by NS VIA FAN
That old Budd stuff might be 'purdy' to look at....but I'll take a smooth riding Renn anyday over the constant rattle and vibrate of the Budds.
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marquisofmississauga wrote:... That consist is returning to Montreal today. ...Oops, I didn't mean to say "today" on the day I posted this. The Budd consist arrives in Halifax today (Thursday) and is departing for Montreal on Friday. All types of accommodation are available except for the suite (twin cabins for 2) and drawing room (large cabin for 2) in the Park car.
timberley wrote:I'm one of those who will gladly take a Budd any day, so I'm not complaining Rattle and shake as they might, I love everything else about riding them...Enjoy!......I hope others are as accepting of a downgrade to that old Budd equipment as you are. Sure those Budds are 'Purdy' to look at but the majority riding are not railfans.
NS VIA FAN wrote: Enjoy!......I hope others are as accepting of a downgrade to that old Budd equipment as you are. Sure those Budds are 'Purdy' to look at but the majority riding are not railfans.I will fully admit it - if ride quality is the *only* thing you care about, then the Rens definitely win. They are undeniably smoother riding and much quieter, and I also quite like the well-sealed aspect of them (walking between cars is much easier and more pleasant than in the Budd vestibules...though I do enjoy the snow blowing in during the winter )
Even on a Business Class trip to Quebec City last weekend......the ride quality of the refurbished LRC was lacking in comparison to the smoothness of the Ren consist on the return trip to Montreal
marquisofmississauga wrote: I'm not sure the reason for this substitution of equipment tonight. The e/b Ocean of Sunday 26th March had engine trouble and one unit was removed at Drummondville, causing a four-hour delay. The train got later and the arrival in Halifax was over six hours late at 00:10. That consist is returning to Montreal today. If I find out the reasons for today's substitution I will post it.Lol, Drummunville seems cursed at this point, lol.
timberley wrote: I'm one of those who will gladly take a Budd any day, so I'm not complaining Rattle and shake as they might, I love everything else about riding them...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.
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)
timberley wrote: ...I can't recall how many trips in Ren. sleepers I have taken. I stopped counting at 30 or maybe 35. Several of those trips were on the now-discontinued "Enterprise". I have never had a serious problem with my cabin. Once I had an electrical outlet that was dead and once there was some minor flooding from the shower. I wish I could say the same for the Budd sleepers, even the recently refurbished Manor sleepers used on the "Canadian." I have had to change rooms several times due to toilets that don't work, a sink that was causing major flooding, and air vents that were seized in the off position. (Sometimes a crunched paper cup can be shoved into the vent to prop it open.)
What I've found very interesting over the years is seeing the different opinions from various people who ride that train. I've been riding regularly for 10 years now (coming up on the 10th anniversary of my first trip later this year!), and I've talked to a lot of people on board over those years - the majority of them average folks, not railfans. I have heard a pretty wide variety of opinions about the types of equipment. Just like you, I've heard some people complain about the Budds because they don't ride as well as the Rens, and they have an older feel to them. But I've also talked to a lot of people who liked the different accommodation options in the Budds, found the beds and coaches more comfortable, liked the Skyline for coach passengers, appreciated some different food options in the proper diner, etc.
So at the end of the day, I guess it just depends what things are most important to you
timberley wrote:Doing Montreal-Halifax in a "Cabin for 2- Shower" on may 5thNeoArashi 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...
NeoArashi wrote: Doing Montreal-Halifax in a "Cabin for 2- Shower" on may 5thWell if they do extend the Budd set beyond the end of April, your May 5th trip would end up being Budd and your May 10th return would still be Renaissance. There's a good chance that the Budds will be off by then and back to just Renaissance, but we'll see. You probably wouldn't get a notice about the change until very close to your departure.
