Good evening folks. Interesting to see this thread back up and running and a going concern again
DL-Nice to make your aqauintance.I'm one of Tom's barflies as well,so if the welcome mat ahsn't been thrown down enough yet, allow me to place it at your feet as well.I think you will enjoy your trip,gotta put a good word in for te how team as they say seeing as how the Great Dominion is my home country and all. I'll echo Tom however, if you can make that side trip out to the Delson Museum it will be very worthwhile.
Marc-There is two TEE's left in North Bay, both in dreadfull shape the city and a small group of musuem members are starting to restore them ( strictly for static display on the waterfront ). The ONR is still an intregal railway in the North of my province, with the Polar Bear express and the Little Bear mixed train still calling on all the isolated ( and roadless in some cases ) small towns up around Jame's Bay.Usual trains now consiost of the ONR's GP38-2's and the old single level Go transit cars that have been refurbished for intercity service.The Polar Bear will tack on a dome car for the summer to fall tourist season, and occationally the rebuilt F7A's will pinch hit as power on the train still. Here's a couple recent photo's I snapped in North Bay this past july.
Rob
G'day!
Good to see ya again DL and am happy to know that you've peeked in the window over at "Our" Place - next time c'mon in. The bar is open Mon thru Sat - and we use Sundays for photo posting . . . I think you'll find us an intersesting lot.
Chicago is indeed a great city to browse and spend some time in - and that's coming from a New Yorker (Yawker!). <grin> Always have enjoyed our stays in the Windy City and find it still has a mid-western "air" about it - in spite of the demographic changes - massive changes indeed. But then again, what large city hasn't experienced that, huh
I have no current info regarding Montreal or the remainder of Quebec to share with you, but it appears Captain Tom has come to the fore. He's most dependable that way, as you'll soon discover.
Nice shot of the TEE, Captain Tom, and wouldn't it be something to board one of those ONR trains Several years back we had looked into taking their Polar Bear Express with a couple of the grandkids - but backed off because of the scheduling and difficulty in getting from here to there without incurring a 2nd mortgage on the house. <grin> Not the most accessible of places - but some interesting railroading to say the least.
CP FP9A #1416 (photo: Ted Ellis)
TurboTrain VIA Rail/CN (from: www.trainweb.com)
Until the next time!
Lars
Greetings DL!
While in the Montreal area, I highly recommend going to the Canadian Railway Museum at Delson-St. Constant. This URL should be of help to you and includes a map:
http://www.exporail.org/musee/musee_crm.htm
When we stay overnight in Montreal, we stay at the Montreal Marriott Chateau Champlain hotel located within walking distance of the Central Station (Gare Centrale). Anyway, the rear of the hotel overlooks the VIA Rail sheds and makes for some fascinating time watching the make up and break up of trains, etc. Just request a room overlooking the rail yards - say about the 8th floor or higher. That should do just fine. This URL may be of assistance:
http://marriott.com/property/propertypage/YULCC
Insofar as public places for viewing, my experiences in walking throughout the city have found that the higher the elevation, the better the view and they aren't all that accessible. Perhaps someone reading this may offer some inside scoop . . .
Can't help you with Quebec City.
We have a "regular" over at the bar who lives in Chicagoland (that's the "locals" reference) - anyway, he commutes using the Metra and has Posted some great Pix on our Thread over the past year or so. Chicago is a wonderful town for taking in the RRs - lots of activity there and in my opinion is one of the USAs finest places to visit, IF one enjoys big city life.
Glad you checked "us" out and hope we'll be seeing you as a 'customer' before too long . . .
Enjoy!
Tom (siberianmo)
Thanks for that invite Lars, in fact I've just checked out 'Our' place following your and Tom's invitation and it was good to browse, being restrained as we English are I've not posted yet, but will be back.
I've e-mailed VIA to request forward facing seating and proximity to the Dome on The Ocean following your advice Tom, I'll see what they say - I see their e-mail booking confirmation allocated me to a car and a room automatically. Thanks also for your night time Dome visit tips. I won't miss that.
