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Waiting for 30 Minutes

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InfiNorth

InfiNorth

Posted
Posted
14 minutes ago, Michel said:

These are apparently the same type of rail cars that VIA has ordered - https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wNtDRCUkb2I&feature=youtu.be

I have to say, isn't there some more efficient way of transporting rail vehicles... you know... like, by rail? I understand why light rail and metro units need to be transported by road but why does a heavy-rail vehicles need to go on a truck? 

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Articulated

Articulated

Posted
Posted
20 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

I have to say, isn't there some more efficient way of transporting rail vehicles... you know... like, by rail? I understand why light rail and metro units need to be transported by road but why does a heavy-rail vehicles need to go on a truck? 

All depends on what is cheaper or more efficient for the manufacturer to do.

For the TTC, the Toronto Rocket subway cars were shipped from the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay by truck. On the opposite side, the Flexity streetcar order coming from the same plant had all cars shipped by rail.

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InfiNorth

InfiNorth

Posted
Posted
40 minutes ago, Articulated said:

All depends on what is cheaper or more efficient for the manufacturer to do.

For the TTC, the Toronto Rocket subway cars were shipped from the Bombardier plant in Thunder Bay by truck. On the opposite side, the Flexity streetcar order coming from the same plant had all cars shipped by rail.

I would love to know the logistical reason behind that. I would always expect that such a large chunk of equipment like a subway car would be better off on the road. SkyTrain takes delivery from Bombardier by road as well. My main confusion is that the Siemens units are heavy-rail equipment destined for mainline usage, so shipping them on their own wheels on the mainline would, in theory, be a better option. Obviously you're not hooking a Flexity or an Innovia to the back end of a freight consist like VIA did when it was shipping its RDCs for retirement. 

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M. Parsons

M. Parsons

Posted
Posted
2 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

I have to say, isn't there some more efficient way of transporting rail vehicles... you know... like, by rail? I understand why light rail and metro units need to be transported by road but why does a heavy-rail vehicles need to go on a truck? 

In this case, this is a single midtrain car by the looks of it. Non standard couplers possibly? Also, given the logos from multiple agencies, it's possible this a prototype/ demonstrator or perhaps even a mock up. Might not be rail-worthy.

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smallspy

smallspy

Posted
Posted
13 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

I have to say, isn't there some more efficient way of transporting rail vehicles... you know... like, by rail? I understand why light rail and metro units need to be transported by road but why does a heavy-rail vehicles need to go on a truck? 

The car has been at NRC's Ottawa facility for the past several months, and was delivered there by rail. Now that construction has started in earnest on the Trillium Line upgrades, the line has been embargoed, and so it was no longer capable of leaving the facility on its own wheels.

 

The car is being transferred to some other location where it will then be offloaded back onto the rails, then sent back to Siemens in Sacramento for modification and completion.

 

Dan

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InfiNorth

InfiNorth

Posted
Posted
5 minutes ago, Viafreak said:

I would think those trainsets would be a good fit for the Japser-Prince George-Prince Rupert (aka Skeena) train than the HEP fleet.

I disagree wholeheartedly. Having ridden on everything VIA has except for RDCs (which I assume are similar on the interior to HEP), trust me, you would not want to sit on anything modern for eight hours straight. I was so happy on The Canadian to have the ancient, couch-like seating to sprawl out on, with no one peeking in between your seats and a lot more privacy in economy. If it is anything like the REN or LRC seating, I would rather walk from Jasper to Prince George and on to Prince Rupert than sit in one of those seats for more than an hour or two. Beyond that, as the Jasper to Prince Rupert route is a very tourist-oriented low-speed route, having heritage stuff on the route (particularly the bullet lounge and such) seems appropriate. I can't see any benefit other than it being new. The old Budd stock used in the west may be old but it is durable and incredibly comfortable.

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smallspy

smallspy

Posted
Posted
58 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

Or maybe our deepest fantasies are coming true... we're getting a Western corridor... or not. 

Well, considering that this has been a fairly regular occurrence since the launch of WCE in 1995......probably not.

 

Dan

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cprted

cprted

Posted
Posted
On 3/4/2020 at 4:16 PM, smallspy said:

Or maybe our deepest fantasies are coming true... we're getting a Western corridor... or not. 

Well, considering that this has been a fairly regular occurrence since the launch of WCE in 1995......probably not.

 

Dan

Yup. WCE has had an agreement with VIA to supply backup power since the beginning.

