Three cheers for underdogs
In railroading, there are often clear-cut winners and losers. Perhaps that’s too harsh, but many of the beloved entities of the industry never climbed up as true competitors. Fairbanks-Morse? It went up against EMD and Alco, but never rose to the occasion. Chicago Great Western? It mimicked behemoth Chicago & North Western, but seemingly slower — and without prestigious passenger trains. We still love F-M and the “Great Weedy,” as it was known, but Rocky Balboa they ain’t.
And then there are the more even rivalries. Try to tell a Pennsy fan that the Broadway Limited was inferior to the New York Central’s 20th Century Limited. It’s a great way to start a fight. Farther west, the Burlington, Milwaukee, and North Western competed, pretty evenly, for traffic between Chicago and the Twin Cities. In this market, the Great Western and Soo Line were the clear underdogs to railfans.
T. O. Repp [page 16] recalls Canadian National’s headlining Super Continential.
But, of course, it always played second fiddle in the minds of many to rival Canadian Pacific’s Canadian. The Canadian was Budd-built stainless steel. The Super was not. The Canadian was the private-sector alternative. The Super was not. The Canadian continues as a named train to this day. The Super does not.
So, while you’re sipping wine on a rebuilt stainless Budd car approaching Edmonton just remember: those are the rails of the Super Continental that you’re riding. See, the route we know today as VIA Rail’s Canadian is largely that of the old Super Continental. Perhaps, then, the Super did find a way to succeed over its more glamorous rival, and that makes it a true underdog here.