VIA Rail Canada

[Shaun]

7 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

I wish we had more trains like this in Canada, especially in BC. The fact that the BC Rail Dayliner died and was never resurrected (especially despite its potential as a ski train) hurts me to the core. 

I'm sure that as Canada needs to hit their emissions target it won't be practical for everyone to drive their personal vehicle to Whistler. You would think with Greyhound out of the picture the province would have provided public transportation to Whistler.

[Chris_the_traveller]

 

On 2/9/2023 at 3:28 PM, smallspy said:

"Car 91" indicates that you are located in the second VIA1 car. Car 1 is the first VIA1 car, with Car 3 being the first of the economy cars in any given trainset.

Dan

Why is there no car 2 on VIA trains?

On 2/10/2023 at 8:55 AM, smallspy said:

The suspicion is that they want to convert all of the Ottawa-Québec runs first, as those are the ones that will be able to fully take advantage of the bi-directional trainsets. (Also, they would be able to remove the two Ren Corridor sets from service sooner.)

 

If that is in fact the case, then it would be dependent on how long it takes for Siemens to deliver the next batch of trains. It will take 6 trainsets to equip all of the Ottawa-Québec runs.

 

Dan

If the Buffer car requirement persists, is it possible that VIA would want to pull some HEP2 cars before the Ren cars?

[Articulated]

1 hour ago, Chris_the_traveller said:

Why is there no car 2 on VIA trains?

Car #2 would usually be reserved for when demand warrants a second Business-class car, in order to preserve the numerical ordering in a trainset.

[Urban Sky]

7 hours ago, Articulated said:

Car #2 would usually be reserved for when demand warrants a second Business-class car, in order to preserve the numerical ordering in a trainset.

When VIA operates a second Business Car, it‘s given the number 91, not: 2.

[smallspy]

12 hours ago, Chris_the_traveller said:

 

Why is there no car 2 on VIA trains?

As I understand it, car 2 (and car 92, when applicable) was used for a short-lived service that existed in the Corridor that was priced/offered between Club service (car 1) and coach (car 3 and higher). Dayniters (and equivalent) were used for the service, which gave larger and more comfortable seats than regular coach, but not quite as extreme as Club car service.

 

 

Dan

[Urban Sky]

6 hours ago, smallspy said:

As I understand it, car 2 (and car 92, when applicable) was used for a short-lived service that existed in the Corridor that was priced/offered between Club service (car 1) and coach (car 3 and higher). Dayniters (and equivalent) were used for the service, which gave larger and more comfortable seats than regular coach, but not quite as extreme as Club car service.

 

 

Dan

That also matches what I was told when I worked for them…

[InfiNorth]

On 4/18/2023 at 7:07 AM, smallspy said:

As I understand it, car 2 (and car 92, when applicable) was used for a short-lived service that existed in the Corridor that was priced/offered between Club service (car 1) and coach (car 3 and higher). Dayniters (and equivalent) were used for the service, which gave larger and more comfortable seats than regular coach, but not quite as extreme as Club car service.

Sorry, novice question here - are dayniters the same as long-distance coach with the recliners/massive footrests? 

[smallspy]

10 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

Sorry, novice question here - are dayniters the same as long-distance coach with the recliners/massive footrests? 

"Dayniters" were a series of cars that CN (and later VIA) modified with larger, reclining seats and massive footrests, yes.

 

They had a very similar seating configuration as the ex-CP Budd coaches (about 54 seats versus the 76 of the more standard "EM" coaches) and were used interchangeably with them for a while.

 

Dan

[The Squishy Bus]

Do we have an idea of when a majority of the VIA F40s will be retired?

[smallspy]

3 hours ago, The Squishy Bus said:

Do we have an idea of when a majority of the VIA F40s will be retired?

Not anytime soon.

 

A small number are projected to be retired upon the arrival of the bulk of the Siemens fleet, but a majority will be kept for service.

 

Dan

[smallspy]

As of tomorrow, the buffer cars will start to be removed from all VIA trains running Budd-built equipment.

