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They did run a pair of the trainsets on 66/67, which at that time were the premiere set of Corridor trains between Montréal and Toronto (the 5pm expresses). At the time, it was felt that the addition of the service car - used as a bar car for the run - would be a way to help build up ridership.

 

On those same cycles, those trainsets also operated trains 51/52 (IIRC), which left Montréal and Toronto at about 8.20 and 9am, respectively, if memory serves. The trainset that laid over in Toronto also for a little while did a mid-day flip to Niagara Falls and back, it was was possible to see Rens down that way for a brief period, too.

 

I don't know if ridership increased at all through the experiment, but the fact that they only ran the equipment on those runs for 18 months or so - plus the fact that those two trains no longer exist in that form or schedule - should say a lot.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that at their height, VIA operated 5 sets of Ren equipment in Corridor service each day. They now only run two.

 

Dan

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2 hours ago, smallspy said:

They did run a pair of the trainsets on 66/67, which at that time were the premiere set of Corridor trains between Montréal and Toronto (the 5pm expresses). At the time, it was felt that the addition of the service car - used as a bar car for the run - would be a way to help build up ridership.

 

On those same cycles, those trainsets also operated trains 51/52 (IIRC), which left Montréal and Toronto at about 8.20 and 9am, respectively, if memory serves. The trainset that laid over in Toronto also for a little while did a mid-day flip to Niagara Falls and back, it was was possible to see Rens down that way for a brief period, too.

 

I don't know if ridership increased at all through the experiment, but the fact that they only ran the equipment on those runs for 18 months or so - plus the fact that those two trains no longer exist in that form or schedule - should say a lot.

 

One other thing to keep in mind is that at their height, VIA operated 5 sets of Ren equipment in Corridor service each day. They now only run two.

 

Dan

Can't wait to get rid of them...are they still leaking from the AC units?

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6 hours ago, 81-717 said:

Agreed. Hopefully when the new fleet enters service the Renaissance fleet will go first, not the Budd fleet or even the LRCs.

My expectation is LRC first (because of their severe underframe issues - quite a few had already to be pulled out of service), then Renaissance (because they are only 2 sets) and HEP last…

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1 hour ago, Urban Sky said:

My expectation is LRC first (because of their severe underframe issues - quite a few had already to be pulled out of service), then Renaissance (because they are only 2 sets) and HEP last…

Do you know if VHA is getting an LRC and a REN car? They are both extremely unique and bizarre cars for Canadian rails and would be rather important to keep one of each around for preservation.

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11 hours ago, smallspy said:

On those same cycles, those train sets also operated trains 51/52 (IIRC), which left Montréal and Toronto at about 8.20 and 9am, respectively, if memory serves. The train set that laid over in Toronto also for a little while did a mid-day flip to Niagara Falls and back, it was was possible to see Rens down that way for a brief period, too.

Dan

On my last trip to the Falls back in 2009 . I had a Ren set on both legs ( Ottawa <-> Toronto) The same equipment would interline to/from the early morning and evening Niagara run.  Baggage/Bike service wasn't offered between Toronto & Niagara though.

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12 hours ago, Oc4526 said:

On my last trip to the Falls back in 2009 . I had a Ren set on both legs ( Ottawa <-> Toronto) The same equipment would interline to/from the early morning and evening Niagara run.  Baggage/Bike service wasn't offered between Toronto & Niagara though.

The memory is fuzzy that long ago.....but that may have been a different cycle after the sets were used on 66/67. But I do recall the sets being used on 40 and I think 47 going back.

 

Dan

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I noticed this travel advisory on the VIA website:

Due to a railway infrastructure maintenance by the Host Railway on April 23 and 24, 2022, the line will be closed, and trains will run on a different route. Trains 52, 62, 64, 66, 46, 68, 668, 643, 63, 65, 53, 67, 645, 69, 59, 669, 42, 54 will incur significant delays. There will be no service to or from Guildwood Station on April 23 and 24. Toronto’s Union Station or Oshawa Station are suggested as the closest alternative.

 
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7 hours ago, Chris_the_traveller said:

I noticed this travel advisory on the VIA website:

Due to a railway infrastructure maintenance by the Host Railway on April 23 and 24, 2022, the line will be closed, and trains will run on a different route. Trains 52, 62, 64, 66, 46, 68, 668, 643, 63, 65, 53, 67, 645, 69, 59, 669, 42, 54 will incur significant delays. There will be no service to or from Guildwood Station on April 23 and 24. Toronto’s Union Station or Oshawa Station are suggested as the closest alternative.

