The Super Continental was a transcontinental Canadian passenger train operated by the Canadian National Railway from 1955 until 1977, when Via Rail took over the train and ran it until it was cancelled in 1981. Service was restored in 1985 but was again eliminated in 1990. The original CN train had a Montreal–Ottawa–Toronto-Winnipeg–Saskatoon–Edmonton–Jasper–Vancouver routing with daily service. CN passenger service in the postwar era Following World War II, CN's passenger fleet was in need of modernization, and between 1946 and 1950 the railway purchased a total of 75 new lightweight coaches and sleeping cars. However, post-war material shortages constrained the number of cars that CN was able to procure commercially, leading to a significant programme of in-house refurbishment of older heavyweight equipment in the CN carshops. Ultimately a total of 211 heavyweight cars were fitted out with new interiors, roller bearing trucks, and sealed windows. Nevertheless, it quickly became apparent that refurbished equipment alone would not be sufficient to remain competitive, and in 1952 CN placed a large order for new lightweight equipment. This order consisted of 218 coaches from the Canadian Car and Foundry in Montreal, as well as 92 sleeping cars, 20 dining cars, 17 parlour cars, and 12 buffet-sleepers from the Chicago-based Pullman-Standard Company. Service history Inauguration of service Deliveries of the new cars were essentially completed by 1954, but CN waited until April 24, 1955, to introduce its new transcontinental flagship Super Continental to replace its former flagship, the Continental Limited. Not coincidentally, this was the same date that competitor Canadian Pacific Railway introduced its new streamlined transcontinental train The Canadian. Before its introduction in regular service, the equipment that was to be used for the Super Continental was displayed at some of the stations on the train's route. The Super Continental reduced the travel time between Montreal and Vancouver by up to 14 hours, removing the need for a fourth night aboard the train. The journey was advertised as the longest single run of a diesel locomotive powered train in North America without changing locomotives. In 1960, CN and CP both introduced "transcontinental local" trains, which were really reconfigurations of existing services, that were intended to serve passengers on shorter trips that followed the same routes as the Super Continental and The Canadian. On CN, the Continental was used while on CP the Dominion was used. Despite the new and refurbished equipment and a new