by Jason Noe/photos as noted
The locomotive shop door was raised October 31 to officially unveil VIA Historical Association’s (VHA) restored FP9 6539. Now adorned in the vintage yellow-and-blue VIA Rail passenger scheme, the completed unit was brought outside Ontario Southland Railway’s shop in Salford, Ont., for the first time with several VHA directors on hand for the special occasion. For VHA, this marked the conclusion of this expansive project to save the veteran FP9, which was previously owned by OSR and numbered 1400.
“We started the project in late 2023, talking with Ontario Southland Railway, about how we were interested in one of their locomotives,” said VHA President Jason Shron. “They said they do have one available for us.” During November 2023, the historical group announced its first major fundraising campaign to acquire the locomotive and restore it to its former VIA Rail colors, with its original road number. “We arranged a deal where they actually donated to us a significant portion of the locomotive purchase price, so it made it very affordable,” said Shron…