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Ontario Northland/Northern Ontario Transportation

A bunch of things. Railways not wanting the hassle, accountants using sharper pencils, lawyers taking a far more cautious view of liability, senior executives taking a far more controlling position on local management decisions, availability and cost of labour very different.

Somehow I inherited a bunch of old correspondence between the railways and a certain frequent trip organizer from back in the 1960's. It's fascinating just how casually these were arranged and how much was made possible over a coffee or just by asking. These are simply not the same times.

- Paul
Even the railways themselves have curtailed or eliminated their own heritage runnings, such as CPKC's Royal Canadian Pacific and their 2818 trainset. It appears they stay pretty close to home out west.

It seems the ONR is a fairly regular host to the North American Railcar Operators Association ('speeders'/'jiggers'), which surprises me given the usual risk-averse nature of government agencies.
 
Even the railways themselves have curtailed or eliminated their own heritage runnings, such as CPKC's Royal Canadian Pacific and their 2818 trainset. It appears they stay pretty close to home out west.

Where these do happen, they are now carefully controlled by the C-suite, and require a meeting of minds between head honchos, especially those who mange corporate image, public relations, operations, risk and liability. Going ahead and asking forgiveness afterwards is generally not an option.

In the past, there was much more room for lower level management to say, hey the train is going to sit idle anyways, why not? And, in a day where passenger trains were more common, having one more out there for somebody's fall fair didn't seem like a big deal. There were fewer management information systems that placed approval and control with corporate office.

Having said that, these specials are a source of great pride and engagement for the workers involved. There are good reasons to run them, but on a very controlled and measured basis driven from the very top - they do not happen "on request" anymore.

It seems the ONR is a fairly regular host to the North American Railcar Operators Association ('speeders'/'jiggers'), which surprises me given the usual risk-averse nature of government agencies.

Speeder meets get to go some interesting places. They are a whole level of complexity simpler to manage than a train excursion, involve a much smaller number of potential accident claimants (who are generally knowledgeable and must meet specific qualification and safety awareness requirements) , and they don't draw the public to the tracks the way an excursion does. It's such a small and narrow focussed group that one wonders why the railways even bother, but great to see where they do.

- Paul
 
At the highest speeds, perhaps.

How much of it's route is currently rated at 80 mph? Let alone 90 mph.

It's certainly a smoother trip. There's an essay somewhere I wrote while travelling to Montreal - and you can tell from the shaky handwriting, which sections were written on jointed rail!
For 80 or 90 mph? Absolutely none of it, the top speed on the Bala sub is 70 mph and on the Newmarket sub it's max 50 mph however there are currently so many 25 mph TSOs that they will have to be fixed (hopefully)
 
Progress on rebuilding the abandoned North Bay bypass track, to be used for the Northlander.

I was by last week but didn't take any pics (the weather was really garbage). The rail and ties were down but no ballast and the connection with the Newmarket stub (at the crossing of Old Callander Rd.) had not yet been made.

They are also doing some platform work at the station. I haven't been close enough to see what and assume it is just repair work.
 

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