Trains.com

2nd order of Equipment for the Canadian

12599 views
36 replies
1 rating 2 rating 3 rating 4 rating 5 rating
  • Member since
    March 2010
  • 114 posts
Posted by ghCBNS on Monday, May 29, 2017 5:29 PM

Trinity River Bottoms Boomer

The worse sin committed since Adam and Eve were evicted from the Garden of Eden was taking The Canadian off CP and putting it onto CN rails.  VIA should return it to the CPR..... 

Why?? CP's Canadian was an old dowager! This is VIA's Canadian and it's been on this route for over 27 years. It is VIA that refurbished and HEP'd the old CP equipment.....implemented Silver & Blue Class.....and more recently Prestige Class with amenities CP could only dream about!

Want to see the spiral tunnels.....ride the Rocky Mountaineer! But leave VIA's Canadian where it should be on route through Jasper where along millions have enjoyed it for nearly three decades.

If you want a new train on CP.....perhaps a daytime intercity service: Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary-Banff.

 

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • 6,199 posts
Posted by Miningman on Monday, May 29, 2017 5:52 PM

How about Halifax-Montreal-Toronto-Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie-Thunder Bay-Winnipeg. Then combine with a Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Winnipeg. Onward to Regina-Calgary-Vancouver. 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • 114 posts
Posted by ghCBNS on Monday, May 29, 2017 6:00 PM

Miningman

How about Halifax-Montreal-Toronto-Sudbury-Sault Ste. Marie-Thunder Bay-Winnipeg. Then combine with a Chicago-Milwaukee-St. Paul-Winnipeg. Onward to Regina-Calgary-Vancouver. 

 

How are you going to get from Sault Ste Marie to Thunder Bay? on the Keewatin??

  • Member since
    September 2013
  • 6,199 posts
Posted by Miningman on Monday, May 29, 2017 6:34 PM

Genesee & Wyoming's Huron Central from Sudbury to the Sault then Agawa Canyon/ (Algoma Central) to CPR mainline. 

Not going to happen anyway. 

Passenger service Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary as suggested ...not much to see really...whole lot of prairie, wheat and cows. Pretty flat though. 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • 114 posts
Posted by ghCBNS on Monday, May 29, 2017 6:47 PM

Miningman

Passenger service Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary as suggested ...not much to see really...whole lot of prairie, wheat and cows. Pretty flat though. 

 

But it's an Intercity service that might actually serve local passengers instead of the tourist going all the way. Not much scenery on a lot of VIA's Intercity routes in the corridor...... and pretty flat too...but they ssem to do quite well!

  • Member since
    April 2003
  • 305,205 posts
Posted by Anonymous on Tuesday, May 30, 2017 6:13 AM

ghCBNS, I see your point.  Perhaps the Rocky Mountaineer people would be the ones to consider operating intercity train service from Vancouver on the CPR to Winnipeg making connections with VIA's Canadian? 

I'm sure that the people that call home in the Prairie provinces love their prairie, wheat and cows as well, and would like to see train service restored to their hometown too! 

Not much to see?  How about observing a storm that is busy producing lots of thunder lightning wind and rain from a dome car.  Mother Nature putting on her very best show while you're safe and sound riding the rails.  Not even Bob Ross could paint that well!

Regarding the reroute of The Canadian to CPR: Guess I've just been listening to C&W artist George Hamilton IV's recording of Canadian Pacific too often of late! 

  • Member since
    March 2010
  • 114 posts
Posted by ghCBNS on Wednesday, May 31, 2017 5:13 AM

Trinity River Bottoms Boomer

I'm sure that the people that call home in the Prairie provinces love their prairie, wheat and cows as well, and would like to see train service restored to their hometown too!  

Looks like VIA did propose a Prairie Inter-city service back in the early 1980s when the LRCs were first entering service. (quote below from an old Transport 2000 Bulletin)

“Ten Trains (22 Locomotives and 50 Cars) will go into operation in 1980. Three have been assigned to the new Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa service (6-7 trains per day via CP lines except CN Central Station in Montreal) Tentative plans also call for 5 of the trains to operate in inter-city service on the Prairies, and the remaining two in the Maritimes. Possible routes here might be inter-city runs Halifax-Sydney and Halifax-Saint John or an all-daytime Halifax-Saint John-Montreal run.”

I’m just guessing, but possible Prairie routes might have been: Winnipeg-Regina-Calgary, Winnipeg-Saskatoon-Edmonton and Edmonton-Red Deer-Calgary…….or perhaps the so-called Winnipeg-Regina-Saskatoon & Saskatoon-Edmonton “Prairie Schooner” that VIA did run in the early ‘80s when the Super Continental was first axed.

Other tid-bits:

Wonder how that Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa route on CP except for Central Station would have got through Montreal? Perhaps the LRCs would have taken the same route as VIA did with the CP Quebec City/Trois Riviere Dayliners....leaving CP at Jacques Cartier Jct.....through Eastern Jct and onto the Mt Royal Tunnel line…..then just continued on out the south side of the Central Station taking the usual route to Dorval with a reverse move on the Pool Train connecting track to access CP again.

And that all daytime Atlantic Inter-city Halifax-Saint John-Montreal route across Maine would have been fun.

 

SUBSCRIBER & MEMBER LOGIN

Login, or register today to interact in our online community, comment on articles, receive our newsletter, manage your account online and more!

FREE NEWSLETTER SIGNUP

Get the Classic Trains twice-monthly newsletter