 

Dan

[InfiNorth]

On 5/17/2023 at 12:59 PM, smallspy said:

As of tomorrow, the buffer cars will start to be removed from all VIA trains running Budd-built equipment.

That's really exciting news - one of the real specialties of the Canadian for tourists is the Park Car, and that buffer car effectively ruined that experience outright. What were the conclusions of the testing? 

[smallspy]

11 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

That's really exciting news - one of the real specialties of the Canadian for tourists is the Park Car, and that buffer car effectively ruined that experience outright.

Said like someone who has never actually ridden The Canadian.

 

As someone who has ridden both The Canadian and The Ocean many times - including once with equipment marshalled behind the Park Car - I can assure you that the addition of the buffer car had absolutely, positively no bearing whatsoever on the experience of those riding the car.

11 hours ago, InfiNorth said:

What were the conclusions of the testing? 

Still unknown, but assumed that it was positive if the equipment can be used without buffers.

 

Dan

[Oc4526]

Looks like the Siemens deliveries is ramping up.  Set #5 passed the Kearney Nebraska Virtual Railfan cam at 6:16 local time 

 

[M. Parsons]

I came across this slide on eBay and won it.

I think I've only seen this paint variation with the CN black window band and yellow ends one other shot of a VIA Rail RDC. I would imagine this wasn't too common, and certainly a short lived paint scheme variation on VIA Rail? Both this photo and the other one were taken in 1981. 

[smallspy]

9 hours ago, M. Parsons said:

I came across this slide on eBay and won it.

I think I've only seen this paint variation with the CN black window band and yellow ends one other shot of a VIA Rail RDC. I would imagine this wasn't too common, and certainly a short lived paint scheme variation on VIA Rail? Both this photo and the other one were taken in 1981. 

So you were the one who won it.

 

In the early years of VIA, there were some peculiar one-off paint jobs done, but yes, I think that this seems to have been the only one or maybe one of two that was done quite like this. (Also note the 4 VIA locos in the white letterband above the windows.)

 

Also note that this unit was one of the ex-CN Western Lines units, which were delivered with green letterbands above the windows painted on a non-stainless panel. Upon getting repainted in the 1961 passenger paint scheme, the letterband was painted white in an attempt to not have it stick out so much, and the several units that later went on to VIA kept that trait until the end of their existence.

 

And even more interesting is that this was built as an RDC-3 but rebuilt into an RDC-1 - note the rain gutters above the letterband at the far end of the car. That conversion was done before its sale to VIA, as there are shots of it in the mid-1970s in this configuration - and with shiny red ends.

 

Dan

[Tom1122]

12 hours ago, smallspy said:

So you were the one who won it.

 

In the early years of VIA, there were some peculiar one-off paint jobs done, but yes, I think that this seems to have been the only one or maybe one of two that was done quite like this. (Also note the 4 VIA locos in the white letterband above the windows.)

 

Also note that this unit was one of the ex-CN Western Lines units, which were delivered with green letterbands above the windows painted on a non-stainless panel. Upon getting repainted in the 1961 passenger paint scheme, the letterband was painted white in an attempt to not have it stick out so much, and the several units that later went on to VIA kept that trait until the end of their existence.

 

And even more interesting is that this was built as an RDC-3 but rebuilt into an RDC-1 - note the rain gutters above the letterband at the far end of the car. That conversion was done before its sale to VIA, as there are shots of it in the mid-1970s in this configuration - and with shiny red ends.

 

Dan

Perhaps Rapido should make a model of this RDC since they did the Grey Ghost scheme.

[smallspy]

11 hours ago, Tom1122 said:

Perhaps Rapido should make a model of this RDC since they did the Grey Ghost scheme.

And considering that a new body would have to be tooled up to allow for the addition of the rain gutters, the non-stardard sand hatch spacing as well as the roof vents to what is otherwise a standard Phase 2 RDC-1, who is going to pay for it? Because the 8 people who would buy one sure as hell won't cover it.

