Obs "Still There"; The View? Well.....

Anyone considering a Canadian journey now that it is running again, should be mindful of this development:

https://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/ ... a-hep.html

Fair Use:

.As of October 12, 2022 all Head End Power (that's HEP1 and/or HEP2) consists - thereby excluding LRC-equipped Corridor trains - must have an unoccupied car on head-end AND tail-end. This is a soft launch. The first effect felt by VIA Rail passengers was pet owners being notified that they would not be allowed to have access to their pet in the baggage car. No pets could now be handled in baggage cars. Passengers were sent a message telling them to have medication, or any items needed while on the train, with them in their carry-ons. Accordingly, on-board service personnel would also not have access to the baggage car, only the engineers doing baggage-handling at stops. Forget that vision of the baggageman sitting on his wooden stool watching the scenery pass by. Gone! These changes were termed temporary operational adjustments. Also, VIA said it was sorting through these operational changes.

PARK CAR PUNCTUATED

Then, deadhead sleepers began appearing on the tail-end of VIA's Canadian. All of a sudden, Corridor railfans were noting empty sleepers tacked on the tail-end of stainless steel Corridor consists.

Possibly, and hopefully, someone such as Mr. Hadfield can locate a more authoritative source for confirmation.

Well I wasn't planning on spending more than a moment or two looking out from the rear of the train, but.. darn that's a bummer. I had no idea passengers could even access the baggage car until now. Good thing I was planning on only bringing the allowed number of carry-on bags anyways.

Ironically one of the reasons I booked my upcoming trip (which is also going to be my first VIA Rail trip in over 25 years) was to ride the vintage Budd Company cars while they're still in operation.

I do have plans to make good use of the Skyline cars though so as long as *they're* not cut from the train I'm good

What class do you plan on riding, Mr. NH2059 (+1)?

I’ll be riding in Sleeper Plus. Would have gone with Economy Plus and made it even more of an adventure (and saved a few $$$), but I’ll already be sojourning out west in coach on Amtrak beforehand so I’ll need a bed and access to a shower for the trip back east.

Mr. NH2059+1 (FL-9's were 2000-2059 inclusive), while in all certainty you are considerably younger than am I @ 81yo, three nights of Coach Westward on Amtrak is still an Outward-Bound experience.

So for your return, in VIAese, Economy is Coach, and Sleeper+ are Standard Sleepers (not some kind of Tourist Sleeper that they had back when I rode The Canadian during '65). I guess they still have Open Sections where you could book an Upper and be treated to a hind-quarters forward ride during the day.

Now so far as Prestige, the value of that product has certainly been "knocked down a peg" with the addition of the "buffer car". Must wonder if the "prix" has been proportionally lowered.

There's a guy over at another site - a "most economical gentleman", who resides in St. Albans VT, and is contemplating the same Canadian trip, but in Coach both directions (probably staying in a hostel as well in Vancouver to boot)!!! So, you've got a comrade out there!!!

(Brief side note, but since you have so astutely noted by "phantom FL-9" username over the years perhap I should change it to "NH2087" or "NH2119". One of my New Haven books -or maybe it was "Diesels To Park Avenue"- claims that when the NH ordered the 2nd batch of FL-9s they tried to get a loan for 58 units but they only got approved for 30. And then found a slideshow by the Metro-North NMRA claiming that the railroad wanted to buy 120 units (!) along with 130 GP-9s. I had heard that they wanted to buy 120 GP-9s in 1956 until EMD told them they couldn't fill that large an order. But a fleet of 120 FL-9s would have been impressive. Perhaps we could have seen an Alpert FA/PA type livery or C425 type livery applied to the latter units. What might have been..)

Anyways, to get back to the topic at hand: when I booked my trip I chose the discounted lower berth. If money were no object I would have gone with a "Cabin For 1" if any were still up for grabs and go full hermit mode for the entire trip. If I scrimp and save over the next year or so I could definitely make that happen. I sure have a feeling that I will be making another long distance trip on VIA in the near future; Vancouver-Toronto-Montreal-Halifax could be in the cards if I play my cards right

Lastly, I tip my hat to that gentleman who I assume is likely older than I am for truly roughing it out to and fro

Lower; well at least you get to face-forward ride.