Your mention of Chicago reminds me of the pic in Classic Trains earlier this year from late 1960s of, I think, Hinsdale (or west Hinsdale) with a Burlington commuter service (correct me if I'm wrong) viewed from the air. I've given that edition to my parents as they lived in Chicago from 1964 - 1968 before I was born, and my mother commuted on that route from one of the adjacent stations into the City every day. Links with family friends from that time have taken me back to Chicago on a number of occasions and a few years back enjoyed riding some of the Metra routes around the City.
Last question - it occurs to me to ask if there are any locomotive sheds, car shops, depots etc with visibility from public locations in the Montreal area you chaps would recommend I take in whilst staying in the Montreal / Quebec City area? Any railroad / transportation museums in Quebec area I should take in? It is usually possible to squeeze such locations in to the sightseeing itinery.
All good wishes
DL
It is my first time on this post. Scanned the first 10 pages very quickly but did not see anything on the Ontario Northland. Are they still in business?
5 cars of the former Dutch / Swiss TEE service (running as Northlander in Canada) are now in the Netherlands to be restored.
greetings,
Marc Immeker
Hello DL,
Glad you found my Post and that the info will be of use.
I see my friend, Lars, has been here today and seized the moment to invite you over to "Our" Place. Won't add anything to that which he provided other than to say, you're most welcome to stop by.
The reference to the Isle of Skye brings to mind some very fond memories. No, I haven't ever been there - but for a time in my family, one would have thought we had. The family pet was a Skye Terrior - a great loving dog who was indeed a rare find. That began a bit of research to find out just where he originated - which of course led to all kinds of interesting facets and facts about Scotland and the Isle.
Have always had a fascination with and for the trains of Great Britain and one day hope to take advantage of a trip or three! And yes, I understand the looming threat of discontinuance with the overnight travel . . . we here in the states live with that all of the time. Even in Canada there has been more than cursory talk of eliminating the long distance trains and going more to a point-to-point system with overnights in hotels. The spiraling costs of staffing those trains, maintaining them and providing the amenities expected by those who can afford to ride them would gag a healthy maggot.<grin>
I shall run that itinerary by my friend, Pete from Rugby, and should you visit us at "Our" Place - perhaps you two will have a chance to "meet." Thanx!
The California Zephyr of old was "THE" train to take, amongst several others when crossing the continent. I'm very partial to "The Canadian" when operated by the Canadian Pacific but alas, never had the pleasure. My wife and I have crossed Canada on 4 trips aboard VIA Rail's version - "Canadian" (dropped the "the" - for whatever the rationale!). Anyway, it's a wonderful experience as will be your trip to Nova Scotia. Dome travel is most enjoyable and one thing that always comes to mind is sitting up there at night. Watching the headlight "playing games" as it widens and narrows when approaching highway overpasses, or narrow passages, and tunnels is great fun. Yes, I think you will have a marvelous time of it.
Appreciate the response!
G'day DL!
My name is Lars (LoveDomes) and I just read your posting . . . I think you may find some interesting conversation along with similarities of experiences over at Tom's bar 'n grill on the Classic Trains forums - General Discussion. It's called "Our" Place and is a cyber bar 'n grill - lots of great interaction - adult conversation and humor - wonderful material and photos. Hope you get the chance to stop by - we're hospitable, but rather structured. Check us out, you may like what you see!
You struck a positive note with the mention of the "California Zephyr" at one time America's premier dome train. To this day, even under Amtrak's operation, we try to make one annual round trip to the left coast. Lately we fly from New York City (where I reside) to Chicago, then embark upon our journey to the Pacific. Wonderful scenery - but alas, things have changed as Amtrak's budget and maintenance seems to dwindle into the abyss.
Had one marvelous rail experience in the UK some years back. I used to sail the 7 seas as a "merchie" and had some time while in Portsmouth/Southampton. Took a rail sojourn northward - got totally snokered (as opposed to snookered) when I hooked up with a couple of Brit sailors who were bound 'n determined to "show me" the sights. Must've been a wonderful time.
Must agree with Tom though, the best of North American passenger rail travel is in Canada aboard Via Rail! They still do it right and their long distance trains are simply grand experiences. Best to you on your voyage to Nova Scotia!
Nice to have "met" you and hope to see ya over at the bar!
