Canadian National boxcab electrics from the 1920s

The original livery. In later years (1970s?) they were given red fronts.

The accompanying info for this pic states: "At Gohier [a western suburb of Montréal, Quebec] -- ready to take a train to Central Station through the Mont Royal Tunnel -- the locomotive has just replaced CN 4-8-4 6153 on the 9/3/60 last steam run"

This electric boxcab type (101 tons, 1100 hp) was built between 1924 and 1926 in England by English Electric (electrical components) and Beyer-Peacock (mechanical components) for the National Harbors Board Railway. In 1941 Canadian National swapped 7 steam switchers (shunters) for 9 of these for its Mont Royal tunnel line, both electrified at 2400 V DC. In CN service they were denoted class Z-4a 9180-9188, then 180-188, and finally 6716-6724. Four units lasted until the end of CN's operations through Mont Royal in June 1995.  More info and pics on this webpage