 

They couldn't leave one track open for VIA? 

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7 hours ago, Chris_the_traveller said:

I noticed this travel advisory on the VIA website:

Due to a railway infrastructure maintenance by the Host Railway on April 23 and 24, 2022, the line will be closed, and trains will run on a different route. Trains 52, 62, 64, 66, 46, 68, 668, 643, 63, 65, 53, 67, 645, 69, 59, 669, 42, 54 will incur significant delays. There will be no service to or from Guildwood Station on April 23 and 24. Toronto’s Union Station or Oshawa Station are suggested as the closest alternative.

 
8 minutes ago, Shaun said:

They couldn't leave one track open for VIA? 

This past weekend was the same closure that occurred back on November 27-28, 2021 (and extended through to the following weekend due to a worker fatality). The work is being done on the bridge over the Rouge River, which is a double-track section and requires both tracks (which use the same structure) to be closed. From other people I've heard they also did track work on other sections of the Kingston Sub between Union and Pickering.

VIA operated more or less the same schedule this weekend that they did on the previous closure - operate over the Bala and York subdivisions between Union and Pickering, on a reduced schedule to fit between freight trains, and most eastbound trains leaving Toronto operated joined to Oshawa, where they got separated and continued east.

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  • 1 month later...
On 4/16/2022 at 7:51 PM, InfiNorth said:

Do you know if VHA is getting an LRC and a REN car? They are both extremely unique and bizarre cars for Canadian rails and would be rather important to keep one of each around for preservation.

Im fairly sure VIA will donate sets of LRC and REN cars to the VHA. The LRC's will be condemned though so they'll only be good for static displays. The Rens could potentially still be good to run post retirement.  

 

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Someone recently took a picture of a skyline deadheading towards Montreal. Why would that be? I assume it's for maintenance that for some reason can't be done at the TMC and can only de done at the MMC because currently, there is no train that departs Montreal that runs a skyline car and i can't see it being for anything else but maintenance. 

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1 hour ago, lifty4ever said:

Im fairly sure VIA will donate sets of LRC and REN cars to the VHA. The LRC's will be condemned though so they'll only be good for static displays. The Rens could potentially still be good to run post retirement.  

 

I heard 1/5 of LRC’s are out of service and unlikely to return because of their condition and Via has had to canabalize a few to keep the rest of the fleet running. There have been equipment swaps recently, on Saturday I was on Via 59 and the scheduled LRC’s were swapped for HEP’s. I wonder if this will see the return of Renaissance equipment west of Ottawa.

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45 minutes ago, lifty4ever said:

Someone recently took a picture of a skyline deadheading towards Montreal. Why would that be? I assume it's for maintenance that for some reason can't be done at the TMC and can only de done at the MMC because currently, there is no train that departs Montreal that runs a skyline car and i can't see it being for anything else but maintenance. 

MMC is where all heavy maintenance is done, regardless of equipment.

 

If it is more substantial than just a wheel changeout or brake job, it is sent to Montréal.

 

Dan

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On 6/20/2022 at 3:42 PM, John Oke said:

I heard 1/5 of LRC’s are out of service and unlikely to return because of their condition and Via has had to canabalize a few to keep the rest of the fleet running. There have been equipment swaps recently, on Saturday I was on Via 59 and the scheduled LRC’s were swapped for HEP’s. I wonder if this will see the return of Renaissance equipment west of Ottawa.

Are they still rebuilding HEP II cars?

Would it be possible to put that Siemens set into service sooner? When is the second one supposed to arrive?

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3 hours ago, Shaun said:

Are they still rebuilding HEP II cars?

It seems like they still might be, 4/6 cars on 59 last Saturday were refurbished. Although 1 of the cars had the old red seats. I couldn’t tell if the other one had old seats as well 

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3 hours ago, John Oke said:

It seems like they still might be, 4/6 cars on 59 last Saturday were refurbished. Although 1 of the cars had the old red seats. I couldn’t tell if the other one had old seats as well 

The rebuilt cars have the same seats as the LRC cars. 

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On 6/24/2022 at 2:22 PM, Shaun said:

 

In the 2020 annual report it says 12 P42  locomotives received some overhauling.  Is this only so that they can last until all of the Chargers are in service?

VIA Rail also completed partial overhauls of 14 out of 15 
P42 locomotives and invested in a State of Good Repair 
project for part of its GPA-30 H locomotive fleet. So far, 
work has been completed on one prototype locomotive. 
Twelve locomotives will be done throughout the project.

Any idea on what work was completed? 

