BCRail Passenger

[Anonymous]

Is there any hope of saving BC Rail Trains 1 and 2? If you prefer real railroading instead of fluff, the Budd Cars are the real McCoy. Are there any projects afoot to continue these trains?
Don Corbin

[Anonymous]

Well there is many rumors. One is that VIA Rail was going to take over the route. But VIA Rail and BCRail have reached a stalemate over track rights. BCRail will rent the track to VIA but will not guarantee track time. A strange development is that VIA rail has completely rebuilt the station in Prince George and doubled the waiting area in the lobby. Making me think something is up. Another rumor that was heard a lot at the beginning of the year was the Rocky Mountaineer Railtours was going to take over the route. But I have not heard that one for some time. The Budd cars are to be sold for scrap is what I have heard. The Railway Museum in Prince George is trying to get one of the cars donated, but things are not looking good. I hope that BCRail would get back some company pride and keep there passenger trains. But with the canceling of the Whistler Northwind passenger train over the weekend, the future does not look good for the Prospector Passenger Train.
Micheal Hodgson

[Anonymous]

What a shame! The RDC trains were a great way to see Bristish Columbia. The climb north from Lillioet is outstanding and the Budd cars offer a real, live railroading rather than tourist line fantasy. Being replaced by a conventional train is better than nothing at all, but what a loss the discontinuance of Trains 1 and 2 will be. Did the entire round trip in 1997 and I'm glad I did. (Sigh) Don Corbin

[Anonymous]

Amen to Don Corbin's comments on the ride to Prince George! The Fraser River canyon north of Lilooet is just unbelieveable.
My wife and I "did" North Van-Prince George last fall as one leg of the "circle trip" Karl Zimmerman wrote of in Trains (which included the Skeena to Prince Rupert and the RDC's on Vancouver Island). Unfortunately, I have to rate the BC Rail trip the biggest disappointment of the whole trip.
Even then there were clues BC Rail was looking to dump the train:
-- On our 5-car train out of "North Van", the Prince George passengers (many of us tourists)were all shoehorned into one of the ex-SEPTA RDC-1s with the Amfleet-style seating for 80, while two other cars with the original-style leg rest seats (MUCH more spacious)were kept closed, ostensibly being held for "shorts" boarding upline (a few were picked up, but surely not two coaches worth.) Imagine riding 17 HOURS in the equivalent of airline economy coach seat. On top of that, my seat was up against the bulkhead for the radiator/exhaust piping and so could not be reclined. Can't think of a better way to discourage tourist traffic that is comfort-sensitive.
-- The catering folks that BC Rail hired to provide the on-board service are really nice people and they serve some pretty tasty food, but the train crews were as surly and rude as any in the U.S. (let me qualify that remark by saying I'm an Amtrak Conductor). This was a major disappointment after being pumped up for many years by the railfan reports of super-friendly BCR crews. Couldn't even spare 2 minutes for a chit-chat with a fellow "rail". Needless to say, I didn't even bother trying to get any "professional courtesy" (I HAD hopes of a vestibule shot of the train along Seton Lake...oh, well)
-- The RDC consist was arranged so as to require extensive switching at Lilooet, including having to break apart the two cars flipping back to North Van and wye each car individually, using two crews, of course! (the Budd cars have been rebuilt with modern desktop-style control stands at one end only, rendering them basically single-ended.) You don't suppose they were trying to inflate the losses to strengthen their case for discontinuance, do you? (YA THINK?)
Personally, I really hope VIA steps in. A conventional train similar to the Skeena, with a two-tier accomodation (basic coach/"Totem Class" with a DOME!)I think would attract very respectable loadings, especially if it were coordinated with the Jasper-Prince Rupert service.
Well, that's my $.02. Thanks for listening.

[Anonymous]

Well, we didn't get rude treatment in '97, at least from the NB crews. The conductor on the SB portion out of Lillioet tried to tell me a passenger fell between the buffers. I hate it when someone tries something that dumb on me. I did manager to get a dutch door Seton Lake shot. It hangs in our den. The engineer NB from Lillioet was exceedingly friendly. Rode with him from Lillioet to Kelly Lake. At that time, there were no consoles.
As far as the crew surleness is concerned, they know their jobs are going away and the overall state of BC Rail is very shakey. That's no excuse for treating passengers badly, though. It's too bad that BC Rail has taken that tact. It does remind me of some of the things that occurred in the late 60's and early 70's here in USA. Thanks for commenting! Don Corbin

[Anonymous]

I ride the train at least four times a year from Williams Lake(my home town) to North Vancouver. And over the past few years there has been a major drop in costumer service. BCRail has been dicouraging passengers for a few years to the point where most people don't even know that the train is still running. I have gotten to know the crews over the past few years. I have found that nine times out of ten the conductor north of Lilloet(no need to mention his name) is a cranky old bugger but trainman Dan (or is it Don?) is always frindly. I have always found the southern crews great. One time the south bound train was very late in to Lilloet. So the first section of our train left before us. So to staff the second section they called in a freight crew and that was a great trip south. BCRail Crews still wear the traditional conductor/trainman uniforms with the brass buttons and gold traimed hats. So here were these two young guys one with hair past his shouders and the other guys head was shaved, all dressed up in there uniforms. I am going to take my last trip in mid October.
Micheal Hodgson

[Anonymous]

Hello, I live here in the lower mainland and I think its a real shame that we as a Provence as rich in beauty as B.C cant keep a railroad alive I think its really sad state of affairs, why dont we all write to B.C Rail and tell them what we think.

trains123

[Anonymous]

Actually the BC Rail RDCs were made single ended years ago because they are not to run by themselves, there is almost always two cars worth of people. As for the empty cars (I worked on the train) you have to remember it may have been for a charter n(The car is left empty for that), It was N/S (we had lots of problems with the AC over the last year when maint. when from good to non-existant.... Theres a few more reasons I can think, but they are more logistical. BTW-that second crew was probably the PG crew, already on shift. They didnt just bring people in too turn RDCs. If you walked over you would see they have to split the train as over the years the hill the wye ends on has slowly receeded, now 1/3 of the wye tail track is on a bridge to nowehere, the total tail being about 200ft.

[Anonymous]

BTW- I was a host, not "Train Crew"

[Steve4031]

I rode these in 84, and had a great trip. I rode these in 2001, and the crews were surly, and food lousy. It was like a slap in the face. My dad sent me on this trip in 84, and It was a magical time. I wanted him to see and experience what I had, and we bother were disappointed.