The "Ocean" VIA Overnight Sleeper

Appears they've changed up the Ocean's Budd consist a bit - today there's only 2 coaches on again, and still 6 sleepers - but it's now a single Manor up front followed by 5 Chateaus. Guess they did want to send those other two Manors back to Toronto for the Canadian. Actually kind of surprised there's still a Manor on there at all.

NeoArashi wrote:

timberley wrote:

NeoArashi wrote: So do I, but as I just booked a Cabin for 2 trip for early May, I hope they won't try to pull off the same s*** they tried to pull on the TC. Granted, it's only for the going trip. Booked a good ol' regular bench for the return trip, so I'll gladly take a budd if that's what they have to offer.

What dates are you travelling? If you follow the current rotation, you can figure out if that would be Budd or Ren. Right now the Budds will be on #15 out of Halifax tomorrow, and then on #14 out of Montreal on Friday. Since there are only two sets of equipment running, it will be a simple back and forth (i.e. each date at each end will alternate equipment types, so from Halifax this Wednesday will be Budd, Friday Renaissance, Sunday Budd, Wednesday Renaissance, etc...opposite for Montreal)

Once it's uploaded into the online system you can see by selecting a trip and looking at the drop-down for sleeper accommodations (if you see berths and cabins for 1, it's Budd), but so far only trains up to next Sunday have been updated. I've been told it's a very slow manual process, so it could take a while to get them all in.

Right now the last trains that I know for sure are supposed to be Budd equipped will be #14 on April 26th and then #15 on April 28th. But that could change as the date approaches, depending on just how much work they need to do on that Ren set...

Doing Montreal-Halifax in a "Cabin for 2- Shower" on may 5th
Doing Halifax-Sainte-Foy in econimy class on the 10th of may.

Update: I received a call from Via. They said they have to change equipment, and that I was assinged another cabin. However, from what they said, I'm still getting a cabin for 2 and the cabin itself is going to be slightly bigger than what I was supposed to get... So yay?

NeoArashi wrote:

NeoArashi wrote: Update: I received a call from Via. They said they have to change equipment, and that I was assinged another cabin. However, from what they said, I'm still getting a cabin for 2 and the cabin itself is going to be slightly bigger than what I was supposed to get... So yay?

Yes, your train has been showing as HEP equipment in Reservia for about a week now. Only that 14 and the returning 15 on Sunday show up so far, which could be the last trip, or they might still have a few more. Wait and see...

That's consistent with what they've been doing all through this substitution. People have been getting called very shortly before the trip, and anyone with existing bookings has been moved to Budd Cabins for 2 (bedrooms), either in the Manors or Chateaus. Looks like they dropped down to just one Manor in the consist, so you're more likely to be in a Chateau.

What is your room assignment, if you don't mind me asking? The "slightly bigger" might just be a note that the Manor and Chateau rooms are larger than the Renaissance rooms, but if you have the Manor bedroom F it's actually quite a bit larger. Some people have been bumped to the "Cabin for 3" (drawing room - room A in the Chateaus), and that's a huge increase in space...but I suspect they've tried to do that with couples or maybe with people on the same reservation taking up multiple rooms, I don't know.

Enjoy the trip! One note: don't expect the dining car meals to be any better than the Renaissance options, because even though they have a full diner, supper and lunch are still the catered Renaissance meals. Some decent options, still. Breakfast is being cooked fresh on board - I can recommend both the eggs and the french toast, as I had both between my trips 2 weeks ago, and both were excellent.

http://i.imgur.com/anQSfyO.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

Link above is a pic showing my going trip.

Car 38
"Seat" D

EDIT: Apparently, I'm on a steel bud car called "Chateau Roberval"

So I'm willing to guess I got a Chateau room as you suspected?

NeoArashi wrote:http://i.imgur.com/anQSfyO.jpg

Link above is a pic showing my going trip.

Car 38
"Seat" D

EDIT: Apparently, I'm on a steel bud car called "Chateau Roberval"

So I'm willing to guess I got a Chateau room as you suspected?

Hope you enjoyed the trip! And hopefully the rain and fog will clear up a bit while you're here! Welcome to spring in Halifax...

From the room assignment alone, I wouldn't have known for sure if it was a Chateau or a Manor sleeper, as they both have rooms numbered A through D, though room A in the Chateaus is a drawing room (cabin for 3), and rooms B to D are bedrooms. The Manors also have rooms E and F, so the only way you'd know for sure which car you had in advance was if you had one of those rooms (or if you asked a ticket agent, since the VIA system shows them the specific cars). Anyway, hope you enjoyed the ride in Roberval!

It looks like this weekend's trip was the last one with the Budd set. Wednesday's 14 is still showing Renaissance, and all other trips had been updated in the system sooner than this. So I'm guessing that means the Ren set is ready to go for Wednesday.

