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VIA Rail
- Thread starter ehlow
- Start date
Urban Sky
Senior Member
This and the inverse (Turbo) colour scheme look really outdated and I doubt that anyone beyond railfans could relate to it…
cplchanb
Senior Member
You could say the same for amtraks heritage schemes. But then again most of the people who could relate to the old via schemes are either in their geriatric years or dead so who cares? It's just like air canada painting their plans in the original Trans canada airlines scheme. No one can relate to it but it's a good heritage theme
micheal_can
Senior Member
I won't knock the heritage schemes companies have been doing to their new equipment, but, at least for me, it does nothing for me. Funny thing is, the only heritage thing that did anything for me was the local transit bus.
Allandale25
Senior Member
cplchanb
Senior Member
well they better have a contract in place by the end of the year. if PP comes in he may delay or cancel this project
in subsequent questions:
“I cannot give you a specific number because we are going into a call for proposal and we are not going to tell the bidders how much money we have, but I can tell you it is billions and billions of dollars. That’s a lot of money,” said Rodriguez
where did they suddenly come up with that money?
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Bojaxs
Senior Member
I'm in Moncton right now. Infact I was at the Moncton VIA rail station yesterday. Took a photo of the Halifax bound train.
Would VIA ever consider running some kind of east coast train, running between St. John - Halifax? With maritime bus connections to Fredricton, Charlottetown and Sydney.
An east coast version of the Windsor- Quebec corridor. Not long distance. Could be served with Siemen's Chargers. Would avoid the worst part of NB's tracks which I believe run between Montreal and Moncton.
robmausser
Senior Member
The whole point of retro paint jobs is to look dated. It instills trust in customers as a reminder of your longevity in your industry.
They are only doing one train in the Turbo livery, you do know that right
Urban Sky
Senior Member
As long as you can still print or borrow money without spooking the currency and bond markets, there is no real limit to how much you can spend…where did they suddenly come up with that money?
The question is not whether VIA would consider running such services, but whether Transport Canada and the federal government would consider to provide VIA with the necessary mandate, fleet and operating subsidy to run such a service…
I have to admit that there are good retro paint schemes like the current Turbo tribute or this Amtrak retro scheme:
Source: https://railfan.com/new-amtrak-heritage-unit-will-be-short-lived/
At the same time, I shiver when trying to imagine a monochrone blue livery with a yellow stripe (or vice versa in the Turbo variant). However, I acknowledge that liveries are deeply subjective, so I certainly won‘t argue with you over personal taste or take any offence if you vehemently disagree…
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micheal_can
Senior Member
This is a good start. I will be more happy when the contract gets awarded. Then there is a chance the routes survive the next election.
reaperexpress
Senior Member
crs1026
Superstar
With tracks gone, that timetable is now just a memory... while I would like to have seen it saved, things happen for a reason.
The end to end train time Fredericton to Halifax was over 8 hours; Google Maps says that one can now drive in 4:10.
The investment to raise that service to a meaningful highway competitive one would have been considerable. And while a schedule looks impressive on paper, remember that this was a one- or two-car RDC and not a five- or ten-car Rapido. Passenger counts were pretty modest..
Now compare the maritime highway map of 1982 to today's.
Was there enough money to have saved and cultivated this service? Certainly not through the 1990s when federal deficits were being slashed. Nor would it have been constructive to shift money away from highway construction to a rail service - the maritime highway network is not overbuilt. And look at all the physical plant which would have required life cycle replacement.... 1982 was 42 years ago, most of the track would be replaced in that period. The CN main line is a lot more spartan then back then; the added capital needed to retain capacity for a day train in each direction is substantial. And in Halifax, while we bemoan how CN has shoved VIA out of the way, that was done to improve port throughput.... what investment is needed to maintain VIA service while assuring the freight ?
We have a rose coloured view of those old timetables. What may look like a great train in a great corridor on paper does not describe the minimalist and decaying rail sytem that VIA was fighting a losing battle to maintain in 1982. Retrenchment, and focussing available investment capital on only the most essential and promising parts, was not wrongheaded.
- Paul
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Northern Light
Superstar
Article most on the subject of long-distance fleet replacement but with a New Brunswick slant on the poor conditions of the tracks near Moncton.
From said piece:
How does this compare with the current fleet size?
crs1026
Superstar
Credit to the Canadian Trackside Guide - The Canadian and Ocean fleet consists of (give or take a few retirements) 267 cars
Panorama Cars - 3
Lounge Cars - - 1
Ren Baggage - 9
Ren Service - 17
Ren Dining - 3
Ren Sleeper - 27
Ren Coach - 45
Ren Transition - 3
HEP-1 Coach - 41
Budd Sleepers - 66
Budd Dining - 12
Budd Skyline - 14
HEP-1 Baggage - 17
Budd Park - 12
Add to this 32 Hep-II cars that mostly run in the Corridor
- Paul
Northern Light
Superstar
Thanks, Paul.
Combined, does this account for the remote service cars? (Churchhill, Skeena, White River etc?)