Dan

[Chris_the_traveller]

Last week I took VIA 37 from Montreal to Ottawa. This was a Renaissance consist. It was already heavily delayed leaving Montréal due to equipment issues (unfortunately, not a huge surprise). When we got to Lachine near 32nd avenue, the train yielded and we let two eastbound VIA trains (28 and 64 I believe) pass us. I suspect they had both used Platform 1 at Dorval. After both trains passed us, we switched onto the south track and finally arrived at Platform 1 at Dorval.

The only reason I could tell that we were stuck waiting at Lachine 32nd avenue was to be able to move over to the south track to use platform 1 at Dorval. 

I find this to have been a poor operational decision, to let our train accumulate an extra 20 minutes delay just to avoid using Platform 2 at Dorval.

I know Platform 2 doesn't have the greatest setup. It lacks elevators and escalators, and has a relatively narrow staircase. Are there any upgrades planned at Dorval to allow both platforms to be used regularly and consistently? It doesn't seem acceptable to delay trains just because of poor station infrastructure at Dorval. This is obviously a very busy station with lots of freight and passenger traffic, and the use of two platforms seems essential.

[smallspy]

19 hours ago, Chris_the_traveller said:

Last week I took VIA 37 from Montreal to Ottawa. This was a Renaissance consist. It was already heavily delayed leaving Montréal due to equipment issues (unfortunately, not a huge surprise). When we got to Lachine near 32nd avenue, the train yielded and we let two eastbound VIA trains (28 and 64 I believe) pass us. I suspect they had both used Platform 1 at Dorval. After both trains passed us, we switched onto the south track and finally arrived at Platform 1 at Dorval.

The only reason I could tell that we were stuck waiting at Lachine 32nd avenue was to be able to move over to the south track to use platform 1 at Dorval. 

I find this to have been a poor operational decision, to let our train accumulate an extra 20 minutes delay just to avoid using Platform 2 at Dorval.

I know Platform 2 doesn't have the greatest setup. It lacks elevators and escalators, and has a relatively narrow staircase. Are there any upgrades planned at Dorval to allow both platforms to be used regularly and consistently? It doesn't seem acceptable to delay trains just because of poor station infrastructure at Dorval. This is obviously a very busy station with lots of freight and passenger traffic, and the use of two platforms seems essential.

There is reportedly a plan afoot to re-envision and potentially rebuild Dorval Station. VIA has made mention of this on a couple of occasions now.

 

Unfortunately, little else is known beyond "there is a plan". One would assume that there would need to be public presentations on it at some point, but none appear to have been announced as yet.

 

Dan

[AirborneSheep]

I'm doing Quebec - Montreal next week, anyone know what train #s are running the new fleet?

[Urban Sky]

On 8/20/2023 at 8:09 PM, AirborneSheep said:

I'm doing Quebec - Montreal next week, anyone know what train #s are running the new fleet?

This is the most recent cycling plan I’ve seen:

 

[AirborneSheep]

1 hour ago, Urban Sky said:

This is the most recent cycling plan I’ve seen:

 

Very interesting to see for a Via Rail first timer, I'm on train 29 tonight and I guess there was an equipment change as it's a F40 with 6 renaissance cars.

[MCIBUS]

Question?

Are the forest fires in BC effecting any VIA services?

[Urban Sky]

4 hours ago, MCIBUS said:

Question?

Are the forest fires in BC effecting any VIA services?

The Canadian is currently suspended West of Edmonton. I believe that the Skeena is still running normally…

14 hours ago, AirborneSheep said:

Very interesting to see for a Via Rail first timer, I'm on train 29 tonight and I guess there was an equipment change as it's a F40 with 6 renaissance cars.

The cycling plan shows a Renaissance Trainset for train #29 on Tuesdays, so not sure what was different from what the plan made you expect, apart maybe the F40 instead of a P42, but these locomotives are pretty much deployed interchangeably in the corridor, ever since the F40s got their upgrades for bidirectional operations…