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Perhaps that photo was for that particular route. CN's first diesels were put in service in 1929, but they had only two of them to start with. This is the first one, a Westinghouse for passenger use. Because it was so squared off, the two of them were disguised as boxcars while in use during the second world war.
Later that same year, CN bought its first diesel switcher, manufactured by the Canadian Locomotive Company in Kingston, Ontario.
30's brought some dedicated streamliner passenger sets.
early and mid 40's were pretty much curtailed by the war, but right after, the advantages of diesels started to become apparent especially in context of the worn out steam lots of roads as a result of war traffic.
Here are a couple pics I took a few days ago of a re-furbished steamer that went through my area. It is "Big Boy" the largest in the world and the only one running out of 25 built in the late 1930's and early 1940's. It is now converted to run on oil instead of coal. It is over 17' tall, over 100' long and weighs almost a million pounds with 7000 hp. Pretty impressive when it steamed into town last Tuesday on a tour from Wyoming commemorating 150 years of the completion of the continental railroad. The restoration was completed in the spring of 2019 by the Union Pacific Railroad and is now in the Chicago area on its way west back to Cheyenne WY. You can type in "Big Boy Steam" in your browser to get lots more info. If you like old trains and if it is going through your neighborhood, you should make a effort to see it.