What could be the correct way to line up a consist with these 8 VIA Rail Passenger cars :
Lightweight Coach x2
Baggage-Express
A Club Galley should add to these in a short time. All of them are Rapido Trains cars. They are pulled by a F9A-F7B duo and followed by a Steam Generator Car. I can find lot of pictures but no explanation about the consists.
Thanks for your help.
Martin
Unless you're trying to duplicate a specific train, I'd think that you could put the cars in just about any order you wish, including having the baggage-express or the steam generator car at the rear of the train.
Wayne
I supposed there was some kind of logic in the sequence. For example avoiding to have passengers walking through the sleeper cars to reach the diner or the cafe-bar.
Martin4 I supposed there was some kind of logic in the sequence. For example avoiding to have passengers walking through the sleeper cars to reach the diner or the cafe-bar. Martin
That would have been a common arrangement, It was also typical to have the diner oriented with the kitchen end leading, that way the "Extra Fare" sleeper passengers would be seated first, and the coach passengers would line up in the passageway next to the galley waiting for seating. The coaches were often placed ahead of the diner, and sleepers behind the diner, effectively seperating the "Extra Fare" passengers from the coach passengers.
Doug
May your flanges always stay BETWEEN the rails
Useful information Doug.
Thank you very much.
As Doug has mentioned, there is logic behind the placement of the cars, but it's much easier to figure out if you have a particular prototype in mind. For instance, a train may be split at some point along its journey (or combined with cars split from another train). Those cars may or may not be an integral part of the rest of the train, and might just as easily be positioned in the most convenient spot to facilitate switching. Putting an express car at the tail end of a train makes sense if that car is to be dropped-off somewhere along the route, as it offers the least disruption to the rest of the train.
As for the steam generator car, in addition to being used when the locos weren't equipped with an internal one, they were also used to supplement those in the loco, and were sometimes placed at the rear of the train, especially on long trains and/or in very cold weather.
I'll bet that if you emailed Rapido, they could provide some specific information on the placement of these cars in a consist. They do extensive research on the passenger cars that they produce.
Rich
Alton Junction
richhotrain I'll bet that if you emailed Rapido, they could provide some specific information on the placement of these cars in a consist. They do extensive research on the passenger cars that they produce. Rich
I met Jason (owner of Rapido Trains) during his Canadian tour but didn't think about this question. There was too much to be seen otherwise ! Good suggestion Rich.
Martin,
On VIAs' Ocean last month they had the baggage car, then the coaches, then the dining car(s), then a cafe/lounge/kitchen, then the five sleepers (tour class) then an adaptor (power car that you walked through to get to the) '53 vintage Budd observation car that also had a small snack/bar area. No steam generator there as it wasn't cold yet and they now change the consist in October. 15 cars and two locomotives after they cut the Gaspe section off part way out Hope that helps. J.R.
Generally you had "head end" cars (Baggage or RPOs) up front, followed by coaches, followed by sleepers at the rear. If there was a dining car, it was often placed between the coaches and the sleepers - partly so folks from both cars could use it, but also to separate the coach passengers from the first class passengers.
Assuming the "Daynighter Coach" is considered a coach (and not a sleeper) I'd guess you'd see:
Baggage/Express - Lightweight Coaches - Daynighter Coaches - Cafe/Bar/Lounge - Duplex Sleeper - 10-5 Sleeper.
Any Observation car would go on the end if there was one. Some trains might have another lounge or cafe car on the rear, to only be used by first class (sleeping car) passengers.
Premium sleepers were generally always at the rear of the train. Coaches werer usually in the first portion of the train. Diner/lounge in between. remember to keep the kitchen closer to the coaches.
This all goes back tio the days of steam. Extra fare cars were generally kept as far from the loco as possible to reduce cinders, smoke, quiteter, etc, and the practice just kinda continued into the diesel era...
If you ever run Canadian Steam, make sure you have at least one "slug car" between the loco and the passenger cars.. this was done because of the concern of fire on the loco.
One exception to the "coachs in the front" rule... some long distance trains assigned a coach for sleeper passengers so they could get out of their rooms during the day. This coach would be in the rear section, for the exclusive use of the premium passengers....
Van Hobbies H1b, K1a, T1c, D10g, F1a, F2a, G5a. Division Point: H24-66 Hammerhead, Alco covered wagons A-B-B-A, C-Liner A-B-B-A, EMD FP7A A-B-B.
H1b modified to replicate modern day 2816. All with Tsunamis.
I know a few of the current Amtrak trains run sleepers-food-coaches. My seat on the Capitol Limited is always in the last car in the train, both directions between DC and Pittsburgh. Same with the Palmetto between Alexandria and Charleston.
GMTRacing No steam generator there as it wasn't cold yet and they now change the consist in October.
No steam generator there as it wasn't cold yet and they now change the consist in October.
No, there is no steam generator because the cars are not steam heated. The last of steam heat in Canada died in the early '90s, when all of VIA Rail's fleet was upgraded to HEP. The cars currently in use on The Ocean ("Renaissance" cars bought second hand from the UK) have been electrically heated from the start. The Park Car at the rear was steam-heated until the early '90s.
Having said that, you do have the consist mostly correct. The Ocean runs Baggage-Coaches-Service Car-Diner-Service Car-Sleepers-Transition/Baggage-Park (Dome Observation). [the service cars are lounge/cafe/kitchen cars, essentially] This arrangement, as others have pointed to, with coaches forward and sleepers to the rear with diner in between, is quite common. In the case of The Ocean, the service cars on either side of the diner are oriented so that the kitchen areas are adjacent to the diner (as the Renaissance diners do not have kitchen facilities).
On trains with a rear-end observation car (the dome-obs Park car in VIA's case), the placement of sleepers to the rear of the train is additionally sensible, as these passengers typically have exclusive access to this car.
-Tim
I had a reply from Jason of Rapido Trains about VIA Rail consists. Here it is:
Hi Martin, Thanks for getting in touch! The reason you can't find VIA consist info is that VIA never used fixed consists. You have the makings of two trains there. Train 1: Baggage Coaches - 1 to 3 Dayniter - 1 to 3 Cafe-Bar-Lounge E Sleeper - 1 or 2 Bay Sleeper - 1 or 2 (you could also see a Green Sleeper on this train) Train 2: Club Coach (you need at least another coach) Train 1 is a perfect representation of the Cavalier, which operated overnight between Toronto and Montreal/Ottawa. Train 2 is a representation of the Rapido in its later years, though you will need more coaches. An earlier mid-season Rapido could be: Baggage Club Dayniter Dayniter Coach Coach Cafe-Bar-Lounge Coach Coach Coach Coach I suggest joining the CanPassRail Yahoo! Group for more info on consists. http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Canadian-Passenger-Rail/ Best regards, Jason -- Sign up for our free monthly newsletter! Click here: http://www.rapidotrains.com/signup Jason Shron President / Président Rapido Trains Inc.
Thanks Jason for this information that can be useful to many of us here.
Awesome.
The guys at Rapido are just wonderful, very helpful, very informative.
Now send us some photos once you put that consist together.
I don't know if this is allowed, but if you would like some prototype VIA Rail sample consists; Eric Gagnon has published a book titled Trackside with VIA: The First 35 Years.
It is available here: http://newviarailbook.blogspot.com/
Eric has compiled lists of nearly every VIA train he has seen with locomotives and cars. Most of the sightings are from Kingston, ON but he has travelled across Canada and lists VIA consists from those places he visited. Great book for those wishing to learn what was run and for those looking to model the prototype.