VIA RAIL

In 2009, VIA announced that they had awarded a contract to IRSI Moncton to rebuild its 98 LRC passenger cars. Five LRC coach cars (3315, 3317, 3319, 3349 and 3382) and one LRC Club (3601) were transferred to IRSI, and have been undergoing rebuild. On March 4, 2011, LRC coach car #3315 became the first rebuilt coach to be released from IRSI. 3315 was moved from IRSI to the Moncton VIA station by CN 2204, and was coupled to the rear of VIA 15 for transport to Montreal (VIA 15 was operating with an all Budd consist).

 Externally, the major modifications to the car include removal of the end marker lights, (which are no longer required under new transport Canada regulations), removal of the external PA speakers, and a new keyless entry system for the vestibule doors. The car is also in new paint, with Renaissance dark green replacing the blue, and a second yellow stripe added near the roof to match the Renaissance painted locomotives and coaches. Also of note is that there is no Canada flag or “Canada” wordmark on the car, simply the newer VIA Rail Canada logo.

Wendell Lemon caught the new car while it waited for VIA 15 to arrive in Moncton.

Donald Thivierge got a look inside the new coach, and submitted photos of the interior and the “IRSI remanufactured” tag. The interior is certainly colourful! Notice that VIA has now added individual curtains in the coach, a feature that was previously only found in the Club cars.

The car arrived in Montreal, and has entered its testing period. On March 13, 3315 was sighted trailing on VIA 64 between Toronto and Montreal.

The car is expected to be traveling throughout the Corridor over the next several months, for testing and crew training. On March 6, VIA delivered another LRC coach to Moncton on VIA 14, to enter the IRSI rebuild program. It is expected that more of the coaches currently at IRSI, and the first Club car, will be released some time in the near future

On March 18, VIA Train 61 struck a dump truck near Belleville. The crash happened around 3:30 p.m. at Airport Parkway east of Elmwood Drive, in a rural area in the northeast corner of the town. The truck was being operated by a contractor working on one of CN and VIA’s current track improvement projects. Unfortunately, the driver of the truck was killed, and one member of the onboard crew of 61 was hospitalized for a cut above her eye. Five passengers were also hospitalized with minor injuries. VIA provided bus transportation for passengers on to their final destinations. The train remained on the tracks, but the lead locomotive, P42DC #903, suffered significant damage, as shown in the photo below. 903 will likely be out of commission for some time, as it will definitely require at least a nose and pilot rebuild. It is unclear yet if there is frame damage. If this were to be the case, this could be the end for 903. The lead LRC club car also suffered significant damage, with a piece of debris puncturing the side of the car right under the “VIA” logo. It is likely that it will enter the LRC rebuild program a little earlier than planned!

Here are some more close-up photos of the damage to 903, and to the lead Club car.

 Rob Gearns took this photo of 903 after the wreck, showing the extent of the damage.

Shortly before the wreck, John Morin caught VIA 61 with 903 leading at Kingston station at 2:42 pm, less than an hour before the wreck. John never thought at the time what fate the train he photographed was about to face.

Moncton, NB was a busy place in March, as VIA RDC-4  #6250 arrived in Moncton on VIA 14, headed for IRSI.  VIA 6250 was removed from service on the Sudbury-White River route following a collision with an MTO truck earlier this year. 6250 had had its fuel tank and motors removed. VIA is in the process of “exchanging” RDCs with IRSI. Old VIA RDCs will be sent to IRSI, and replaced by newly rebuilt RDCs from the IRSI collection, with one already delivered to VIA (see below).  Chris McMahon caught 6250 as it was being dropped off of VIA 14 at Moncton station. Note the missing pilot.

Chris McMahon caught 6250 as it was being dropped off of VIA 14 at Moncton station. Note the missing pilot.

Wendell Lemon caught the first of the IRSI rebuilt prototype RDC’s (6202) being moved on CN L539 from Gordon Yard to the VIA station and then leaving Moncton, NB on the tail end of  VIA 15 March 25th  for delivery to VIA's White-River- Sudbury line. 

F40PH-#6425 has been released from CAD, and is the most recent rebuilt unit to be delivered to VIA. Pierre Fournier caught 6425 trailing 6429 on VIA 22 at Drummondville, QC, on March 11.

It didn't take long for it to be in service on the busy Toronto to Windsor corridor as we see it here leading 70 out on Ingersoll Ontario on March 20, 2011.

