dibber25 Posted June 8, 2012 Share Posted June 8, 2012 Only one VIA F40PH remains to be rebuilt (6453). A pair of rebuilds have just arrived at Halifax NS with 'The Ocean' on May 3 2012. VIA 'Ren' service car (as built for 'Nightstar' Chunnel service). The white notice on the big middle door is a warning not to use the door. An attendant was nearly sucked out when one of these doors came open at speed. VIA 'Ren' coach (seating) stock on a Toronto-Montreal daytime train crossing the Lachine Canal at Montreal. This is a fabulous spot with a disused swing bridge and CN Wellington switch tower. More pics to follow if you want them. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 11, 2012 Author Share Posted June 11, 2012 ...and a few more, with a bit of variety. AMT (Montreal) commuter train with Bombardier double-deck cars, crossing the Lachine Canal and heading out of the city. VIA 85 The 10.55am to Sarnia backing into Toronto Union station with F40PH-3 No. 6402. A nice, modelable little train. We left Toronto as trains 50/52 'J'ed' (coupled together) and 906 with the Montreal portion was detached at Brockville. 901 stands at Ottawa, some two and a half hours late due to an earlier fatality on the line. With Ontario Northland GP38-2 1804 on the point, the Toronto-bound 'Northlander' enters Huntsville, Ontario. The 'Northlander is under threat of withdrawal and the ONR is to be put up for sale by the Provincial government amid stiff opposition. CN GP-9 No. 4132 is tied up for the night after doing some local switching. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Nickinwestwales Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Nice spread mate-thanks for putting them up-Not convinced about that new livery yet ( but then I favour the old FP9`s in blue )-Saddened but unsurprised that the Northland is up for sale-havn`t browsed that way for a year or two but when I last did the whole thing seemed to be running on very tight margins-good people on the ground working wonders with whats available ,but with the pulp mills closing ,the C.N. through traffic knocking the track to bits,almost empty Northlanders..............As Homer would say "what Ya gonna do .?" Like that Sarnia local -you couldn`t make it up,the perfect excuse for those two odd coaches in the bottom of the stockbox and another Walthers F40. ATB Nick Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
trisonic Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 More if you've got them, Chris. So managed to get you to visit Halifax then? I could live in that area. Preferably not next to Arnie, however. Best, Pete. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 GP38-2 in the newer livery departs Huntsville with the 'Northlander' for Cochrane. This service cries out for a couple of RDCs to reduce the operating costs considerably. There are quite a few passengers but the costs of a loco and an ex-F unit generator must be substantial. The fabulous Toronto skyline (the CN Tower was the tallest in the world until Dubai) with Union station's impressive reconstruction taking place as a GO Transit 12-car double-deck departs. These trains each take 1,500 cars of Toronto's crowded streets, but try walking against the tidal wave of commuters heading for the station at 5pm! Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted June 12, 2012 Share Posted June 12, 2012 Just to save searching, here are some I posted a while ago, amongst other things giving a morning rush-hour view of the activity in Toronto. http://www.rmweb.co....adian-pictures/ and some mor of Chris' from last year http://www.rmweb.co....nada-june-2011/ That last photo of the GO Transit commuter train was obviously taken on a weekend from the Bathurst St. bridge, looking east. On a weekday there would be trains stored in the sidings in the left background, waiting for the afternoon rush. All of those condominium buildings on the right are built on what used to be the CN coach yards. As a contrast, these photos were taken from the Spadina Ave. bridge (not the white truss bridge in Chris' photo, which is new, but the one behind it), looking back west towards the Bathurst St. bridge in the early '80s. The second shows the exit of the duckunder that the train in Chris' photo is going through. The duckunder crosses the Lakeshore line trains (which run all day) to access the low-numbered (northern) platforms in Union Station without worrying about cross traffic to/from the Milton, Georgetown, or Barrie lines. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted June 12, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 12, 2012 In 1998 we did the Ontario Northland bus from Hearst to Cochraine then the Polar Bear express to Moosonee and back and then on to Toronto. The Polar bear Express was hours late on the return due to trackwork and the train was getting tired. The service to Toronto filled up the nearer we got to Toronto but agian it was more than an hour late in due to freight traffic. Much nicer coaches than the Polar Bear express though. Will be a shame if these services finish. Canada seems to be cutting services whilst in the USA they are still expanding even if rather slowly. The first photo is taken at Cochraine. The second is the two box cars shunted off the Polar Bear Express into the loading dock at Moosonee Ian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 12, 2012 Author Share Posted June 12, 2012 Amtrak 101 heading 'The Maple Leaf' from New York the last few yards in Toronto Union station on a Sunday afternoon in May. GO-ing nowhere - well not till the evening rush anyway. Go Transit trains in the Bathurst Yard having brought in the morning commuters. My friendly VIA engineer calls the F40PHs 'Thunderwagons' due to the high noise level in the cab of both original and rebuilt units. 