Ontario Northland + VIA Bike Train

Yesterday (Friday 7th August), the Northlander had VIA car #8615 attached to accommodate the bikes on the first Northern Ontario bike train. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEin6qa1HVo for the train passing through Richmond Hill (courtesy of Tom8201) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUrZIkBbGLI for its arrival in North Bay (courtesy of ONRrailfan). The return working is planned for Monday 10th.

Interesting.....

Is this going to be a regular thing for the Ontario Northlander train - the VIA Rail Baggage car tacked onto the back of the train? I would think that VIA would have some extra baggage cars to loan out to the Ontario Northlander. What sort of brought this about? Does the Ontario Northlander have a VIA Rail Baggage car on each of its runs? The Northlander operates six days a week still I believe - so it requires two train sets. And didn't they buy some stainless steel cars (what Amtrak would dub Heritage cars) such as some dome car(s) and other types of coaches? If they did does anyone know their future with the Ontario Northlander?

And in terms of VIA and the Nortlander - didn't the Ontario Northlander at one time have a "closer" relationship with VIA, in terms of providing or borrowing equipment. For some reason, I thought that VIA provided a couple of sleepers to the Ontario Northlander. However, now that this train has finally turned to a daylight running train, sleepers are no longer needed. Course the sleepers may have been part of the consist when VIA actually had a rail connection from Senneterre to the Ontario Northlander's route (i.e near Swastika)? I always hoped that with the purchase of the Renaissance equipment that some of the Quebec trains originating from Montreal (to Senneterre and Jonquiere) would perhaps operate over part of their routes on an overnight schedule to also limit the "all-day" journey from Montreal to Senneterre. For example they could run these two trains seperately, rather than jointly between Montreal and Hervey Junction under different schedules of course. Until then......I await the day to see and hear of a private rail car to tour this long route to help provide extra amenities than VIA's basic service. I've heard occasionally they do run a Park Car on one of these trains - but it's not on any regular schedule of sorts. And it's been a while since I've heard this happening.

I'd also like to ride the Ontario Northlander one day, but I am not sure if I could put up with the coach seating in their cars and limited dining service for the entire all day trip. Aren't the current Ontario Northlander cars currently former GO Transit cars?

Any answers to my myriad of questions certainly appreciated! I'd love to learn more about some of these train services - past, present or future operations!

Well, here goes with answers to some of your questions. Others who have more detailed knowledge will be able to correct me / fill in the gaps.

I don't think this is going to be a regular for the Northlander - it's a test operation from a tourism-promoting organization called Transportation Options, thanks to some special funding. See http://www.nugget.ca/ArticleDisplay.aspx?e=1690933 for some news coverage in the North Bay Nugget. The Northlander doesn't have a baggage car normally.

The "heritage" cars that ONR bought a few years ago operate regularly on the Polar Bear Express (Cochrane - Moosonee) and on the Dreamcatcher Express (North Bay - Temagami, limited runs on certain weekends in September). I haven't seen any of these domes/diners on the Northlander. A few of these cars are still waiting to be refurbished.

The "relationship" between ONR and VIA that you mention more or less ceased in 1990 or 1991(?) when VIA cancelled the overnight "Northland" between Toronto and Kapuskasing. The "closeness" of the relationship is best seen by the naming of trains - why on earth would two separate trains have almost identical names: the day train called "The Northlander" and the night train called "The Northland". Anyway, the Northland was a VIA train (operated by ONR north of North Bay) with one or two VIA sleeper cars in the consist. At the same time, VIA also operated an overnight sleeper train between Cochrane and Quebec/Montreal (the route varied over the years). I did at one time do the round trip Toronto - North Bay - Cochrane - Senneterre - Quebec City - Montreal - Toronto.

Yes, the Northlander cars are former GO Transit cars, but you'd never recognize their interiors. The seating is akin to Amtrak's Superliner seating, with almost the same seat pitch. Yes, the dining is limited, but perfectly adequate for a full day's travel. If you want to see the interior, have a look at http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w5zfhlhhPQI (courtesy of northlanderdude).

I hope this helps. Anyone on this forum is welcome to correct any inadvertent errors here.

I am Yotube User Tom8201. Right now, I'm hoping to catch the train inbound. If I am successful, I'll post the video on Youtube as well.

briann wrote:Yesterday (Friday 7th August), the Northlander had VIA car #8615 attached to accommodate the bikes on the first Northern Ontario bike train. See http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WEin6qa1HVo for the train passing through Richmond Hill (courtesy of Tom8201) and http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xUrZIkBbGLI for its arrival in North Bay (courtesy of ONRrailfan). The return working is planned for Monday 10th.

I caught the bike train going south and filmed it. I've uploaded the video onto Youtube here:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zECXCMlP0Zc