Doing Halifax-Sainte-Foy in econimy class on the 10th of may.
marquisofmississauga wrote: I can't recall how many trips in Ren. sleepers I have taken. I stopped counting at 30 or maybe 35. Several of those trips were on the now-discontinued "Enterprise". I have never had a serious problem with my cabin. Once I had an electrical outlet that was dead and once there was some minor flooding from the shower. I wish I could say the same for the Budd sleepers, even the recently refurbished Manor sleepers used on the "Canadian." I have had to change rooms several times due to toilets that don't work, a sink that was causing major flooding, and air vents that were seized in the off position. (Sometimes a crunched paper cup can be shoved into the vent to prop it open.)I'm in a similar boat re: how many trips I've taken - on the Ocean in general (coach or sleeper) I gave up counting past 50 several years ago - I do kind of wish I had a proper tally!
marquisofmississauga wrote: Opinions on the Ren. sleepers do indeed vary. A certain consistency is that those who have the cabin for double occupancy prefer the Budd bedrooms (especially room F in a Manor sleeper) but those in single occupancy prefer the Ren. room over a "cabin for 1" or roomette as many of us still call it. There was only one person of the many I have spoken to who said it didn't matter whether he had a Ren. double or a roomette and no-one preferred a roomette (except one person who made it clear he was a railfan).I'm really torn re: Ren bedroom vs. roomette - I like the roomettes, and generally have a comfier sleep in them, but I'll admit that the ride quality can become a major issue at times. I generally spend very little time in my room, but I can appreciate the extra space in a Ren and the much smoother ride when you're near the centre of the car.
marquisofmississauga wrote: Further to my informal surveys of paying passengers: all of those who had a shower-equipped room liked that feature and everyone liked being able to lock the door from the outside. Women like being able to lock their purses in their accommodation. I concede the shower in the Budd sleepers is better than the one in the toilet annex of Ren. sleepers, but I have never had a Ren. shower freeze in winter. My experience with winter trips on the "Canadian" and the former "Chaleur" is that some and often all showers freeze. The other problem with the one shower in the Budd sleeper is that it is often so busy in the morning some can't use it before breakfast. I can't be seen in polite society without a shampoo so if I can't get access to any shower on the train I have to wash my hair in the sink.Completely agree on how nice it is to have a shower in the room, plus ability to lock the rooms. My girlfriend is a big fan of both of these features, the former because she'd rather not have to go down a public hallway to get to the shower! I completely hear you re: the need for a shower - I've only once travelled in a Ren room that didn't have one, and that was back when you used to save a few $$ for the non-shower rooms. Of course I've made many, many overnight coach trips where showering was not an option....I always made sure to have a hat of some sort with me to wear the next morning
timberley wrote:What I would love to see would be new sleeper equipment built with some of the more modern elements of the Renaissance cars (smoother ride, better sealed diaphragms and vestibules, more en-suite showers, etc), but built to North American standards - i.e. wider and taller cars, at least one other type of accommodation to offer a mid-priced single-person sleeper accommodation, better winterized, etc. Might be dreaming a bit, but the reality is those Renaissance cars aren't going to last forever....they're already having major issues (body corrosion, lack of replacement parts, increasingly expensive to maintain), so I'd love for VIA to be able to look at new long-distance equipment sooner rather than later...That's not the Canadian way. They "Red - Green" everything, repairing everything to the extremes, before buying new stuff. Even these cream puff Renaissance cars were bought from the second hand market at a handsome discount.
electricron wrote: Whatever happen to the 31 sleeper shells never finished, VIA could use them to replace those presently in service as they wear out? Of course, they shouldn't be used to replace the coach cars, but desperation may allow them to do so.Those shells sat in Thunder Bay for years, and had all useful parts stripped out of them to replace parts in the rest of the fleet. They finally began scrapping them late last year. For the amount of work that would be required to get any of them into service (it would require basically all parts from existing cars to be transplanted into them), VIA likely eventually decided it would be a better plan to scrap them and get what they could for that value.
electricron wrote: I'm more worried about the slightly older LRC coaches. VIA should buy Talgo train sets to replace them imho. From what I've read, they tested very well on tracks in India - so they should be able to handle the tracks in Canada well too,The entire Corridor fleet is in need of replacement, and VIA is in the first stages of doing that (planning to replace the LRCs, HEP2s, and Corridor-use Renaissance sets). They got funding last year to start pre-procurement, and had a request for expressions of interest from manufacturers last year. They're now just waiting on the federal government to put up the required funding to go ahead with the procurement process. Some hoped that might have been in this year's budget, but it wasn't yet - though it seems probable at some point in the near future. Part of the issue there is that VIA's specific equipment needs might be tied to whether they get the go-ahead for their dedicated corridor (high-frequency rail) proposal, which is being evaluated right now and expecting a report to the government on that later this year. So we'll see...