East Quebec & Ontario Railway (EQOR)

## **Summary**

The East Quebec & Ontario Railway, reporting mark EQOR, is a Class II railroad headquartered in Ottawa, Quebec. Created in 2021 by YourAverageFoamer (real life) and founded in 1887 by Alexander Bradford Carmichael (Lore), it currently operates both freight and passenger services, going to various points across Quebec and Ontario, respectively.

## East Quebec & Ontario Railway (EQOR)

The logo used during the entirety of EQOR's history

## **History (summed up)**

Established in 1887 by Alexander Bradford Carmichael in Ottawa, the East Quebec & Ontario Railway, or EQOR, had one primary objective: to safely transport both cargo and passengers across the two Canadian provinces that made its name. Financially banked and supported by investors who shared his vision, the railway's first tracks were finished around late-1892 and early-1893, with their first two locomotives being purchased a few months right after, and being immediately dispatched for operational service, where they'd start the entirety of the history of what would go on to become the East Quebec & Ontario Railway.

Eventually, in 1927, EQOR announced to the population of Quebec & Ontario that they'd start passenger transportation services that not only were reliable and fast, but also with affordable prices to everyone. Their first train service would be named "The Coast Starlate," and was ran by EQOR #6397, a USRA Heavy Pacific steam locomotive that was part of 22 locomotives of the same model classified as the EQOR SHM-34 Class.

## Roster

EQOR, as of right now, has a roster of around a thousand locomotives, made up by 432 GE locomotives, 312 EMD/GMD locomotives, 212 ALCO locomotives, 12 BLH locomotives, 22 USRA locomotives, and, recently, 10 CLW/ERGX locomotives. The actual number, though, could be more if we take into consideration locomotives that have been retired, sold, destroyed and/or scrapped, put on display, etc.

When EQOR entered the mid-to-late 20th century, the higher-ups realized that steam locomotives and ALCOs alone operating their passenger services wouldn't do the job as efficiently as they thought, and so, one day, in a drastic effort, they had to resort to buying a few used diesels from Amtrak for use in their passenger operations, with 30 locomotives purchased in total: 5 examples of the GE P30CH and 25 examples of the EMD SDP40F. All of these were retrofitted and upgraded by EQOR so they could operate according to their and the passengers' needs. As of 2023, 18 of the 25 SDP40Fs are stored, awaiting yet another modernization/retrofitting upgrade process, and 3 of the 5 P30CHs are also stored for the same reasons, with only two still operating currently, one of which is used for freight operations while the other is used for passenger operations. It's expected that the 7 SDP40Fs and the two P30CHs still operating will, between the end of 2023 and start of 2024, be taken off service temporarily, inspected, retrofitted, upgraded, inspected once again, and sent back to normal operation, along with the other 18 SDP40Fs and 3 P30CHs that have been stored since 2007.

It's also expected that, as this retrofitting operation takes place, EQOR will look for locomotive manufactures in the North American continent, preferrably the USA and Canada, for investing in the purchase of newer, more environment-friendly locomotives for use in both freight and passenger operations, and that older locomotives, such as the Alco FA-1s and PA-1s, either be put on display, repurposed as part reposition locomotives, or retired as a whole.

## Notable Units

**EQOR 5143:** Built in 1979, the locomotive started its life as Southern Pacific SD40T-2 #8330, operating for approximately 17 years for the Southern Pacific. Eventually, in 1996, the Southern Pacific, along with the Rio Grande, were sold to the Union Pacific, which led to SP #8330 being renumbered into UP #4462 and later, renumbered again into UP #2911. Eventually, in 2010, UP #2911 was acquired by EQOR and was renumbered into EQOR #5143. In 2016, the unit suffered an incident that left its cab completely destroyed and, therefore, unusable. The unit was stored and, for a while, higher-ups at EQOR considered scrapping the locomotive but, as fate would have it, a retired SD70MAC had its cab removed from the frame, and so, an idea sparked up: that the SD40T-2 have its damaged and unusable cab replaced by the SD70MAC cab, similar to what DTFR did with two ex-SP SD45T-2s by retrofitting them with SD70M cabs. And so, in 2017, the unit was taken to one of EQOR's repair shops, along with its future new cab and the following modifications were done:

* SD70MAC cab placed into #5143's frame
* Headlight repositioned from cab to nose
* Ditch lights added to the front and rear of the locomotive.
* Addition of classlights to the nose
* Addition of first aid equipment and fire extinguisher

After all the process was concluded, the unit was inspected and, upon being deemed as safe and operational again, it was taken to one of EQOR's paint shops, where it was given a new paint scheme. After being repainted, the locomotive was reclassified into a SD70MT-2R. Nowadays, the unit is still operating for EQOR, and can be frequently seen as either a leading or trailing unit in cargo trains.

**EQOR 1758:** Built in 2007 as part of the Evolution Series model meant to replace the AC4400CW, EQOR placed an order for 27 ES44ACs for use in their operations. Although all the other 26 ES44AC units only received minor modifications to fit EQOR's spec, such as classlights and ditch lights to both the front and rear, this specific unit was the most modified of them all, and its modifications are listed below:

* Removal of sunshields
* Addition of numberboards to the nose and the rear part of the radiator
* Classlights above the nose numberboards
* Addition of ditch lights to the front and the rear
* Addition of first aid equipment and fire extinguisher
* Reshaping of nose and windshields into a "teardrop" style

Due to the modifications this unit underwent, especially the nose numberboards and teardrop-shaped windows, the unit started being frequently compared to the AC4400CWs from fictional movie railroad AWVR, which had nose numberboards (although blanked out), and to the C44-9Ws owned by the British Columbia Railway, which had teardrop-shaped windows. But, even then, with all the comparisons and the unit's peculiar spec, it proved reliable and also comfortable to engineers and conductors and, nowadays, it can commonly be seen in freight trains as a lead unit or as a trailing unit. Right now, unit #1758 remains the only Evolution Series model in EQOR's roster to sport Hi-Ad trucks instead of EQOR's standard Steerable trucks, and also the only Evolution Series model in EQOR's roster to have 4 side cab windows instead of EQOR's standard 3 side cab windows.