6437 had just brought me from Montreal on train 61 formed of 4 LRC cars. Unknown to me, the train she was driving pulled up behind us at the same platform a few minutes later. The only variation in GO motive power are two or three surviving 500-series locomotives which, I think, are cowl-bodied GP40s. Most have now been sold, several to AMT in Montreal. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Premium BR60103 Posted June 13, 2012 RMweb Premium Share Posted June 13, 2012 I understand that the "thunderwagon" name derives from the prime mover's being directly hooked to the generator for the hotel power (coach electricity) and having to run nearly full out even when stopped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted June 13, 2012 Share Posted June 13, 2012 The only variation in GO motive power are two or three surviving 500-series locomotives which, I think, are cowl-bodied GP40s. Most have now been sold, several to AMT in Montreal. That is an F59PH, a cowl variant of a GP59 (the difference is that a GP40 uses an EMD 645 engine, while the GP59/F59 uses an EMD 710). There are a few in use, and I've recently seen them running top and tail with 10 coaches on the Barrie line. GO hasn't done that in a long time (usually loco at the east end and a cab car at the west end in Union Station), so either the enhanced services mean that they are short of cab cars, or they need the extra power to deal with the loading on the Barrie line, or a combination of both. The only other operational anomoly I can think of is that, for a long time, they have run occasional Lakeshore line trains double headed. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold roundhouse Posted June 13, 2012 RMweb Gold Share Posted June 13, 2012 A few shots taken in 2011 in Vancouver, BC when we visted for a day on the Amtrak Cascades service from Seattle. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 27, 2012 Author Share Posted June 27, 2012 VIA P-42 No. 908 arriving at Toronto Union ONR 1809 in newest (final?) colour scheme, leaving Huntsville for Cochrane with the Northlander. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted June 30, 2012 Author Share Posted June 30, 2012 Grim news from Canada this week with more cuts to VIA services despite increasing ridership. 'The Ocean' cut to 3/7 off-peak, 'The Canadian' down to just 2/7 off-peak, no service to Niagara Falls other than the Amtrak which is operated by VIA between Niagara and Toronto, and reduced services to London and Sarnia. The off-peak 'Canadian on May 15 out of Toronto was 22 cars and full! CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moria Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 Hi all Thought I would add to this a little... We had one of the old 'uns on the 10:57 East Gwillimbury to Union Saturday morning. This is part of the new Saturday/Sunday service they introduced this week on the Barrie line.. 6 trains a day up and down the line. (Already got local residents complaining about the noise at weekends now on the line ) Regards Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Guest Moria Posted July 1, 2012 Share Posted July 1, 2012 That is an F59PH, a cowl variant of a GP59 (the difference is that a GP40 uses an EMD 645 engine, while the GP59/F59 uses an EMD 710). There are a few in use, and I've recently seen them running top and tail with 10 coaches on the Barrie line. GO hasn't done that in a long time (usually loco at the east end and a cab car at the west end in Union Station), so either the enhanced services mean that they are short of cab cars, or they need the extra power to deal with the loading on the Barrie line, or a combination of both. The only other operational anomoly I can think of is that, for a long time, they have run occasional Lakeshore line trains double headed. Adrian HI Adrian.. I asked about the top and tailing.. It's the first two in the morning and the first two home at night.. its always with a spare F59PH. Apparently, they had a number of failures after sitting overnight at Barrie, and because it's then not possible to bring a reserve up to complete the morning sequence because of single track, and they need the cars during the day in Toronto, they use a couple of spare locos so that if one fails to start, they can still run service and get the coaches to Toronto, which is obviously more important than getting the cattle.. err I mean passengers to Toronto Regards Graham Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 Saw several of these sitting in the AMT yard at Montreal stripped of their GO logos but otherwise obviously ex-Toronto. 557 was working with one of the MPI locos when I saw it - I've seen it both top and tailing and double-heading on different occasions. CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
