QUOTE: The groundrules are pretty simple: Share your thoughts about Canadian passenger railroading - past and present. Let's not bash one another because of differences in opinion and of course, nationalities. Above all - keep politics out of our discussions. FOR NEWCOMERS: May I suggest that you browse the pages from start to finish? You may find something that will enhance what you are about to post, plus you'll find out "where we've been." Ladies and Gentlemen, let's talk Canadian passenger trains!
QUOTE: Regarding the route of the passenger trains - also tunnels in the "canyon" - for ice breaking through tunnels back a few years ago an "icebreaker" box car was attached as lead car in many of the freights . This would keep the route clear enough - Not sure if the practice continues today! Maybe someone can update us. Tks
QUOTE: Thaanks for the clarification re "The Canadian as opposed to the "Canadian. This is a similar mistake many make when spelling Saint John, New Brunswick. Proper spelling is Saint John and not St. John When Via took over from CN & CP they had to renovate all the cars. The beautiful original artist's pictures which illustrated each individual named car had to be removed because of the smoke from the smokers. The famed artists who painted these scenes were only paid a pittance for them, but it sure gave them a lot of recognition. A book was published quite a while ago depicting each indiviual car and the picture within the car. I believe a few of them may have been salvagable.
QUOTE: Siberianmo: Your layout looks terrific, thanks for providing the link to view the pictures. Can-Am Union station seems to have some similiarities with the VIA station in Vancouver. Was there that intentional?
QUOTE: Possibly somewhat of this topic,but in Ontario and in much of the rest of the country there were alot of radial electric inter city services. Unfortunatly I'm not old enough to have experienced them first hand but my modelling intrests have made me somewhat knowledgeable of their operations.My wife and I have membership in Ontarios onlt operating traction museum and we have several operable pieces of this equipment. Notably London and Prt stanley's #8 and the Lake erie and Northern's 797 and Montreal & Southern Counties #107. 8&107 are operable 797's static at the moment but with the amount of finacial support and prep work it's receiving hopefully it will be running again by 2007 or 8. I would be interested if anyone here had first hand experience with any of canada's radial electrics. Thanks Rob
QUOTE: I remember a trip wife and I took to Churchill some years ago before Via Rail took over the service was operated by CN from Winnipeg and the train believe it or not was a nice as the SUPER CONTINENTAL was at the time. We took the trip just for the mileage and were not disappointed it was a clean comfortable train and this was when the red white and Blue fares were in force. The following year we took BC RAIL Caribou from North Vancouver to Prince George than the CN Rupert Rocket to Prince Rupert where we boarded a BC Ferrie to Vancouver Island and took the Malahat from their to Victoria before returning to Seattle and our flight home. I have been looking for my trip reports on both of these trips and I must have them in my storage locker for the life of me I can't find them. My trip reports on some of these trips would include the exact dates , consists and even notes about outstanding crew members. I only regret that I didn't start keeping these records much earlier in my rail travels.
QUOTE: Regrettably, siber, that link is no more. Does anyone have something more recent that is still hot? Dayliner,.....?
