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VIA Rail

roger1818 said:
Oddly enough, gropus.io launched in 2014. The precurser to web based forums was Usenet.
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io.net is just the most recent version of it. The groups.io lists I'm still on date into the previous century; some even into the 1980s. Some even back to Listserv. (personally I preferred Majordomo).

I don't recall much cross-over between Usenet and Listserv - they existed concurrently. Though some of the Usenet groups were echoed into Listserv - but it was typically one-way - as far as I remember. I suspect I have 30 years of VIA Rail posts hidden away in old email.
 
nfitz said:
io.net is just the most recent version of it. The groups.io lists I'm still on date into the previous century; some even into the 1980s. Some even back to Listserv. (personally I preferred Majordomo).

I don't recall much cross-over between Usenet and Listserv - they existed concurrently. Though some of the Usenet groups were echoed into Listserv - but it was typically one-way - as far as I remember. I suspect I have 30 years of VIA Rail posts hidden away in old email.
Click to expand...

More trivia : The groups.io forums C-N-R and C-P-R began as listserv groups at the University of Nebraska and migrated to an earlier groups provider around the year 2000, which is around when the current CanPassRail group also started. The provider was then absorbed by Yahoogroups and then moved on to groups.io

Before that, there was CNet on fidonet, accessed through the Super Continental BBS.

- Paul
 
UD2 said:
Could it be a long distance sleeper demo unit. VIA had put out a RFQ recently I believe.
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I mean the current fleet have different wraps to commemorate Canada's 150th anniversary. Couldn't it be something like that? Change things up a bit?
 
UD2 said:
Could it be a long distance sleeper demo unit. VIA had put out a RFQ recently I believe.
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While I wish North American manufacturers would build some trainsets and lease them through a Porterbrook or similar entity, as a way of providing liquidity to the passenger rail car market (but also allowing mainline rail transit authorities to try before they buy), it seems like there are too many regulatory and/or funding impediments. It seems to only be a thing with hydrogen gadget-trains.

I can’t imagine Siemens building a purely demo car at this point given the backlog in the Sacramento order book. Once the South Carolina plant is online, maybe. But that could be why I don’t run a business,
 
dowlingm said:
While I wish North American manufacturers would build some trainsets and lease them through a Porterbrook or similar entity, as a way of providing liquidity to the passenger rail car market (but also allowing mainline rail transit authorities to try before they buy), it seems like there are too many regulatory and/or funding impediments. It seems to only be a thing with hydrogen gadget-trains.

I can’t imagine Siemens building a purely demo car at this point given the backlog in the Sacramento order book. Once the South Carolina plant is online, maybe. But that could be why I don’t run a business,
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Alstom probably has capacity at Thunder Bay. But I don't think they have anything that they can send to production. What about CAF?
 
Bordercollie said:
Alstom probably has capacity at Thunder Bay. But I don't think they have anything that they can send to production. What about CAF?
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IIRC CAF have had employee retention issues and probably only have enough to keep streetcars for Kansas City moving. Kawasaki has the same issue in Nebraska.

Alstom are building coaches for CTDOT - presumably in their ex-Bombardier NY plant given Hornell has enough going on with Avelia. I suspect they are de-powered/reworked Bombardier M8 cars but am not sure of that - 60 railcars for US$313m. I recall some discussion on railroad.net as being quite shocked by the sticker price.

As for building similar coaches in Thunder Bay, that problem is the same as it ever was - how many operators can afford to acquire anything other than with federal funding attached. As long as there is notional capacity in US factories, finding a way to a waiver for non-specialist vehicles is likely quite difficult.
 
dowlingm said:
IIRC CAF have had employee retention issues and probably only have enough to keep streetcars for Kansas City moving. Kawasaki has the same issue in Nebraska.

Alstom are building coaches for CTDOT - presumably in their ex-Bombardier NY plant given Hornell has enough going on with Avelia. I suspect they are de-powered/reworked Bombardier M8 cars but am not sure of that - 60 railcars for US$313m. I recall some discussion on railroad.net as being quite shocked by the sticker price.

As for building similar coaches in Thunder Bay, that problem is the same as it ever was - how many operators can afford to acquire anything other than with federal funding attached. As long as there is notional capacity in US factories, finding a way to a waiver for non-specialist vehicles is likely quite difficult.
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Alstom doesn't have any FRA compliant rolling stock for long distance travel?

Depending on who wins the VIA/Amtrak long distance fleet bid there may be some potential there for orders to be tacked on for regional carriers.

I wonder if Siemens has the capability to bid on that contact and have space to manufacture it.
 
Bordercollie said:
Alstom doesn't have any FRA compliant rolling stock for long distance travel?

Depending on who wins the VIA/Amtrak long distance fleet bid there may be some potential there for orders to be tacked on for regional carriers.

I wonder if Siemens has the capability to bid on that contact and have space to manufacture it.
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The open Amtrak RFP is for bilevel. Nothing single level at present. Alstom built the Surfliners I think, and Bombardier some Superliners.

For single level LD CAF built the Viewliner 2s, Budd the Amfleets, Morrison-Knudsen the Viewliner 1s. Bombardier built Comets and Horizons (and LRC and Acela of course) but they were more commuter/regional stock.
 
Allandale25 said:
financialpost.com

High-frequency trains bring big promises to riders but big risks for Via Rail

MONTREAL — The high-frequency-rail project between Toronto and Quebec City begs big questions about the future of Via Rail.
financialpost.com financialpost.com
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I read that as nothing is firmed up about any of it yet. This could be a way to maximize both services on their own and not beholden to either. It could also be the way to shut down the Long Distance service since by 2030, a tender needs to go out to replace that fleet. This is where that tender is really what the crux of Via's future is.

https://fb.watch/sfp9HW3zkH
They posted this on Facebook which has a link to their strategic plan.

Strategic Plan | VIA Rail

corpo.viarail.ca corpo.viarail.ca

While it has lots of warm fuzzies, the devil is always in the details.

So, without too much to speculate on, I will wait for the tender to go out listing number of cars and types.
 
1000007733.jpg


This schedule at Trenton is from pre-covid. I'm guessing it's out of date?
 
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