Also to keep the F40's in service until something is decided about the legacy fleet, will they not need some kind of overhaul work done? If I recall on one of their reports they have issues with the trucks due to high mileage. Is it that expensive to have to have new truck assemblies built? Do they not share common elements with GP30's and 40's which there are still an abundance in service. Would this not mean that those parts should still be available or at least that there is demand for them?

 "The condition and structural integrity of the bogies and locomotive frames are in decline due to high mileage, rough service conditions and issues with corrosion"

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This may be a strange question, but have any Skyline cars been reported missing? As in, have all 15 cars in service been spotted recently? I ask because it seems no one knows the exact status of a few cars. I heard a few had to suddenly be scrapped from a source who is a VIA employee but i find that unlikely as im certain we'd have heard about such an undertaking

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According to someone who works for VIA in Halifax, VIA is apparently attempting to modify a couple skyline cars for the Ocean though it remains to be seen if A: It can be done and B: if it's actually being done at all. I think we'll know after the annual public meeting as im sure that will be a commonly asked question as it was last year where their reason for its omission was due to covid. 

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2 hours ago, lifty4ever said:

According to someone who works for VIA in Halifax, VIA is apparently attempting to modify a couple skyline cars for the Ocean though it remains to be seen if A: It can be done and B: if it's actually being done at all. I think we'll know after the annual public meeting as im sure that will be a commonly asked question as it was last year where their reason for its omission was due to covid. 

My best bet would be that they are looking into making the seats/benches in the Skyline Dome reversable to make them useful for bidirectional operations…

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2 hours ago, Urban Sky said:

My best bet would be that they are looking into making the seats/benches in the Skyline Dome reversable to make them useful for bidirectional operations…

There had been a couple of cars modified as such for a short period in the 1970s. If it was done then, it can be done now.

Of course, the Haywood Wakefield seats in the dome sections are simply a non-reversing version of a seat that they used to offer with a reversing mechanism, so I don't see that being that big an issue. The harder part will be finding either Haywood Wakefield or Mount Royal seats still available.

 

4 hours ago, lifty4ever said:

According to someone who works for VIA in Halifax, VIA is apparently attempting to modify a couple skyline cars for the Ocean though it remains to be seen if A: It can be done and B: if it's actually being done at all. I think we'll know after the annual public meeting as im sure that will be a commonly asked question as it was last year where their reason for its omission was due to covid. 

 

This rumour first surfaced about 18 months ago. If it hadn't happened by now, it's not happening at all.


Dan

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2 hours ago, smallspy said:

There had been a couple of cars modified as such for a short period in the 1970s. If it was done then, it can be done now.

Of course, the Haywood Wakefield seats in the dome sections are simply a non-reversing version of a seat that they used to offer with a reversing mechanism, so I don't see that being that big an issue. The harder part will be finding either Haywood Wakefield or Mount Royal seats still available.

 

 

This rumour first surfaced about 18 months ago. If it hadn't happened by now, it's not happening at all.


Dan

Could they transfer the 3 Colorado cars to the ocean and use the extra skylines on the Canadian? Wouldn't those be easier to make bi-directional?

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On 7/7/2022 at 4:36 PM, smallspy said:

There had been a couple of cars modified as such for a short period in the 1970s. If it was done then, it can be done now.

Of course, the Haywood Wakefield seats in the dome sections are simply a non-reversing version of a seat that they used to offer with a reversing mechanism, so I don't see that being that big an issue. The harder part will be finding either Haywood Wakefield or Mount Royal seats still available.

 

 

This rumour first surfaced about 18 months ago. If it hadn't happened by now, it's not happening at all.


Dan

I believe that rumor was because original diagrams of the Ocean's consist did include a skyline car in it. It was omitted due to the then situation with covid. I feel they're definitely going to try modifying a couple at some point as the Renaissance cars will be retired sometime this decade, leaving only budd cars left and unless VIA is going to convert some of the reassigned corridor budds to suit other purposes, they'd have no choice but to use a skyline car so as to have a lounge space and a cafe. Im just not sure if they're going to do that any time soon because the ren lounges already fulfill this role only lacking the panorama dome. 

On 7/7/2022 at 7:30 PM, Shaun said:

Could they transfer the 3 Colorado cars to the ocean and use the extra skylines on the Canadian? Wouldn't those be easier to make bi-directional?

That's definitely an option they have and i honestly forgot about those cars but i wonder if they don't want those cars to be exclusive to the Canadian and Skeena. Heck, those cars rarely ever go east of Edmonton because they use them in the Rockies. 

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