VIA RAIL CANADA
Senior VIA News Editor Tim Hayman
VIA News Co-Editor Terry Muirhead:
vianews@canadianrailwayobservations.com
Reminder to Eastern VIA fans - VIA will be running extra Ocean trains this holiday season, including two trips in each direction equipped with a full Stainless Steel HEP set (including Skyline, full diner, and Park). The extra dates (in addition to the normal Sunday/Wednesday/Friday trips) are as follows:
VIA #14: Dec. 21 (Renaissance), 22 (HEP), 28** (REN), 29 (HEP)
VIA #15: Dec 22 (REN), 28** (HEP), 29 (REN), Jan 2. (HEP)
**These trips are essentially the rescheduled Christmas Day trains
There is still time to book a Christmas getaway. More information is available here:
http://www.viarail.ca/en/explore-our-destinations/trains/atlantic-canada/montreal-halifax-ocean
Effective October 14th, Sleeper Class has been removed from the Ocean. From now on, all sleeping car accommodations will count as Sleeper Plus, and will include all meals and access to the Park Car as part of the fare. This change is intended to simplify the on-board experience (no need to differentiate which passengers are in which type of accommodation), as well as making the Ocean consistent with VIA's other overnight trains, where all sleeping accommodations are Sleeper Plus. With this change comes a slight adjustment to the line numbering of sleeping cars on the train: the Park Car is now Car 40 (it used to be 39), and the last sleeper is Car 39, with the numbers descending as you move forward. The first sleeper will always be Car 30. So for example, a train with 6 sleepers would be numbered (starting from the front) as 30-35-36-37-38-39-(Transition)-40(Park).
VIA is reporting that revenues for The Canadian were up 14% this year for the peak season (May to October) over 2014 figures. In a press release, VIA attributes a certain amount of this increase to the introduction of Prestige Class, but also recognizes that severe on-time performance issues continue to cause problems for this train.
VIA has made some changes to the schedules of the Jonquiere and Senneterre trains, departing later to allow for better connections in Montreal.
RDCs in the Corridor? Yes, it could be a reality very soon, as VIA has been testing a trio of rebuilt RDCs around Ottawa for likely deployment in Southwestern Ontario. Continue down to the end of the VIA Photos section for more!
Summer is steadily winding down, and the cold days have begun to arrive. Just before the leaves started to change, Pierre Fournier got out for a few last summery-looking photos. First we see VIA 25 on Sept. 27, with 6439 in charge.
On the same day, here is a very blue 913 on the head end of a Renaissance consist.
Jumping ahead almost a month, these two shots of VIA 22 show the colours beginning to change in the background.
A late VIA No. 692 is seen approaching the highway overpass near Bield, Manitoba on the afternoon of October 12th, 2015. Trains 692 & 693 normally have only five cars with only one sleeper, but with polar bear season in full swing at Churchill extra sleepers and a Park car have been added to the consist for October. Yoho Park brings up the rear of this twice a week service. (David Maiers photos)
Ron Visockis was recently in Moncton NB, and submitted several photos of the Ocean, first in Sackville NB, and then in Moncton. The full summer-season consist for the train is quite impressive!
Model train manufacturer Rapido Trains recently charted two cars (including a Skyline dome) on the rear of regularly scheduled VIA trains for an excursion to and from their big product launch party in Montreal. This allowed excursion passengers to enjoy an unusual experience - riding in a dome car in the Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal triangle. Such an experience hasn't been possible since VIA introduced Renaissance equipment on (and then cancelled) the overnight Enterprise train.
Michael Berry shot VIA 52 with the Rapido chartered dome on the rear, after dropping off the excursion passengers at Dorval on October 11.
More photos of this train can be found on Eric Gagnon's blog, and Stephen Gardiner's flickr page (including plenty of in-the-dome shots).
http://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.ca/2015/10/via-skyline-8501-travels-cns-kingston.html
https://www.flickr.com/photos/55976115@N00/ (Scroll down and continue to page 2 for more photos)
The fall colours have come into full swing, and Michael Berry has been doing his best to take advantage of the stunning natural backdrops. Here are a series of trains he shot over the month of October.
VIA 55 on October 4.
6417 is trying to do its best Alco impression leaving Dorval.
Two colours of P42s: clear contrast between VIA 902 (green) and VIA 906 (blue) leading VIA 67 at Dorval on Oct. 11.
On Oct. 18th, VIA 63 is leaving Montreal with a pair of F40s for power, trailed by 7 stainless steel cars as it passes Wellington Tower.
On Oct. 17th, VIA 902 leads an eastbound through Pointe-Claire.
October 24th, VIA 6443 leads VIA 633 towards Turcot West. Note the red marking on the LRC Business Class car - it appears to be a poppy, presumably for Remembrance Day. At least two cars have been spotted so far with these markings.
Also on Oct. 24th, VIA 64 is being handled by a mismatched pair of locomotives.
Once again on the same day, here we see a more interesting train: VIA 6415 leads a VIA 65 which includes two VIA-1 first class cars and lounge car Glenfraser (VIA 1750).
Walter Pfefferle was also out to catch the changing leaves.
RDCs on the Move
A topic of major interest this month: a trio of rebuilt RDCs have recently been on the move in the Corridor. RDC-4 6251, RDC-2 6208 and RDC-1 6105 were moved to Ottawa on October 8th. They were to be tested on the Alexandria Subdivision before being sent to Toronto. Though there has been no official word yet, the indications are that VIA is planning to start running these cars on some southwestern Ontario trains. Assuming the tests went well, there should be word soon about where and when these cars will be going into service.
Michael Berry took a few photos of these cars heading over the Lachine canal on the tail end of VIA 37.
Finally, here are a few beautiful photos of the three gleaming stainless steel RDCs under nighttime lights in Ottawa on October 25th, courtesy of Ray Farand.
VIA Videos
Here is a very interesting video from David Othen, shot back in the fall of 2007. The video follows the train formerly known as The Saguenay, which runs from Montreal to Jonquiere. The video includes footage from on board the train and trackside.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pPlrRnJi6T4
Here are a few more Vignettes from the ever impressive collection of Pierre Fournier:
It may be hard to believe, but the P42s are coming up on 15 years old. Here we see 911, only a few months after delivery in 2001. The fresh unit shows off its original teal paint, and is still years away from receiving some of the more unique VIA features (e.g. third headlight, HEP receptacle modifications, emergency horns, etc.).
The fall colours of yesterday: only a few years left before being replaced by the 900s, VIA 6917 is showing some signs of the Alco guts hidden inside its streamlined carbody as she accelerates at Drummondville.
Gone but not forgotten. VIA 6408 in its other life as Coors Silver Bullet sits in Woodstock Ontario May 1st 2011
© CRO November 2015