We’ve seen a 1952 booklet by this name before. At that time, CN passenger trains were still hauled by steam locomotives and used heavyweight equipment. By 1957, Diesels had replaced most steam and streamlined passenger cars had replaced some CN heavyweight trains. This booklet underscores this transition by devoting pages 4 and 5 to the new streamlined equipment.

Click image to download a 10.7-MB PDF of this 24-page booklet.

At the time, Canadian National offered three daily trains from Montreal to Halifax. This booklet doesn’t say so, but only one of them was streamlined. That one, the Ocean Limited, was also an all-Pullman train, mostly roomettes and double bedrooms that many people couldn’t afford.

For people with more limited budget, the Scotian offered a choice between coaches and sleepers, mostly lower-cost sections. It made a few more stops so took about 90 minutes longer to get from Montreal to Halifax. The third choice was the Maritime Express, which carried only coaches and (belying the “express” in its name) made many more stops, taking about four hours more than the Scotian. Not surprisingly, the only photos of train exteriors or interiors in this booklet are of the Ocean.

This booklet also devotes a page to promoting Canadian National steamship service to Prince Edward Island and Nova Scotia, plus another two pages showing CN hotels in Halifax, St. John NB, St. John Newfoundland, and PEI. That left only 13 pages to actually show the maritime provinces, where the 1952 edition used 25. CN had obviously decided to promote its services as much as its destinations.