VIA Rail

[micheal_can]

I am confused....With the retirement of the fleet on the Corridor, why could one of those baggage cars not be used?

 

[lenaitch]

The minimum service requirement for HEP baggage cars is 14:
2 for Ocean
1 for JONQ
1 for SENN
3 for Canadian
1 for train 3/4 (if it returns)
3 for CHUR
2 for Skeena

However, you absolutely need guards at VMC and MMC, so you are already down to a single spare, provided that all 17 cars are serviceable, so there indeed is little (if any) room to deploy additional baggage cars…

Their website is a little confusing regarding their baggage car fleet:

Budd: 19
Renaissance: 9
Renaissance "Baggage Transitional": 3
NSC: 1
Combination Baggage-Economy (CCF): 2

No clue regarding serviceability. Are the Renaissance cars compatible, assuming they are freed-up by the new Venture fleet?

 

[lenaitch]

I am confused....With the retirement of the fleet on the Corridor, why could one of those baggage cars not be used?

I don't think the Corridor trains have baggage cars.

 

[micheal_can]

I don't think the Corridor trains have baggage cars.

Ah, there is my confusion. For some reason I thought they did have some.

 

[dowlingm]

I am confused....With the retirement of the fleet on the Corridor, why could one of those baggage cars not be used?

Baggage cars on the corridor have been a rare sight for quite some time, I think? Anything on a Ren set is unlikely to be much help on Budd/HEP consists like those we are discussing for multiple reasons.

People seem to be leaning hard on the VIA Rail fleet pages for numbers but these may not have been properly updated since the destructive testing.

As for RDC-4s, there’s always the one at Exporail… (CP 9250)

 

[roger1818]

The minimum service requirement for HEP baggage cars is 14:
2 for Ocean
1 for JONQ
1 for SENN
3 for Canadian
1 for train 3/4 (if it returns)
3 for CHUR
2 for Skeena

However, you absolutely need guards at VMC and MMC, so you are already down to a single spare, provided that all 17 cars are serviceable, so there indeed is little (if any) room to deploy additional baggage cars…

Aren't the baggage cars on the Ocean Renaissance baggage cars and Renaissance baggage transition cars (one at each end of the Renaissance part of the consist) not the Baggage car (Budd Car Company) of which we are talking about? Or did they add stainless steel baggage cars to the consist when the Halifax loop closed to have one closer to the locamotives when coupled to the HEP end of the train?

Also, according to VIA's website, one of the baggage cars used on the CHUR is a Baggage car (National Steel Company). Not sure why they are still using this car.

VIA also owns a couple Combination baggage-Economy class cars on "loan" to the Keewatin Railway Company. It is unlikely that these cars would be recalled though.

I don't think the Corridor trains have baggage cars.

Pre-Covid, two LRC trainsets (LRC1 and LRC4) did have bagage cars (I think they were stainless steel bagage cars). I don't know the condition they are in, but assuming they are servicable, one of them could be assigned to the White River train.

 

[drum118]

Tagging some SC-42 sets, I noticed the cab car is 2306 facing west while loco 2207 is facing east at TMC. I thought they would be 2207 and 2307 as matching set.

Is this how they will be setup and why?? Since I couldn't get the numbers on the other set, don't if they were number like the one I could get.

The set I shot the following day was 2208 and 2307

 

[Urban Sky]

Maybe VIA should get hold of a couple of flatcars and build canoe cars like ONR did with 4507. It would be a start.

Not sure what exactly you are proposing, but it presumably would still necessitate VIA beg for money.

Aren't the baggage cars on the Ocean Renaissance baggage cars and Renaissance baggage transition cars (one at each end of the Renaissance part of the consist) not the Baggage car (Budd Car Company) of which we are talking about? Or did they add stainless steel baggage cars to the consist when the Halifax loop closed to have one closer to the locamotives when coupled to the HEP end of the train?

According to VIA’s collective bargaining agreements, locomotive engineers are in charge of loading and unloading baggage en-route. That’s how one locomotive engineer lost his leg in Truro in November 2018, when he stepped of the train when the train was still moving and apparently slipped under the still rolling train:

https://www.cbc.ca/amp/1.4918834

Anyways, that’s why you need baggage cars on either train ends and that necessitates the use of one HEP Baggage cars per trainset. Conversely, the transition cars have no baggage facilities and serve no other purpose than providing an American coupler (i.e., the prerequisite for adding HEP cars and allowing passengers to transition between HEP and Renaissance cars.

Also, according to VIA's website, one of the baggage cars used on the CHUR is a Baggage car (National Steel Company). Not sure why they are still using this car.

All baggage cars VIA uses on any of their trains are either Renaissance (70XX) or HEP-1 (86XX) baggage cars. For any fleet counts, I would ignore VIA’s website and instead consult the most recent issue of the Trackside Guide.

VIA also owns a couple Combination baggage-Economy class cars on "loan" to the Keewatin Railway Company. It is unlikely that these cars would be recalled though.

VIA has minimal involvement in the KRC service to Pukatawagan and these cars are generally in very rough shape.

Pre-Covid, two LRC trainsets (LRC1 and LRC4) did have bagage cars (I think they were stainless steel bagage cars). I don't know the condition they are in, but assuming they are servicable, one of them could be assigned to the White River train.