Thanks Tom
Public holiday w/e means I’ve been away from the computer so just read your post.
Thanks for those tips, they will all be handy. I’ll e-mail VIA re compartment location and see what they say.
We should not have too much problem with the ticket collection as we fly into Montreal about 2 weeks before our journey – It was my intention to go and check out the station geography then, and ask about getting our tickets. I’m relaxed about the language, as we get taught French in school and although I make no claim to speak it properly I can manage enough lines to get by! Other people I know who have visited the French part of Canada tell me we should manage OK!
The seating layout is typical of UK First Class – 2 on one side – 1 on the other. Shame the diner is not proper chef food – it should be really, and like you I prefer the old ways. If you want airline food – travel by plane!
Thanks also for the tips on the scenery. In fact the thing is, being in a foreign country almost anything you see is interesting. I found this out 5 years back first time I took a north American train journey since I was in Toronto with family and wanted to see friends in Chicago. Took me a while to persuade others that flying between the two was not required, we took The International train (no longer in the schedule I believe) and although it is not the most scenic of rides, it was still fascinating to observe the communities and country side en-route. A couple of years later my brother was working for a short period in Boulder – so on a visit I took the opportunity to go Denver – Emeryville and back on the California Zephyr. A great journey of course. This trip on The Ocean will be my first long distance Canadian journey. And first ever 'real' dome!
We will manage OK with the small room size, as UK sleeping cars are small inside and we tend to travel light anyway.
In fact I did not realise that the whole Renaissance vehicles needed re-build work on insulation – I know they were sold at a knock down price by UK govt. but after all that work one wonders if VIA did indeed get a bargain.
On a related matter you should start planning a UK visit – you are right – sleeper London – Scotland is a good journey – but with small distances here (and faster line speeds) you tend to leave London after dark and arrive at Scottish destination early morning. The Highland Sleeper runs north through Rugby (non stop at about 10pm) and then splits into three portions in Edinburgh in the early hours – 1 for Aberdeen, 1 for Fort William in the West Highlands, and 1 for Inverness. The latter 2 are the most scenic and the Fort William one arrives mid morning so in summer plenty of daylight to view this highly scenic Highland journey.
A classic summer trip would be: north from London to Fort William on over night sleeper which connects into Fort William to Mallaig scheduled summer only daily steam hauled service. From Mallaig take ship to Isle of Skye and bus to place to stay on the island for a few days. Then bus off Isle of Skye to Kyle of Lochalsh where take train on highly scenic route to Inverness. Stay in Inverness (or at least take evening meal in Inverness) – then take overnight sleeper back to London. Do this mid June to get benefit of longest daylight hours. Run this itinerary past your Missouri based Rugby born friend and see what he thinks!
The reason you need to plan your journey before too long is these overnight services are under continual low level threat of withdrawal (something you north Americans must live with all the time of course). The stock was built by British Rail in the early 1980s and is still in good condition. Many routes were scrapped in the run up to privatisation in the 1990s and many sleeping cars withdrawn at that time. Current operators run minimal services with no spare stock (so on busy holiday weekends they can not extend the trains, so they do not promote the service as they can’t cope with demand). The original chunnel night train plan was scrapped before it was ever tested out, and this meant there is no chance of new generation sleeping cars for UK services. When the powers that be decide the 1980s sleeper cars are ‘life expired’ no new ones will be built – it will be used as an excuse to withdraw the service. That will not happen yet, but it is hard to see the service still in existence in 10 years time. As a result I try to take a couple of UK sleeper journeys each year whilst I can.
I’m digressing from the forum topic, but I hope I’ll be excused.
A few Pix from a recent trip to Toronto and some riding of the rails . . . Metro might enjoy these, as they feature GO Tranist . . .
GO Transit ticket counter at Toronto's Union Station
GO Transit car at Union Station
GO Transit train (east bound) at Pickering Station
G'day Captain Tom!
Didn't realize that you were resurrecting your old thread so far away from the Classic Trains forums! Good to see ya "oooot 'n aboooot" and getting back into the swing of things once again.
That last post from Metro reminds me a bit of my first trip by rail into Canada. Was way back "when" as my dad took us on a round trip to Montreal. It was back in the late 40s and my memories are somewhat vivid and hazy at the same time.