On Feb. 27, VIA 14 “The Ocean” struck a snowmobile at Folly Lake, NS. A group of snowmobilers were attempting to cross the tracks where there was no marked crossing, and the lead snowmobile got stuck on the tracks. Both the driver and passenger were able to jump clear of the machine before it was struck by the train. The snowmobile was destroyed, but all involved were thankful there were no injuries. The lead locomotive sustained no significant damage. The train remained stopped while police were called to the scene, and departed 90 minutes later. Coupled with an earlier delay caused by a moose on the tracks, train 14 was a full 2 hours late arriving in Truro.

Here is the Truro daily news story about the accident: http://tinyurl.com/4eqn7fj

At the station in Belleville, ON Mar 14th, Ron Visockis clicked VIA F40PH-2d 6449 on train #57 and VIA F40PH-2 6426 on #60. The yellow-faced F40s are quickly becoming a less common sight.

On March 18th, Daniel Dell’Unto snapped VIA train 75 pulling out of the train shed at Toronto Union Station toward the signals at John Street tower. Rebuilt VIA F40PH-2 6449 is on point of the usual Budd HEP consist. In the background is the "headhouse" and train shed of Toronto Union Station, which is undergoing extensive renovation and restoration/modernization work.

Peter McGough took these images of ONR 1809 with the Northander and VIA 6402 with No. 86 at Toronto Union Station on February 1st. 

During the second week of March 2011, Union Pacific SD70M 3981 has been operating on Amtrak 510/517 and is the first UP locomotive to ever operate up to Vancouver, BC on this Amtrak Train.  Terry Muirhead’s photos show UP 3981 leading train #517 out of Vancouver  (at Glen Yard) enroute to Seattle, Washington on March 13th.  Behind UP 3981 is Amtrak Cascades F59PHI 468 with the Mount Adams Talgo train set, and on the rear  is Amtrak F40 Cab Control Car 90278.

VIA’s “Loto-Quebec” advertising wrap is still alive on F40PH-2d #6414. On March 19, Terry Muirhead caught 6414 in its grotesque livery at the VMC with rebuilt 6416. It will be a happy day for many railfans when 6414 finally heads to CADRail to be rebuilt!

On March 24th “The Canadian” had a repainted Rocky Mountaineer car, RMRX 9527, sandwiched between refurbished VIA 6406 and original VIA 6417. The RM cars are placed between the engines because they only have one HEP circuit and cannot be in the usual deadhead position behind the engines. The only other place they could be put would be after the Park car, but their bulk would block the view from the dome!  RMRX 9527 was built by Colorado Railcar in March 2006 and is a Gold Leaf "B" Dome Coach.  This is the third paint scheme the car has worn.  It was originally painted in the RM blue and white, then it was wrapped in a light blue scheme as part of the Alberta tourism train for the 2010 Winter Olympics. Steve Boyko took these photos below on the CN Rivers sub by the Fort Rouge yard showing the two engines with RMRX 9527 between them, and 10 VIA cars with  no Chateau car:   

 VIA 6406

 RMRX 9527

 VIA 6417

 VIA 8605

 VIA 8119

 VIA 8103

 VIA 8517

 VIA 8412 Kent

 VIA 8335 Mackenzie Manor

 VIA 8307 Blair Manor

 VIA 8312 Butler Manor

 VIA 8327 Fraser Manor

 VIA 8716 Tweedsmuir Park

 http://www.traingeek.ca/gallery2/v/via/6406-winnipeg-20110324-1.jpg.html

http://www.traingeek.ca/gallery2/v/via/6406-winnipeg-20110324-2.jpg.html

http://www.traingeek.ca/gallery2/v/via/canadian-winnipeg-20110324.jpg.html

Bill Crago submitted these VIA F40PH-2’s he took at Chalk River and the Ottawa Valley in Ontario 22 years back. VIA # 2 The Canadian is seen at Chalk River running  late and meeting CP 5798 leading a westbound freight with M636 4557 in the consist on December 30, 1989.   VIA 6431 is at the front end of  the Canadian as  steam heat engulfs the head end during a 10 minute service stop in Chalk River.   VIA 6431 is seen one month earlier (November 30, 1989) enroute to Pembroke with a section of the Canadian with only Blue Fleet equipment.

Rocky Mountaineer Vignette:  On October 5, 1995, RMR Train #1 is seen at Revelstoke, British Columbia with their ex-ATSF GE units.  These are now off the RMR roster. (Patrick De Larue).

© CRO March 2011