Traditionally, a baggage car was added to trains 65-75 and 70-64, which connected with the Canadian and the Ocean. The use of baggage cars dwindled down over the years and was terminated in March 2020. These cars hailed from the same pool (86XX) as the other HEP baggage cars deployed across VIA’s network, which now appears to be down to at most 17 units.

 

[smallspy]

Tagging some SC-42 sets, I noticed the cab car is 2306 facing west while loco 2207 is facing east at TMC. I thought they would be 2207 and 2307 as matching set.

Is this how they will be setup and why?? Since I couldn't get the numbers on the other set, don't if they were number like the one I could get.

The set I shot the following day was 2208 and 2307

The first trainset (2x00) was delivered with an extra loco - 2201. Eventually the locos were swapped for whatever testing was necessary, and that trainset remains configured like that today (2201 with 2300).

All of the subsequent trainsets up to 2x08 thus were delivered with a loco numbered one higher than the trainset (2202 with 2301, 2203 with 2302, etc.)

Then trainset 2x09 was delivered without a loco. This was to allow them to finally put a train onto that one spare loco. (The assumption is that the numbers will be shuffled to allow the trainsets to all match numerically, but I've also not gotten confirmation of that.)

And since then, matched trainsets have been delivered. The 16th trainset was delivered last week, and the 17th has been booked to be picked up from Siemens in Sacramento at the end of May.

Dan

 

[drum118]

I shot this in Halifax back in July 15, 2021

 

[cplchanb]

The first trainset (2x00) was delivered with an extra loco - 2201. Eventually the locos were swapped for whatever testing was necessary, and that trainset remains configured like that today (2201 with 2300).

All of the subsequent trainsets up to 2x08 thus were delivered with a loco numbered one higher than the trainset (2202 with 2301, 2203 with 2302, etc.)

Then trainset 2x09 was delivered without a loco. This was to allow them to finally put a train onto that one spare loco. (The assumption is that the numbers will be shuffled to allow the trainsets to all match numerically, but I've also not gotten confirmation of that.)

And since then, matched trainsets have been delivered. The 16th trainset was delivered last week, and the 17th has been booked to be picked up from Siemens in Sacramento at the end of May.

Dan

so we are finally halfway into the delivery schedule. so from the looks of its around 2 sets a month now? any rumblings on if they will exercise the option order?

 

[Urban Sky]

so we are finally halfway into the delivery schedule. so from the looks of its around 2 sets a month now? any rumblings on if they will exercise the option order?

You have to ask that the federal government and not VIA, though I heard claims (maybe from @smallspy or @dowlingm , but not sure?) that these options have already expired…

 

[drum118]

The first trainset (2x00) was delivered with an extra loco - 2201. Eventually the locos were swapped for whatever testing was necessary, and that trainset remains configured like that today (2201 with 2300).

All of the subsequent trainsets up to 2x08 thus were delivered with a loco numbered one higher than the trainset (2202 with 2301, 2203 with 2302, etc.)

Then trainset 2x09 was delivered without a loco. This was to allow them to finally put a train onto that one spare loco. (The assumption is that the numbers will be shuffled to allow the trainsets to all match numerically, but I've also not gotten confirmation of that.)

And since then, matched trainsets have been delivered. The 16th trainset was delivered last week, and the 17th has been booked to be picked up from Siemens in Sacramento at the end of May.

Dan

The 3 sets I have seen have 22xx and 23xx with different numbers at each end as noted above. I assume loco's were switch.

 

[dowlingm]

Also, according to VIA's website, one of the baggage cars used on the CHUR is a Baggage car (National Steel Company). Not sure why they are still using this car.

VIA also owns a couple Combination baggage-Economy class cars on "loan" to the Keewatin Railway Company. It is unlikely that these cars would be recalled though.

My 2024 Trackside Guide has arrived and it indicates that NSC baggage car 9631 is on 290-291 (Pukatawagan-The Pas) in addition to the CC&F combo cars 5648 and 5649

It also lists ONR 415 and 418 as “acquired for rebuild” - whether that means “we’ll make bags out of them like we did 416-417 if someone gives us the cash” or “they were in much worse shape than 416-417 but if there is a mishap some day we might need them” is unclear. There might be some merit in VIA funding their rebuild if there is nothing better out there at reasonable cost.

The Trackside Guide also lists YDHR as having a baggage car (NSC, 9636) but this was before the bankruptcy so it’s not clear what its current disposition is.

 

[micheal_can]

My 2024 Trackside Guide has arrived and it indicates that NSC baggage car 9631 is on 290-291 (Pukatawagan-The Pas) in addition to the CC&F combo cars 5648 and 5649

It also lists ONR 415 and 418 as “acquired for rebuild” - whether that means “we’ll make bags out of them like we did 416-417 if someone gives us the cash” or “they were in much worse shape than 416-417 but if there is a mishap some day we might need them” is unclear. There might be some merit in VIA funding their rebuild if there is nothing better out there at reasonable cost.

The Trackside Guide also lists YDHR as having a baggage car (NSC, 9636) but this was before the bankruptcy so it’s not clear what its current disposition is.

The ONR stuff may be what the VIa Historical group acquired..