I think my last ride in a Berth was during '54 to and from summer camp in Meredith NH.

Some out there say that the mattress placed atop the seat cushions makes for a more comfortable bed than anything Amtrak has today.

Gilbert B Norman wrote:Some out there say that the mattress placed atop the seat cushions makes for a more comfortable bed than anything Amtrak has today.

Well my trip has come and gone so I can report that it was indeed VERY comfortable. I slept very well each night (even woke up at 4am the first morning and sat in the dome section of the Skyline car as we left Kamloops after being stuck for hours due to apparently the signal system going down!)

With VIA apparently having taken steps to replace the vintage fleet with new equipment I’ll be sad to see the old cars go, but I’ll be sure to take as many trips as possible within the next few years.

And considering they’ll have to buy custom sets of equipment anyway who’s to say they might make them look like the Budd Company cars, domes and all

NH2060 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:46 pm With VIA apparently having taken steps to replace the vintage fleet with new equipment I’ll be sad to see the old cars go, but I’ll be sure to take as many trips as possible within the next few years.

I believe the new fleet is aimed at the LRCs and Budds on the corridor. The 1955 Budd fleet on the Canadian will remain for now.

R36 Combine Coach wrote:

NH2060 wrote: ↑Wed Jan 25, 2023 9:46 pm With VIA apparently having taken steps to replace the vintage fleet with new equipment I’ll be sad to see the old cars go, but I’ll be sure to take as many trips as possible within the next few years.

I believe the new fleet is aimed at the LRCs and Budds on the corridor. The 1955 Budd fleet on the Canadian will remain for now.

Nope, this pertains to the LD trains, not the Corridor services being replenished with the new Siemens trainsets.

As of February last year VIA had announced that they were beginning the “preparing the business case” phase of replacing the Budd Company fleet.

From what the message boards were saying the new equipment wouldn’t be delivered and in service until around 2032 at the earliest so there is of course technically still plenty of time to ride the old cars.

On the other hand given their gradually deteriorating condition will they even make it that long? If the cars start to fail sooner than expected I could see the “Canadian” itself just getting axed altogether until the replacement fleet arrives

Or axed with a replacement order canceled...


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Mr. Olesen, considering how The Canadian's "punctuality" makes Amtrak look something like Swiss railroads (and United Airlines at least when I have occasion to fly), how long will the tour operators, with their high-end overseas clientele, "put up with it"?

Guided tours have a way of being "intermodal" in nature connecting from air to land to ocean transportation - and of course throw in some "indigenous performances".

Lose those high end overseas tour operators, and The Canadian is done for.

All of these have their own schedules to keep. To what extent someone's trip insurance will cover (I get it for my overseas journeys; really only care about the Medevac coverage) is between them and their insurer.

The best part of the Canadi<n is the Vancouver to Edmonton leg.

That could be a standalone trip for tours without the Edmonton to Sudbury/Toronto overhead expense.

If Remote Community Access is really an essential need, that could probably be accommodated just as well by running day trains two or three days a week out of the primary regional centers of Edmonton, Calgary, Saskatoon, etc. versus stringing the entire operation coast to coast. Three or four segments properly equipped and sized that depart on time versus a rolling two to three delay is always going to be more reliable.

Breaking it up into day trains would also eliminate the need for sleepers and be able to piggyback on the corridor equipment order.

A lot of good points within your Immediate, Mr. Olesen.

Yes, having done such in this life, along the Fraser is quite a ride. However, we must note that Rocky Mountain is already there - and their X-ing of the Rockies on the CP is, from a tourist perspective, superior to that of the CN - the Canadian's present route.

Unlike in Eastern Canada and up to Churchill (and Kapitachuan Club; that sadism my Father threw at me during '56), the Western communities along both the CN and CP, have access to East-West highways (16 along CN; 1 along CP), so I would think that a bus system could provide transportation to those remote areas.

In short, lose the high end tour parties, the support from the tourism industry will vanish. The Canadian will be off to "happy hunting ground".

Ride it while you can. I did back in '65.

I've been watching reruns of Highway Thru Hell (think Ice Road Truckers meets Tow Trucks), and it takes place along the Fraser Canyon and Coquihalla Highway which goes between Vancouver and Kamloops. Spectacular views indeed.