We departed from the "Grand Lady" herself, Grand Central Terminal in New York City and had sleeping car accommodations. It was a long, long trip and it was a rather cold time of year, for I recall staring out of the windows at the snowy landscape zipping by the windows, along with the telephone poles! My brothers and I gave mom 'n dad a merry chase through the cars as we drove them, and probably everyone else, totally nuts! <grin>
Later on in life, during the emergence of Amtrak, I took the train to both Toronto and Montreal. No comparison, although I did enjoy the club cars! <grin> <double grin>
Isn't it a sad reality to realize that what once was, just isn't anymore As you know, but others may not - I'm a retired sailor - spent many years at sea as a "merchie." Those days and companies and ships are long, long gone along with all the attendant support industries as well.
Wish you well with your efforts over here and see ya back at the bar!
A Pix or two may rekindle the interest . . . .
courtesy: www.viarail.ca
Party time in the Park car's Mural Lounge or the Bullet Lounge or up in the Dome is "where it's at!" Now, signing off on one of the murals, well that's 'nother story. <grin>
For anyone who doesn't know and may have an interest, those artists (the "Group of Seven") that Tatans referred to are (were): Franklin Carmichael, Lawren Harris, A. Y. Jackson, Frank Johnston, Arthur Lismer, J. E. H. MacDonald, and Frederick Varley. These men were included within a larger group of artists who were commissioned to paint the distinctive murals in the Park cars.
Long live the Park cars!
Thanks Tom (and thanks again Pathfinder)
Yep, I reactivated the post as I thought here is where I'll find people with good knowledge - indeed I have! I'm a subscriber to Classic Trains so it was my first port of call.
I checked out journey via www.seat61.com (if you have never seen this site you are in for a treat if you like steel wheel and steel rail travel). Done by a UK guy but has worldwide scope.
I wanted to travel Budd cars of course (who would not) but I confess being interested to go on an ex UK renaissance (last time I saw them was in sidings outside the now defunct Merto Cammell build plant here in UK before the whole channel night train project was aborted and they went into store) - I guess I'll be used to the small loading gauge as I'm a regular traveller on UK sleepers to Scotland and Cornwall.
In fact I did e-mail VIA customer services to find out if Stainless cars ran every day but they did reply quick to tell me it is Ren stock every day until Nov (what happens then - back to Stainless for the winter?). This is what led me to book Easterly to get access to The Park car - and then the delux upgrade was such little extra that I booked that too. It's not so expensive (probably only time I'll do the trip of course so can afford to splash out a bit and make the most of it) - just seems bad when you see a bargain price then when you book it is no longer there - if I'd never seen that price I'd never have thought more about it - just taken the hit and thought "well that is what I've got to pay".
Thanks for your tip about forward facing - I'm not too bothered as waking hours will probably be spent in the Park Car, but booking on web did mean I did not think I got the choice - what is your tip? Should I e-mail VIA with my booking code and ask for allocation forward facing (there are 2 of us by the way). I confess I was surprised during booking you got no choice option for such things (indeed I was surprised no query on diet since my partner is vegetarian and sometimes they need to know these things). Booking from overseas I have to pick up tickets at station, by which time I expect to find myself allocated whatever seats the computer decides. I also prefer a room in the centre of the car and not over the wheels (call me traditional...). Maybe as I'm paying top rate I should e-mail VIA and ask for what I want?
In UK I never book on line (unless a big saving) prefering to book at the station with staff who will override the reservation system to get the best seats (I don't want to end up with a seat with a window pillar and no view thanks very much) I have a list of best seats on the main types of UK rolling stock to make this task simple. I realise I'm sounding fussy, but you pay for the journey and I don't bury my head in a book (until darkenss falls) when there is scenery and trackside interest to watch out for!
Thanks for your input - as you can imagine - this is one journey I'm really looking forward to!
