Recent content by crs1026

It’s a six of one half dozen of the other proposition. CN crew hauling it to North Bay is probably easier to arrange. What I do wonder is when the photo ops will start. Clearly the enthusiast community is tracking this thing relentlessly and when it does move to North Bay, even under cover of...

Selected tourist railways and private owners, as per the outcome of an earlier auction. - Paul

Always risky taking renderings too literally - but - the track drawing shows the likelihood of the 4-track line being used as two express tracks (not accessible from the platforms) and two stopping tracks for local trains making all local stops. That leads to a scenario where the local tracks...

Reportedly, the exYDHR move met some technical problems and did not complete its task. Ironic that the departure of the old (YDHR) and the arrival of the new (Northlander Venture) happened on the same day, and I'm told that ONR people had a hand in both. - Paul

It could, but it isn't. The intel on where it is headed (ie TMC) comes from reliable internal sources. Plus, I doubt the good folks at Willowbrook would know what they are looking at, but the VIA forces already know where all the breakers and levers are. Getting it routed from the TMC to North...

Once a track is maintained to the standard needed to run bilevel GO trains, the ability to run freight is pretty much baked in. ML as owner road can however constrain freight in terms of speed, weight, etc.... and can be as arbitrary towards other railroads as those railroads are to passenger...

It looks to me like the start of the cutting head is already there - note the round thingy with star-shaped crossmembers. Just hasn't been coupled to the main body? - Paul PS - Brilliant images, as usual!

FWIW the experience with the 149 Bloor West bus is instructive. Its ridership consists almost exclusively of mobility limited passengers. There is virtually no use of the 149 by people who are avoiding the subway. Station spacing is somewhat better along Bloor West (except over the Humber) - but...

Or we could do it the TTC way: Scrimp on maintenance crews, leave it to the operators to sweep themselves, and let passengers wait thru a light cycle or two while the operator does the job. I was surprised that nobody spoke up about the gas snow blowers in that video. In Toronto, Councillors...

In the context of Alto, I don't read "express" to mean "non-stop", any more than I would consider a conventional VIA corridor train that adds a stop at only Belleville to be a "local" train. Lots of creative ways to schedule such that speed and separation are maintained and midpoints get some...

I was led to understand that VIA's business planning process requires justifying things including money on a route by route basis to various bureaucrats. That's a far cry from a business justifying plans to its Board but having internal authority. Also, VIA is a class of Crown Corporation whose...

Sliding in a suburban stop at some later date is probably a no brainer and politically benign. As you suggest, the bigger need for the moment is to take the wind out of the sails of any small town booster who thinks they can rabble rouse their way into a stop for their crossroads town. That...

The two-phase approach may work for fitting out the concourse, but if there is going to be use of the platforms, there needs to be a continuous ground level slab that will support both tracks and the platforms end to end, plus the trainshed complete. I see a lot of bare rebar and open holes in...

I agree with your conclusion, but the options being thrown out here may be ones that Alto planners may actually have on their desktop as options....and logic and common sense are not that prevalent in the real world. Even if they already know that some are nonstarters, they have to document the...

Killjoy comment: apart from branding and marketing considerations - which are largely unaligned to foamer tastes - and the need for safety markings, how it is painted makes no meaningful impact on how the train performs or the role it plays in serving the North. I bet it has a nice horn, too...