 

Besides, where would a VIA Rail western corridor service go to?  Vancouver-Kamloops? I think Vancouver's best chance at corridor style rail service lies with the partnership between BC, Washington, and Oregon, for a faster and more frequent Cascade service. 

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InfiNorth

InfiNorth

Posted
Posted
Just now, cprted said:

Yup. WCE has had an agreement with VIA to supply backup power since the beginning.

 

Besides, where would a VIA Rail western corridor service go to?  Vancouver-Kamloops? I think Vancouver's best chance at corridor style rail service lies with the partnership between BC, Washington, and Oregon, for a faster and more frequent Cascade service. 

That's my idea. We need more than two Amtrak trains a day and more than just downtown Vancouver as a station. Right now the Amtrak service (understandably) only serves downtown Vancouver, which has little use to Canadians for local service. I feel like an Amtrak-VIA agreement like what we see on the Maple Leaf would be great, especially if we could see a stop in North Surrey near Scott Road so that people outside the Vancouver core area would be able to use it without dealing with the hell that is the Vancouver core area. We also need the island corridor reopened but that's a different can of worms for a different thread. 

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cprted

cprted

Posted
Posted
36 minutes ago, InfiNorth said:

That's my idea. We need more than two Amtrak trains a day and more than just downtown Vancouver as a station. Right now the Amtrak service (understandably) only serves downtown Vancouver, which has little use to Canadians for local service. I feel like an Amtrak-VIA agreement like what we see on the Maple Leaf would be great, especially if we could see a stop in North Surrey near Scott Road so that people outside the Vancouver core area would be able to use it without dealing with the hell that is the Vancouver core area. We also need the island corridor reopened but that's a different can of worms for a different thread. 

I think the most realistic scenario for another stop north of Bellingham would be to reactive the Blaine depot. Certainly easier for people in Surrey/Langley/Whiterock to cross at the border at Peace Arch and get on the train in Blaine than travelling all the way into Vancouver.  There is an active movement within Blaine to have this station reactivated as well. At one point VIA approached BNSF about using the former GN station in New West as a stop for The Canadian and it went over like a lead ballon ... 

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D40LF

D40LF

Posted
Posted
On 3/1/2020 at 9:58 AM, Shaun said:

Isn't the rail access still intact? Maybe it's the wrong gauge.

 

On 3/1/2020 at 1:39 AM, M. Parsons said:

In this case, this is a single midtrain car by the looks of it. Non standard couplers possibly? Also, given the logos from multiple agencies, it's possible this a prototype/ demonstrator or perhaps even a mock up. Might not be rail-worthy.

Saw it late last year being pulled a GE as it passed through Kingston, got some photos of it at Joyceville. Knew it was coming as the scanner said ten axles, one engine and the car. Remember it had an odd number (odd as in not even) even though it was an eastbound. I don't know if there was anything to help the loco and car couple but I did not check.

Tried to tell a few people about it as no one seemed to know, just a few messages that it was coming, but no one seemed to care so,..

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InfiNorth

InfiNorth

Posted
Posted
19 hours ago, cprted said:

At one point VIA approached BNSF about using the former GN station in New West as a stop for The Canadian

As recently as the 90s, Port Coquitlam was still a stop for The Canadian as it still ran on the tracks North of the river at that point.

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cprted

cprted

Posted
Posted
On 3/9/2020 at 10:21 AM, InfiNorth said:

As recently as the 90s, Port Coquitlam was still a stop for The Canadian as it still ran on the tracks North of the river at that point.

Under CP and the first year under VIA when the Canadian ran out of the CPR station on Cordova (now Waterfront), the Canadian stopped in Coquitlam.

Even after the amalgamation of all VIA services out of Pacific Central, both The Canadian and The Supercontinental listed a stop at "Port Coquitlam (New Westminster)" which was off Kingsway Ave in Poco. 

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Oc4526

Oc4526

Posted
Posted
1 hour ago, John Oke said:

The Canadian and The Ocean have been canceled until March 27th. This is to help prevent the spread of COVID-19

https://www.viarail.ca/en/travel-advisory-information

This includes the Prince Rupert/George trains. 

Overview of service cancellations*

Route Service Cancellation
Start Date 		Cancellation
Tentative End Date
(inclusively)
Montréal-Halifax (the Ocean) Cancelled March 13, 2020 March 27, 2020
Toronto-Vancouver (the Canadian) Cancelled March 13, 2020 March 27, 2020
Prince Rupert-Prince George-Jasper Cancelled - Until further notice

*This information is subject to change without notice.

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