QUOTE: The only Canadian "Radial" that I rode (aside from the Lakeshore line of TTC, just a shortened version of a long line, now a suburban trolley line with possibly much more private right of way than typical Toronto streetcars, ridden in PCC days before the CLRV and ALRV) was the Candadian National's subsidiary from Quebec through Montmorency Falls, St. Ann de Beau Pre to St. Joachim, sharing the track with the CN line to La Malbai (Murrey Bay?). Trains ran hourly. The end of the line at St. Joachim had a loop, and the Quebec terminal was stub end, with a wye at the throat. The motor cars were all single-end with a back-up controller. There were about five modern steel cars, one preserved at the Seashore Trolley Museum at Kennibunkport, Maine, with rqther flat arch roofs, looking like a typical twenties era steel car. There were about ten of the older wooden motor cars, railroad roofs, locomotive-type pilot out front, arch windows. Also about five similar cars, perhaps once upon a time motors, but then the most used trailers. Then about ten older steam-era wood trailer cars, exactly like the prototype for the Mantua model open-platform coaches I remember as a youngster, and these were probably the only surviving examples in the 1950's. These curve of cleristory at the ends has a reverse in it, an "S" on its side, and these cars were only about 54 feet long. Freight was already diesel and there was one CN diesel passengber train to La Malbei each way eaach day. The interurban was used primarily for visitors to the shrine at St. Ann, with some regular commuter traffic. Buses on the crowded highway took over about 1959, and the diesel passenger train lasted a few more years. Possibly the line still exists for freight. I went to Quebec City via the overnight Red Wing from Boston, then a sleeper on the CP from Montreal. Coveredf the last remaining Montreal streetcars during the stopover. (Only three lines were left, Milen, Montreal Nord, and Cartieville.) The last evening train on the CP to Montreal connecting with the Washingtonian for New York. As a youngster, regularly riding the Empire State Express between New York and Detroit, I would frequently see the London and Port Stanley equpment,m but never was able to ride it. The steel L&PS motor cars were similarly to the New York Westchester and Boston cars, obviously Stillwell designed. I have been told that long range plans for Alberta include connecting Edmonton and Calgary by "high speed light rail" connecting the two expanding and compatible light rail systems of the two cities, so interurbans are in for revival.
QUOTE: Hi, Folks. Dayliner, I am in Comox, and my wife and I are thinking of taking the dayliner for an over-nighter to Victoria sometime soon. If I recall, there are some trestle bridges on the run?
QUOTE: Morseman, No icicle breakers on F40PHs. Not needed because there are no tunnels on the CN line through the mountains.
QUOTE: Hi All, If I may, I'd like to make the comment that the proper name of the train is "The Canadian" when speaking of CP's train ("The" is part of the name), and when VIA massacred it (sorry, I meant began operating it) the name became the "Canadian" ("The" is no longer included). Now that we have this out of the way, (if you'll still accept me as "one of your own") I am working on recreating Canada as my model railroad project. I'm looking for as much inside info as possible (and "nit-picky" is acceptable, like "The Canadian" vs the "Canadian" - it might just cause this to be as realistic as possible) on the operations (passenger and freight) of all the major roads (CN, CP, BC Rail, AC, and possibly others if they exist) from roughly 1970-1980. Thanks for any input, and I for one am greatly enjoying the stories - many ideas already! Oh, and for anyone who would like to visit the train layout website, it's at http://www.nscalecanada.com - I'd love to "hear" from you!
QUOTE: I mentioned a while back about the DOMINION between Montreal & Vancouver using baggage cars & some coaches which were painted silver to match the stainless steel cars. As this was in the days before VIA and was all CP livery The coaches were formerly painted red. I'm mentioning this as siberianmo may have confusedit with the former CN cars. On the roofs of the Canadian & Dominion were steel bars to break any icicles in the tunnels through the Rockies so as not to damage the scenic domes. Do the present VIA locomotives still have these steel bars?
QUOTE: the AC runs are a,lot of fun I would recomend the "fall colour"tours.It's been my understanding that trains #1'the tour train does carry some local passengers it still stops a search mount approx halfway between the Soiux and "canyon" train #2 continues through to Hawk Junction and Hearst a veritable life line as the roads there are not for the faint of heart. The same actually goes for the Northlanders trains as about 30 miles or so past Cocheran there are no roads so Moosenee and Moose Factory depend on the train for supplies. You are actually at the tip of James Bay onece you get to Moose Factory actual tundra very neat. Rob
QUOTE: I first rode The Canadian in 1967, Vancouver to Montreal--what a way for a kid to see the country. Nowadays I wheel my bike through the CPR station in downtown Vancouver almost everyday on my way to catch the ferry home, and I always think of lining up to board the train nearly forty years ago. Some of my other memorable trips were the old Atlantic Limited, riding through northern Maine all night in an ancient coach with non-reclining seats, while some drunk Acadian would not stop singing.. Then there was the RDC run down to Sydney from Halifax--those Budd cars would wind up to over 80 per on parts of that trip. The BCR had a fine operation from Prince George to North Vancouver, with perhaps the friendliest crews in North America, and certainly some of the best scenery. My favorite? It will always be my hometown road, the Esquimalt and Nanaimo. Ride it while you can.
