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VIA Rail

While we're looking at impacts on towns, it's worth noting that the impacts on Tweed would be just as severe as those in Sharbot Lake. Plus the ROW isn't even preserved, it has all been divied up among neighbouring properties:
Capture.JPG


Personally I think the impacts on those towns is irrelevant since both are located on segments with exceedingly tight curves which cannot be widened. Both towns should already be bypassed on that basis alone.
Capture2.JPG


Why would we spend time and money forcing a railway through these towns, just to end up with a line that's barely half the speed of the one VIA currently uses? We'd be looking at 50-55mph on these segments of the Havelock sub if we use the existing alignment. Even the very slowest segment of the Kingston Sub (through Kingston itself) is 65 mph, and the rest is largely 95-100 mph with curves generally at or above 85mph.
 
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The wait for news is agonizing. They were supposed to have a routing study done earlier this year and moving to pre-procurement activity. Nothing has been released. We can only hope they are on track. I appreciate why VIA might have to do this. But not putting out any info could bite them if there's a change of government. Makes it far easier to cancel. I'm not sure this this is safe till half the corridor is built and trainsets are being delivered.

I get the sense that some portions are more challenging than others. I wish they'd push the parts that are easier to build out the door. No reason they can't get Toronto-Peterborough and Ottawa-Montreal under construction sooner.
 
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reaperexpress said:
While we're looking at impacts on towns, it's worth noting that the impacts on Tweed would be just as severe as those in Sharbot Lake. Plus the ROW isn't even preserved, it has all been divied up among neighbourhing properties:
View attachment 265450

Personally I think the impacts on those towns is irrelevant since both are located on segments with exceedingly tight curves which cannot be widened. Both towns should already be bypassed on that basis alone.
View attachment 265454

Why would we spend time and money forcing a railway through these towns, just to end up with a line that's barely half the speed of the one VIA currently uses? We'd be looking at 50-55mph on these segments of the Havelock sub if we use the existing alignment. Even the very slowest segment of the Kingston Sub (through Kingston itself) is 65 mph, and the rest is largely 95-100 mph with curves generally at or above 85mph.
Click to expand...

Ok, you two just made me look at Tweed on Google Street View..........haven't passed through there in at least a decade...........now I remember why its been so long..........

At any rate, a tour of the former ROW follows:

Excuse the sloppy line drawing. I highlighted the segments not identified as TransCanada Trail and presumably either sold off or leased to the adjacent properties.

1598313291522.png



This is the ROW as it enters town from the south-west at River Street, as the Trans Canada Trail.

1598313420938.png


This is the continuing segment if you face N-E from this same spot:

1598313504736.png


From there we cross Metcalf Street: (facing back west)


1598313617342.png


Next we're looking back west at Victoria..............what gives away the former purpose of this path???

1598313732904.png


But turn to face east at Victoria, and you see this:

1598313806011.png


Now we're looking east at Colborne:

1598313912777.png


Finally, looking east across Louisa, the trail formally resumes:

1598314148677.png
 
^ Fascinating that there's crossing signals there. Would those have been installed more recently or would they be from when that portion of the line was removed in the early 1970s?
 
crs1026 said:
Ontario has a cool web site for top maps



That would work. I was trying to capitalise on how close the rail line is to Highway 7, and to bypass as many tight curves aspossible.



I saw that too....interesting idea. I measured the gaps between islands, and figured the spans would be just long enough to cost a lot. And the boaters would expect high clearances, so the whole thing would have to be elevated.. And ugly, no matter how artfully it was designed.

The green was just to make the wetlands stand out, yes. Probably need to stay out of those.

- Paul
Click to expand...

Depending on how far west they plan to widen Hwy 7, there is an awful lot of wetland, particularly between Sharbot Lake and Kaladar. The ridges run generally SW/NE. I would imagine the MTO would tend to minimize impact on wetlands for a number of reasons. There is no guarantee they would necessarily follow the current track on many areas.

Allandale25 said:
^ Fascinating that there's crossing signals there. Would those have been installed more recently or would they be from when that portion of the line was removed in the early 1970s?
Click to expand...

Missed by the tear-out crew? 'Rescued' by the municipality/trail/heritage committee? They seem oddly placed and are in a parkette.
 
Allandale25 said:
He did. This article is about acquiring the rest. These units have sat at the same location for many years. @smallspy or @crs1026 may have some background knowledge of them.
Click to expand...

Those units date from the original ex-CN/CP VIA fleet. One of them, 6110, is the original RDC demonstrator unit which toured extensively around the continent for several years before ending up on CN. They were struck off the roster literally decades ago, when VIA phased them out. These particular units fell into a legal abyss with a supposed buyer who never hauled them away. They simply sat there for years and years.

More recently, VIA eventually regained title to the units, which enabled their disposition once and for all.

I am told Rapido was not the only bidder to look at buying the units - in the end Rapido was the successful bidder.

- Paul
 
crs1026 said:
Those units date from the original ex-CN/CP VIA fleet. One of them, 6110, is the original RDC demonstrator unit which toured extensively around the continent for several years before ending up on CN. They were struck off the roster literally decades ago, when VIA phased them out. These particular units fell into a legal abyss with a supposed buyer who never hauled them away. They simply sat there for years and years.

More recently, VIA eventually regained title to the units, which enabled their disposition once and for all.

I am told Rapido was not the only bidder to look at buying the units - in the end Rapido was the successful bidder.

- Paul
Click to expand...

The story is a bit more complex than that.

There are currently 11 of the cars at TMC. We - Rapido - owned one that we moved there in 2016.

5 cars had been purchased by a third party (and then later resold) in 1989, and never moved off of the property. Their ownership reverted back to VIA several years ago after VIA contacted the then-owners and asked to have the cars removed.

The final 5 cars are the fleet that was operating until 2012 on Vancouver Island and Sudbury, save for 6250 which was rebuilt. These cars are for the most part operable still, and there had been plans until recently to put these cars through another rebuild much as the current 6 have gone through.

Earlier this year we contacted VIA to inquire about buying a bunch of the cars that seemed like they were not going to be using again, which they accepted - thus those 4 cars that we bought. A number of organizations have since contacted VIA about buying the remaining portions of the fleet.

Dan
 
smallspy said:
The story is a bit more complex than that.

There are currently 11 of the cars at TMC. We - Rapido - owned one that we moved there in 2016.

5 cars had been purchased by a third party (and then later resold) in 1989, and never moved off of the property. Their ownership reverted back to VIA several years ago after VIA contacted the then-owners and asked to have the cars removed.

The final 5 cars are the fleet that was operating until 2012 on Vancouver Island and Sudbury, save for 6250 which was rebuilt. These cars are for the most part operable still, and there had been plans until recently to put these cars through another rebuild much as the current 6 have gone through.

Earlier this year we contacted VIA to inquire about buying a bunch of the cars that seemed like they were not going to be using again, which they accepted - thus those 4 cars that we bought. A number of organizations have since contacted VIA about buying the remaining portions of the fleet.
Click to expand...

I'm assuming we should be eagerly awaiting another Rapido Trains video masterpiece which announces the additional real-life RDCs?

 
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