Trackside Treasure's Sixteenth Anniversary

To celebrate the Sweet Sixteenth anniversary of my little corner of cyberspace, I need to first turn to my blog partners whose newsy blogs you'll read to the right. Steve Boyko, George Dutka/Don James/Peter Mumby, David Gagnon, Stephen Gardiner, Michael Hammond, Bernard Kempinski, Matthieu Lachance, JD Lowe, Chris Mears, Derek Pittman and Marc Simpson. 

THANK YOU!

I celebrate their cerebral contributions, I appreciate their additional additions, I promote their prolific posts! also value commenters' comments and suggesters' suggestions (as long as the latter realize I can't just whip up a post on their pet topic, like the 19th-century history of pet beavers being carried on Canadian passenger trains!).

ALWAYS THE CONTEST...

Once a year, Trackside Treasure sponsors its anniversary contest. This year, in the wake of VIA just naming its 18th Siemens Venture set 'LUMI', a lot of readers and enthusiasts have been suggesting other names and paint schemes beyond the YELLOW with black stripe (below - Trackside Treasure collection).

What would you have done differently if you ran VIA? You can participate and win in one of three ways. You must enter at least one answer. If you enter two or three, that's fine - it shows you are highly-motivated and likely an over-achiever!

• Tell me an alternate name for this yellow train set!
• Tell me an alternate paint scheme, perhaps a VIA throwback?
• Tell me your favourite kind of soup!

CONTEST IS NOW CLOSED. Simply answer by email to mile179kingstonATyahooDOTca, or as a comment to this post. It's just that easy! Entries closed at noon Eastern Time, Wednesday August 21, 2024. A winner will be randomly selected from any and all entries, and memorable entries will be published in a postscript! If I feel like it, I'll forward the entries to VIA Rail Canada. Now, rush to your device to enter! The prize will be the oft-desired Trackside Treasure anniversary prize pack!

RULES:.There always have to be contest rules - I always like to throw some in to make the lawyers earn their rather steep retainer. Contest not valid in places in Canada ending in 'z'. Do not drink or operate heavy equipment unless of course your job involves either one. Either way that's a hell of a job you've got there. No purchase necessary to win, although bribes are not only allowed but encouraged! Does not come with an accompanying free parking spot anywhere for a year. Discretion assured and legal representation provided pro bono not by Sonny Bono but instead by Sonny LaMatina. Participation constitutes entrant’s full and unconditional agreement to these Official Rules and sponsor’s and administrator’s decisions which are final and binding in all matters related to the promotion in which winning a prize is contingent upon fulfilling all requirements set forth herein and upon being a generally good person with a kind heart, nice hair and a love of small, furry creatures. Except squirrels (I cannot stand squirrels).

<POUR PARTAGER LA PISTE>

Seriously though, if that's possible at this point, I believe in giving back. Oddly enough, one reason I started blogging was because when I began in 2008, blogging was pitched as a money-maker! Turns out it's only lucrative with a huge fan base, tons of posts daily and hosting advertisements. Um, no thanks. So I started blogging my own way, pleased to have no editor or rules. There are inevitably nitpickers, but if I don't want them here picking nits, I can and do keep them out. If it weren't for Trackside Treasure, there would be no loyal Trackside Treasure readers. There would be none of the amazing connections I've made with like-minded readers, and the amazing opportunities and interactions with you that I continue to enjoy. There would be none of the eight books I've created that enabled me to share information with other enthusiasts offline. There would also not be my Saks Smart-Casual walk-in shoe cupboard, my armoire full of Prada shades, nor my membership in the Harrods Cologne of the Month club.

To give back and to celebrate last year's Trackside Treasure Crystal Anniversary, I proudly announced The Trackside Treasure Annibursary. Each August anniversary forthwith, I will bestow upon a fellow blogger, enthusiast, reader or preservationist a modest bursary to fuel their initiative, interest and ingenuity in blogging or other activity. The bursary can perhaps be used to pay for expenses incurred in sharing information, research costs, travel for research or if the honoree so chooses, even donated in their name to a Canadian rail preservation effort. The honoree and/or Trackside Treasure will be free to publicize this award as they so choose. 

TIME TO CUT TO THE CUT CRYSTAL

The Trackside Treasure Annibursary comes with a curvaceous crystal trophy inscribed with the recipient's name and year as well as the fancy French motto that describes all railway bloggers and researchers and loosely translates as "To Share The Track". No-one controls cyberspace alone, we need to share: knowledge, enthusiasm and information. That is our lofty goal to which all railway bloggers and researchers ascribe. (Oh, and the trophy is only a jpeg file, so don't look for a soapstone carving, gold-plated trophy or any achingly-weighty tchotchke in your mail, nor some huge brown paper-wrapped package you have to pick up at the post office, or arriving at your door with accompanied by an armed escort.)