DL - UK
DL - UK wrote:Thanks Pathfinder - I'm pretty sure I researched it correctly first time round - as being the first time I've booked VIA on line I was very careful to check and double check - of course an error on my part is not impossible - I did not print out the screen prices when I first looked, just scribbled them down on a bit of paper so I have no proof apart from faith in myself, then went to book my flights from UK as did not want to book The Ocean before I had secured a flight (which was a good thing since I had to change my plans due to the annoying habits of the airline industry!) - then went back to VIA and found the price change. I'm sure we will enjoy it - thanks for your good wishes. In these situations there is a good motto: "The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten" or some such - was it a Rolls Royce slogan perhaps? Although I've never even sat in a Rolls Royce I tend to find this slogan applies all over the place! DL - UK
Thanks Pathfinder - I'm pretty sure I researched it correctly first time round - as being the first time I've booked VIA on line I was very careful to check and double check - of course an error on my part is not impossible - I did not print out the screen prices when I first looked, just scribbled them down on a bit of paper so I have no proof apart from faith in myself, then went to book my flights from UK as did not want to book The Ocean before I had secured a flight (which was a good thing since I had to change my plans due to the annoying habits of the airline industry!) - then went back to VIA and found the price change.
I'm sure we will enjoy it - thanks for your good wishes. In these situations there is a good motto: "The quality is remembered long after the price is forgotten" or some such - was it a Rolls Royce slogan perhaps? Although I've never even sat in a Rolls Royce I tend to find this slogan applies all over the place!
No problem. I am in the process of booking a flight from the BC (on the west coast of Canada) to ST. John's Newfoundland (for work) for the end of September and in a 24 hour period, the cost went up by about 30%. Can't confirm the booking until my client OK's the costs and the longer they wait, the more it will cost. Not sure but maybe VIA has the same sort of fare policy on certain types of classes? I only checked the regular fare costs, not the upper end like sleeper. That is a trip I got to do some day as well. Post some pictures when you are done if you can. P.
Go here for my rail shots! http://www.railpictures.net/showphotos.php?userid=9296
Building the CPR Kootenay division in N scale, blog here: http://kootenaymodelrailway.wordpress.com/
DL - UK wrote:OK - I've had a browse but did not find anything on fares so here goes Does anyone know why Via website fares quotes for Montreal - Halifax (Easterly Class in this instance on The Ocean) pretty much doubled for a booking in late sept between tues 22nd aug 2006 when I looked and it was approx 250 Can $ per person (similar to price Mark quotes on the site) and then when I went to book on weds 23rd it was approx 475 can $ ? Is Via ticketing 'demand responsive' with prices fluctuating constantly according to demand (it does not seem so) or could there have been a special offer that just terminated midnight 22nd? I'm an expert on UK train fare ticketing, but VIA is new to me. I'm booking from the UK so this is the first time I've booked on line with VIA - last time I was in Canada the web was not so common. I booked anyway as I feared it might go up more - but it has blown a bigger hole in my finances than I'd planned for! DL - UK PS - any tips for things I should look out for en route from any of you familiar with the route?
OK - I've had a browse but did not find anything on fares so here goes
Does anyone know why Via website fares quotes for Montreal - Halifax (Easterly Class in this instance on The Ocean) pretty much doubled for a booking in late sept between tues 22nd aug 2006 when I looked and it was approx 250 Can $ per person (similar to price Mark quotes on the site) and then when I went to book on weds 23rd it was approx 475 can $ ?
Is Via ticketing 'demand responsive' with prices fluctuating constantly according to demand (it does not seem so) or could there have been a special offer that just terminated midnight 22nd? I'm an expert on UK train fare ticketing, but VIA is new to me.
I'm booking from the UK so this is the first time I've booked on line with VIA - last time I was in Canada the web was not so common.
I booked anyway as I feared it might go up more - but it has blown a bigger hole in my finances than I'd planned for!
PS - any tips for things I should look out for en route from any of you familiar with the route?
I did a little comparison on the VIA web site, for Montreal-Halifax, regular fare. Cost is $233.60 CDN for trips leaving Aug 30, Sept 8 and Sept 22. So no change due to being closer to the departure date as the airlines do. Have you tried the Fare Comparison tool on the VIA booking web site to see what different classes cost? Maybe you did not select the same one? Please enjoy your trip.
QUOTE: Originally posted by smalling_60626 Can someone give me a start date when VIA began to operate passenger trains? al
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