single level cars or cabs on HEP locomotives provided the alternate end of a GO Train’s double-ended pushme-pullyou operation. Photo donated from the collection of Daniel Garcia.
	Another Single level cab car leads a train of bilevels. Photo donated from the collection of Daniel Garcia.
	Joseph Testagrose caught this 1974 shot of a GO single level cab pulling a train into a station.