           The 2024 recipient and second recipient ever is...Mark Sampson!

Mark and I started messaging way back in 2015. Like me, Mark enjoys the interesting historical highlights that make VIA a very manageable niche, dare I say micro-niche in the panoply of Canadian railways. Mark  is currently VIA's Customer Delivery Manager, Western Services. Among his duties are the training of Service Managers - three-week courses with an emphasis on emergency response and a plethora of other passenger train-related topics. He welcomed my good wife and I aboard the Canadian for our trip west in June, 2019.

Mark has been involved in the early stages of determining structural issues in HEP cars in 2018-19 that led to the unpopular buffer-car era. Stainless steel HEP cars were being refurbished during the pandemic. Twenty per cent of the Canadian fleet was sent to MMC and TMC for work. Mark penned a refuse-bag note in Churchill-wrapped diner Emerald's window in May, 2020 as the diner was passing through Kingston on the way east to Montreal. It reads, "Hi Eric"!

The last VIA No 2 arrived in Toronto on March 13, 2020 as the pandemic set in and most VIA trains were suspended. Due to the pandemic, in April of that year Mark was going in one day per week. In July 2020 management staff were working at 85% pay, facing lay-off in  December 2020, then April 2021 back to work! 

Mark has a penchant for the 1981-1983 VIA/Canadian era. As an ode to the Canadian's heritage, and with the eye of a curator, Mark emplaced excellent educational and historical display cabinets in four Skylines showing various eras of his favourite train's heritage. He created the displays in March, 2023 just in time for the extra Skyline being added for the longer summer trains in May of that year. 

Two passenger photos of Mark's displays as posted to social media: 

VIA 8500 display (above - Dec. 2023) and VIA 8507 (below - Jan. 2024):

On his first trip as a VIA car attendant, Mark Sampson stands in front of Chateau Bienville, the first car of the Budd Canadian order for Canadian Pacific ( below - Mark Sampson photo). Mark told his own story as a contributor to my fourth book on VIA Rail:

Growing  up  loving  trains  isn’t  common,  a passion for anything in life can come from anywhere at anytime, nourished by someone and developed by those around us.   One train that still needed  my  attention  - The  Canadian.  By far my favourite train as a boy, it was something that  eluded  me.  The  pictures  in  my  scrapbook,  the posters on the wall, and the HO models just weren’t enough.  I needed to be in those dome cars for myself.  At eight years old I took my first trip on The Canadian, and at sixteen my parents and I reached the western terminus.  A little boy from Mile 2 of the Dundas Sub had now made his way to Vancouver by train. Fast-forward  to  spring  2012. Climbing aboard sleeping car 122 in Toronto seemed surreal, yet so familiar.   Had it really been 16 years?  Could I really be working for VIA?  Could  I really  be  working onboard the train that had immortalized the country and vice-versa? 

May 2012 - I am oficially a VIA Rail employee.  With several large bags in tow, my girlfriend (now my wife) and I take off for Winnipeg. New  friends  and  colleagues  I  met made  my  life  at  VIA  magical.      The  ‘new  guy’  from Ontario  fit  right  in,  and  all  that  train  information  I had read and collected over the years proved worthy.  Six weeks into my first year, I was selected to be an Activity Co-ordinator onboard.  Part of this job would mean  doing  presentations  about  the  history  of  the railway  and  The  Canadian.  It doesn’t  get any better than that.

He's at VIA for the long-haul. Keep up the great work, Mark.

Congratulations, and give yourself a thumbs-up!

UPDATE: Mark has received his Trackside Treasure annibursary. Just to show how aware he is when it comes to the history of VIA's Canadian, I was using up some earlier Canadian postage on the mailing. I affixed postage stamps showing Sir Isaac Brock and William Osler. Mark noticed. Both men have ex-CP Manor cars named in their honour! Bravo, Mark!

Running extra...

Let's let Mark answer the #1 question that prospective passengers pose before boarding the Canadian:

Tipping should be based on the service you receive.  If you feel the porter was good, feel free to leave a tip. You're not obligated to tip!  Same with the staff in the dining car. The train as a whole does not put the tips in a pot at the end and divide equally amongst all the crew. If my steak is cold but my server was well educated about the menu - why does the chef benefit? Keep in mind you’ll have one porter and dining car crew from Toronto to Winnipeg and another from Winnipeg to Vancouver. So don’t blow all your tip money on the first group!

I've got a tip - stay in school, kids!! Other frequently asked questions by those about to embark on the Canadian include 'What should I bring?', suggestions for hotel stops at either end of the journey, possibility of layovers, whether food is available, and 'What is the temperature like on board?'.

Thanks for joining me aboard this cavernous, cornucopia corner of cyberspace for 16 years!

--Eric