davknigh Posted July 2, 2012 Share Posted July 2, 2012 The introduction of GO service to Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph has been used to excuse the partial withdrawal of VIA service from the line. The fact that the timings and ranges of the trains don't match is neither here nor there to the limo driven bean counters who did the cutting. Cheers, David Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 2, 2012 Author Share Posted July 2, 2012 The introduction of GO service to Kitchener-Waterloo and Guelph has been used to excuse the partial withdrawal of VIA service from the line. The fact that the timings and ranges of the trains don't match is neither here nor there to the limo driven bean counters who did the cutting. Cheers, David Too right! It's outside the remit of a model railway forum, but the Canadians don't seem to understand the difference between a train and a train SERVICE. These routes where they leave one train a day (or every other day) might just as well be shut down completely. If the train doesn't go somewhere near the time you want to travel, you aren't going to use the train. You have to provide a service with a choice of train times. One train a day operation is 100 years out of date. CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 11, 2012 Author Share Posted July 11, 2012 'The Ocean' setting out from Montreal, 836 miles to Halifax. N.S. From one Barnwell to another, then.... Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 I thought this was way the best picture I took, so I tried to post it on the Rail Pictures site but it got refused as 'technically not good enough'. Apparently they don't like fences in front of trains and since I wasn't able to take my cutting torch with me, I couldn't get rid of the fence! So, one site's loss is another's gain. I hope you like it. Blow it up really big on your screen and that P42 really does look impressive! CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDiesel Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Great pix! Last week my family & I took train 50 to Ottawa from Toronto. We rode in LRC cars on the outbound trip & in Ren cars on the return journey. Both are nice -- do you know which are newer? I can add someone details about our trip later. Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 Great pix! Last week my family & I took train 50 to Ottawa from Toronto. We rode in LRC cars on the outbound trip & in Ren cars on the return journey. Both are nice -- do you know which are newer? I can add someone details about our trip later. Rob The Ren cars are 15 years old (3 years in store/12 years with VIA) - see my recent article in RAIL. These were metro-Cammell built for the Nightstar service through the Channel Tunnel, that never happened). The LRC cars date from the 1980s and were Canada's tilting trains, with a diesel power car at each end. The power cars had Alco 251 engines and suffered electrical problems and were all withdrawn a few years back. The cars are now hauled by F40PHs or P42s. The oldest cars are the HEP2 stock, which are stainless steel bought second-hand from the USA and refurbished for VIA service. Many date from the 1950s. CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDiesel Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks, Chris. This is helpful. I suspected that the Ren cars were newer but they're actually not that new if they date from the 1990s! I believe the Toronto Railway Historical Association (www.trha.ca) has bought one of the two surviving LRC locomotives but that they haven't been able to move it to their museum site yet. I try to visit the TRHA several times during the year. Do you (or anyone else) know if the F40PH's are rebuilt mechanically or just repainted in the more current livery? I've seen a few F40PH's in the older VIA colours and they do look a little dated. On our VIA trip to & from Ottawa, I was surprised by how fast our train was going. I used an iPhone app to work out our speed -- it seems we were travelling from 80 to 100 mph (or possibly faster)! When our train ran parallel to the 401 highway / motorway, it was quite impressive -- we easily overtook all of the highway traffic (that would have been travelling from 60 to 80 mph). Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted July 23, 2012 Author Share Posted July 23, 2012 The F40PHs are extensively rebuilt - the VIA Rail website has a section about how it is done. There's a thread on RMweb showing how I rebuilt a Walthers model to remove the outside rear platform and add the new doors and rear section. The last of the old yellow/blue/grey ones was 6453 which I photographed in Montreal in May and was sent for rebuilding very soon afterwards. Yes, the Ottawa line is passed for 100mph, I believe, and the final part into Ottawa is actually owned by VIa Rail. CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
GreenDiesel Posted July 23, 2012 Share Posted July 23, 2012 Thanks again, Chris. Having watched so many VIA trains recently -- especially on our trip -- I'm finding all of these updates and bits of news to be quite interesting! Cheers, Rob Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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