I just walked in the Atlantic Superstore literally next to the Halifax train station, and it seems this train will take me back on the 10th

http://i.imgur.com/OdDRpH2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These don't look like renaissance cars. Please tell me this isn't one of them LRC cars. Those are the worst in term of... Well pretty much everything. So darn uncomfortable.

The train in the photograph is definitely a Ren set and not LRC.

NeoArashi wrote:I just walked in the Atlantic Superstore literally next to the Halifax train station, and it seems this train will take me back on the 10th

http://i.imgur.com/OdDRpH2.jpg" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

These don't look like renaissance cars. Please tell me this isn't one of them LRC cars. Those are the worst in term of... Well pretty much everything. So darn uncomfortable.

Those are 100% Renaissance cars. LRCs have never operated on the Ocean (or any long distance train, for that matter), and the only times I'm ever aware of LRCs ever even visiting the east coast was back and forth to Moncton when they were being refurbished at IRSI...and then they were just moved as deadheads. I don't think any have ever come to Halifax.

The Budd set you came down on left Sunday, and even if it were still running (unless Reservia is unusually slow getting updated this time, it looks like that was the last run and we're back to all Renaissance tomorrow), you would still have had the Renaissance set (the Budd set would have been leaving Montreal tomorrow).

My VIA contacts have confirmed that tomorrow's #14 will be back to the usual Renaissance equipment. So the Budd trips this past weekend were the last ones for now.

I was under the impression that all ren were grey, and not green like that. I got my doubt when last night, I went to the Tim Horton next to the station, and could get pretty close to the train... I could notice that one side of the train had single seats.

You guys confirmed my doubts. Thanks, not I know I'll be in for a pretty comfy return trip, even if not in a cabin =)

Grey? Nope, the Renaissance cars have always had that two tone green/teal scheme. Coaches with the light green above and dark green below the yellow stripe, baggage/dining/sleeper/transition cars with the dark above and light below, and the service cars with the half-and-half. That's the scheme that was devised for the UK-European Nightstar service that the cars were built for, and VIA just added the yellow stripes and logos when they bought the cars. The introduction of the Renaissance scheme, and the subsequent repainting of F40s and LRCs with that green/teal colour was the result of bringing in the Renaissance cars.

The LRCs are the only VIA cars that are grey, aside from the refurbished Business Class cars, which are mostly green.

Quebec to fund Gaspé rail revival

Written by Keith Barrow, Associate Editor, International Railway Journal

The Premier of Quebec Philippe Couillard announced on May 5 that the province will allocate C$100 million ($73 million) towards the rehabilitation of the Matapédia-Gaspé line.

Quebec acquired the 325-km (201.9-mile) line in 2015 after declining revenues forced the Gaspé Railway (SFG) into receivership. Via Rail had suspended Montreal-Gaspé passenger services east of Matapédia in August 2013 due to the poor condition of infrastructure.

Work on rehabilitating the line is expected to begin within the next few months and will initially focus on the Matapédia-Caplan section. The government of Quebec says it is also committed to the rapid revival of the Caplan-Port Daniel Gascons stretch and studies will be carried out into the repair of 16 structures on the Port Daniel-Gaspé section.

Couillard says facilitating the restoration of passenger services is an objective of the project, although he concedes it will be several years before this is accomplished.

http://www.railwayage.com/index.php/sus ... vival.html" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;


Thoughts?

It will probably be years before passenger service resumes...

"Couillard says facilitating the restoration of passenger services is an objective of the project, although he concedes it will be several years before this is accomplished."

$100 million would be better spent increasing service in the corridor where people are actually riding trains.

The important thing to remember here is that restoration of passenger service is part of the goal, but it's not the entire focus of the project - it's also to allow the continuation and expansion of freight traffic. Things like the cement plant at Port Daniel, and the wind power manufacturer in Gaspé, which has been trucking windmill blades to New Richmond and sending them out on trains from there. Plus a potential to draw new businesses in.

A big part of the question re: the timeline will be whether VIA will be willing to resume partial service (i.e. to New Carlisle), which could happen much sooner as the project gets going, or if they'll wait until the full route to Gaspé is done. Recall that they did short-turn the Chaleur at New Carlisle for a while during the last period before they stopped running the train.

One point to the OP: the title of this thread is wrong. The Ocean has never run to Gaspé - that train was the Chaleur, and in later years VIA dropped the name so it was just the "Montreal-Gaspé train". I certainly hope we'll see it return, though it's a little too soon to celebrate just yet.

timberley wrote:
One point to the OP: the title of this thread is wrong. The Ocean has never run to Gaspé - that train was the Chaleur, and in later years VIA dropped the name so it was just the "Montreal-Gaspé train". I certainly hope we'll see it return, though it's a little too soon to celebrate just yet.

Actually the Ocean was shown as running from Gaspe to Montreal in the October 1971 CN Timetable. The e/b train to Gaspe was the Scotian. These were the Gaspe sections of the main Hoalfax<>Montreal trains...added or split out at Matepedia, The Chaleur name had been dropped.