In 1928, the TdM ordered 30 cars from Brill – they wanted to purchase them from CC&F, but CC&F wasn’t building new trolley cars in the 1920s – to operate their local passenger trains on the electrified line between Montréal, Iberville, and Philipsburg. This was basically a commuter line, and those trains kept running (the Philipsburg line was trimmed back to Venice-en-Québec after the second world war) until the 1970s after which of these cars were either scrapped, donated, or moved into MOW service.

The 11Ps were fairly utiliarian coaches, with the notable exception of the frosted windows by the toilets, which instead of just being a single pane of frosted glass were fairly spectacular leaded glass extravaganzas (covered, after the second world war, with plexiglas panels to discourage theft & vandalism.) These “Cathedral Cars” were the first pieces TdM equipment to be painted in the the post-war orange & green paint scheme, and were kept spotless up until the day when the last commuter trains stopped running.

4 of them survive in MOW service on the TdM, another 5 were donated to one railroad museum or another, and 21 sets of leaded glass windows are stored at the TdM’s shops.

One of the MOW cars was rebuilt into an inspection car, and the TdM shops did not do a sloppy job of it. Not luxurious (it has 3 tiny sleeping compartments with bunks) but it does have a small dining area and actual parlour car-style seating on the open-platform-end of the car.

M972 is a DC only vehicle, so it is restricted to operation in the 3kvdc operating region (Maine, Québec, Ontario, New Hampshire, Vermont, and northern New York.)