On December 10, 1968, a sleek new locomotive\u00a0glided out\u00a0from\u00a0the sooty train shed at Toronto’s Union Station. Streamlined and silver with a bright red nosecone, the $2-million CN Turbo train looked like a bullet on wheels. With a top speed of 193 km\/h, it\u00a0promised to slash rail travel times between Toronto and Montreal and deliver train travel into the jet age.<\/p>\n
Unfortunately, it didn’t quite\u00a0work out.<\/p>\n
Designed by a subsidiary of United Aircraft in the U.S. and built partly\u00a0in Montreal, the fleet of five Turbo trains were\u00a0Canada’s first real foray into high-speed, luxury rail travel. Taking the Turbo would be just like flying.<\/p>\n
Each train set was\u00a0powered by four Pratt & Whitney PT6 gas turbine engines\u2014power units\u00a0commonly used in turboprop planes.\u00a0A\u00a0lightweight aluminium body and advanced suspension system\u00a0allowed the Turbo to corner 30 percent faster than regular trains by\u00a0banking like an aircraft.<\/p>\n
“Passengers will find some similarities with aircraft accommodation even if there are no seat belts and no smoking signs,” the Globe and Mail<\/em> reported in 1967. “There will be individual wide reclining seats, carpeting and draperies, soft indirect lighting, and individually controlled reading lights at each seat.”<\/p>\n Folding tables\u00a0in the seat backs, overhead luggage bins, and a meal service would further add to the aviation aesthetic.<\/p>\n Like the Boeing 747, which was also\u00a0in development during the mid-1960s, the locomotive cars at either end of the Turbo had domed roofs. A glass partition allowed passengers to watch the train engineers at work and look over their shoulders down\u00a0the track ahead.<\/p>\n CN said the Turbo represented\u00a0the greatest advance in railway technology in the last 100 years.<\/p>\n