Ex GO Transit F59 PH will be used by VIA

marquisofmississauga wrote:

kmillard wrote:I gotta believe the F59PH's are around only until the rebuilt F40's are on the property. Regardless of the agency, commuter service is very demanding on locomotives and I have to believe the ex-GO units will be in need of substantial rebuild to appreciably prolong their service life at this point.

"Government isn't the solution to our problems, government IS the problem."

Ronald Reagan

kmillard

Posts: 171
Joined: Mon Jun 19, 2006 11:26 pm
Location: Livonia MI


These little quotations made by railfans are often hilarious. Perhaps the above member has forgotten that VIA Rail is a Crown corporation, meaning it is owned by the federal government and that all commuter rail operations are provincial agencies. Without government there would be almost no passenger train service in Canada and most likely anywhere on the planet.

What does that have to do with the F59?

That's a pretty philosophical comment that could be "monday morning quarterbacked" all week long. Without government there would be no Via or Amtrak. Or mail contracts to fund airline startups. Or no land grants to start railroads across the US. Or no funding for interstates (originally a national defense measure). Or no mail contracts for steamships and stage coaches. Transport would really function as a result of profits and losses made by carrying people. The spirit of the poster's comment likely reflects the way governments handle non-priorty items such as public transit, license bureaus, and long distance rail rather than the existence of governments.

We are wandering way off topic here folks. Let's get things back on track.

Everyone: I have been away from this site for a while and this is my first 2010 post as far as I know-I am interested in GO's F59's and I wonder if anyone knows how many has GO sold off and will VIA purchase more of them to rebuild similar to how the F40s have been rebuilt-and how many have been sold to commuter authorities like TRE and AMT? Will GO sell more of them to other entities? It makes perfect sense to me-remember NJT as a good example has a large fleet of rebuilt older locomotives in service. By the way how up to date is this site: http://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/ concerning F59's?
Any other links or rosters showing the F59s status today will be appreciated-thanks to all in advance-MACTRAXX

VIA has only leased the F59s short term while their F40s are being rebuilt. As fas as I know there are no plans for VIA to purchase these or any other ex-GO locos. For more information on the status of the GO F59PH you can check out the topic in the General Commuter, Light Rail, and Transit forum: http://www.railroad.net/forums/viewtopi ... 51&t=63957

MACTRAXX wrote:By the way how up to date is this site: http://www.canadianrailwayobservations.com/ concerning F59's?

There will be a full update regarding the ex-GO Transit F59s in the February edition. The units on lease to VIA are as Ken stated only there until the F40s and P42s are rebuilt. The units that AMT has on lease are only there until their new ALP45-DPs are in service, although I read somewhere that AMT might require another 5 F59s before the ALP45-DPs arrive.