QUOTE: The groundrules are pretty simple: Share your thoughts about Canadian passenger railroading - past and present. Let's not bash one another because of differences in opinion and of course, nationalities. Above all - keep politics out of our discussions. Ladies and Gentlemen, let's talk Canadian passenger trains!
QUOTE: Good evening.The corridor is doing very well still,I live along it and weekdays have 10 Via trains weekends 8.At least once a year the wife and I take the Via to TO for xmas shopping.We've always liked the Algoma Central tour trains into the Agawa canyon,beautifull scenery.I recomend it particularly if you take the run in the fall.Another fun trip is the Polar Bear express on the Ontario northland***eran to Moosenee lovely terrain.You can still catch the Northlander at Toronto Union and it will run you up to Northbay and then you catch the Polar Bear for the rest of the trip north.I can remember catching the CN tempo trains in the early seventies as well though I was too young to remember most of the details.The old RS10's and18's made quick work of theses short runs.Thanks for the memories Siberianmo catch you later. Rob
QUOTE: Not entirely on topic, my wife and I went into the interior of BC last week to see her sister and husband. On the way back, my wife took the first 'shift' at the wheel. It gave me an opportunity to look at CN and CP rail bridges in the Fraser Canyon. They're all modern steel with cement abuttments, but, oh, the weathering effects!! Most were built circa 1955, but are nicely rust-stained, as are their supporting concrete piers. Naturally, no two are alike. Imagine the engineering department that had to measure gaps, survey and draft up approaches, design abuttments, supports, spans, and so on. I also saw rock-slide sheds that I had hitherto neglected on my countless trips through the Canyon. And, there are telegraph poles that have been pressed into a more contemporary use; supporting large sheets of chain -link to contain rock debris that rains down adjacent rock faces on a daily basis. Running trains in BC ain't fer sissies!
QUOTE: Ah memories. My first ride on a train in Canada was the Canadian. It was just before our son started school so it would have been about 1988. We had driven a VW camper to Banff National Park. I talked my wife into going on to Calgary and taking the train to Vancouver and back. (The train still traveled over the CP at the time). I had the upper birth while wife and son shared the lower. It is the only time in my life I have ever traveled in a Pullman open section. The trouble with the upper is that you can’t see out. To compensate, I stayed in the dome of the Park car until long after dark. Behind me the brakeman was regaling several young Japanese girls on a package tour with tales of the rails. The Park car really brought back memories of times when I rode the original California Zephyr and later the Rio Grande Zephyr. In the diner, I remember the three of us being seated with an elderly lady touring Canada from The Isle of Man. Some day, I must go there. I rode the Royal Hudson steam train twice including the last year that the Royal Hudson locomotive operated. What a shame it no longer runs. The BCRail Caraboo Prospector was an interesting ride. I can’t say that I liked the RDC all that much, but the scenery was quite good. The last trip we took was a ride from Toronto to Niagara Falls. The train itself wasn’t much nor was the scenery, but I still enjoyed it. When we arrived, it was like the 1960 in the US. We felt like we may have come the historic way, but a way hardly ever used anymore.
QUOTE: I am hoping to complete my Canadian Rail riding this year with a trip on the WP&Y. Then I will be able to say that I have ridden trains in all of the Canadian Provinces and one territory. My trip this year will also be the most expensive as it entails a cruise ship and the ARR from Seward to Anchorage and Anchorage to Fairbanks. I have ridden just about every other train in Canada except for the Rocky Mountaineer and that is planned for as early as next year.
QUOTE: Hey you guys, there is a lot more to VIA RAIL than the Canadian using original Budd equipment. Here in Québec, starting out of Montréal there are four trains; the Abiti goes to Senneterre Qué., the Saguenay goes to Jonquière Qué., the Océan goes to Halifax NS. and the Chaleur goes to Gaspé Qué.. The locomotives are F40PH often doubles or even tripled on very long trains. The Océan and the Chaleur leave Montréal as one train with two or three locomotives. In Matapedia Qué. the train is split up in two distinct trains, the Océan going south east through Campbelton NB ant the Chaleur going through Bonaventure Qué. where I spend my summers atlantic salmon guiding.
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