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VIA Rail

Reading about VIA's fleet, and had forgot that they owned a "Observation Business car" that is currently in storage. Any creative ideas on what they could do with it to put it to use?

VIA_club_observation.jpg


Edit: also, some VIA Rail Canpa sub action:
 
Urban Sky said:
Considering what the current upgrades of already servicable HEP cars cost per unit, what “creative ideas” would justify spending several millions of taxpayer money into such an obselete piece of equipment?
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They will probably use that car as a source I'd spare parts. As mentioned there is no point in rebuilding a byzantine piece of equipment that is not currently in service
 
cplchanb said:
They will probably use that car as a source I'd spare parts.
Click to expand...
Even that “second-life reuse” would require similar cars within VIA’s active fleet and I’m doubtful that parts from this car are interchangeable with any of those cars of the HEP fleet...
 
Urban Sky said:
Even that “second-life reuse” would require similar cars within VIA’s active fleet and I’m doubtful that parts from this car are interchangeable with any of those cars of the HEP fleet...
Click to expand...

True. Was this car part of a group buy? IRS not uncommon when one buys a group of things for the purpose of finding a few within the group useful. This is the same for the renaissance sleeper cars. They were probably part of the group buy but had no purpose in vias fleet
 
alexanderglista said:
Reading about VIA's fleet, and had forgot that they owned a "Observation Business car" that is currently in storage. Any creative ideas on what they could do with it to put it to use?
Click to expand...

The story of Pavilion is a long, sordid one, and for a variety of reasons VIA would much rather just forget that it exists. (Which blows me away that they've continued to maintaine that page on their site for all of these years.)

It's also just one car. Fixing it up to put it back into service wouldn't do much to the overall fleet capacity.

Urban Sky said:
Considering what the current upgrades of already servicable HEP cars cost per unit, what “creative ideas” would justify spending several millions of taxpayer money into such an obselete piece of equipment?
Click to expand...

Millions? That wouldn't be necessary. The car is mechanically and cosmetically in good shape, and with the exception of needing new trucks, it would need only minor work - along the same vein as the incremental improvements that Glenfrasier has received over the years - to make it serviceable for revenue service.

But again, it won't happen.

cplchanb said:
They will probably use that car as a source I'd spare parts. As mentioned there is no point in rebuilding a byzantine piece of equipment that is not currently in service
Click to expand...

There is almost 0 parts commonality between Pavilion and the rest of the fleet. It was upgraded to HEP quite a bit earlier than the VIA fleet was, and to an Amtrak spec. As well, being that it's a 1937-built car, it's structure is quite a bit different than the rest of the fleet, so even things like the car skin is built and applied differently.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
cplchanb said:
True. Was this car part of a group buy? IRS not uncommon when one buys a group of things for the purpose of finding a few within the group useful. This is the same for the renaissance sleeper cars. They were probably part of the group buy but had no purpose in vias fleet
Click to expand...
It was part of the same lot as the three Panorama cars which were acquired from BC Rail after its operations were closed by the provincial government...
 
It might be apt to put if up for auction. It might take "$Millions" to make it fleet usable again, but only when not using volunteers. A heritage group could perhaps do it for a fraction of that, with extra TLC too.

It might also be possible to do a trade for it, something far less exotic but ready to run for it, and service compatible with other vehicles in the fleet.
 
lenaitch said:
Or put it up for sale. There's lots of deep pockets for this type of thing, especially in the US.
http://www.aaprco.com/

Or hang onto it until one of the mainline carriers needs something to convert to a track geometry car.
tec07.jpg
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I really struggle to understand the relevance and value of this dicussion: if railroads in North America have to resort to 80 year old rolling stock which has withered for decades on storage tracks without minimum maintenance, then where do all of Amtrak's cars disappear once they leave revenue service...?
 
Urban Sky said:
I really struggle to understand the relevance and value of this dicussion: if railroads in North America have to resort to 80 year old rolling stock which has withered for decades on storage tracks without minimum maintenance, then where do all of Amtrak's cars disappear once they leave revenue service...?
Click to expand...

This.

On the one hand, it’s a remarkable achievement for those old Budd carbodies to have endured this long. On the other hand, it’s a statement about how little appreciation there is for the concept of ‘life cycle planning’. One doesn’t know whether to be awed or appalled that those cars are still around. Some people are actually surprised that the LRC fleet is worn out !

Certainly, there isn’t much of a business case for fixing the noted car up....

btw Amtrak’s new CEO has cut back Amtrak’s private car business, so the market for that kind of thing has dried up.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
This.

On the one hand, it’s a remarkable achievement for those old Budd carbodies to have endured this long. On the other hand, it’s a statement about how little appreciation there is for the concept of ‘life cycle planning’. One doesn’t know whether to be awed or appalled that those cars are still around. Some people are actually surprised that the LRC fleet is worn out !

Certainly, there isn’t much of a business case for fixing the noted car up....

btw Amtrak’s new CEO has cut back Amtrak’s private car business, so the market for that kind of thing has dried up.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Gee, sounds like standing Canadian military procurement policy.
 
lenaitch said:
Gee, sounds like standing Canadian military procurement policy.
Click to expand...

Lets use old antiquated things till they are so beyond repair that we need our repair facility to make a new thing out of raw materials from the original blueprints.... Yup, sounds like Via.

So, how long till a replacement for the Budd cars happens?
 
micheal_can said:
So, how long till a replacement for the Budd cars happens?
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VIA RAIL said:
VIA Rail is excited to confirm that following the Federal Budget 2018 it will acquire a new train fleet to replace the current rolling stock operating within the Québec City – Windsor corridor, which serves the majority of our passengers. It is expected that by 2022, we will be welcoming Canadians on board a brand new set of trains. Our current fleet, reaching the end of its useful life, has served us well over the past 35 years, but it is now time to modernize ensuring safer, faster, more frequent, more accessible and an environmentally-friendly service. With the introduction of new trains, VIA Rail can offer a better travel experience with more comfortable cars that are better adapted and more accessible to people with reduced mobility – not to mention greener. All aboard!
Click to expand...
https://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/fleet-renewal
 
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