ADAM TRAVELS ON THE CANADIAN, 1981

Minneapolis' Adam Platt recently posted two pictures to a Canadian-Passenger-Rail online [formerly yahoogroups] group. Adam shared the two photos because he was trying to cobble together the partially-forgotten itinerary of an extensive train trip he took across Canada and the western US in the summer he turned 18, in 1981. 

Does Adam's excellent photo (top) show Morant's Curve? A VIA F-unit is trailed in the locomotive consist by two CP Geeps. Then an ex-CP baggage, crew sleeper still in CN colours, two ex-CP coaches and an ex-CN coach. Definitely taken on CP rails, which the Canadian plied until it moved to CN in 1990. Tracing the Bow River, there are not many curves where the locomotives plus the first five cars are photographable!

Heading west on VIA No 1 from Montreal to Calgary, where his father joined him, the two rode then VIA No 9 Jasper-Prince Rupert, but Adam is unsure how he got from CP to the CN. There is a slide from the Lake Louise station, so Adam suspected they were bused or drove between there and Jasper. 

The whole trip was oddly eventful, beginning on the day/night that US Air Traffic Controllers (ATC) went on strike in the USA (or were fired by Ronald Reagan) sometime between August 2-5, 1981. Adam had to roam through O’Hare airport looking for an airline to accept his ticket when the non-stop flight to the east coast was cancelled. Adam lived in Chicago at the time, and knew from his old flight records that he flew O’Hare to Boston via Atlanta on Delta due to the ATC disruption. He then flew to LGA on New York Air, either the same day or the next day. That was the last flight until Port Hardy to Vancouver as the rest of the trip was done by train. Adam lists his August, 1981 itinerary thus:

--I took Amtrak from NYC to either Montreal or Toronto; I believe I rode VIA’s Cavalier; I rode the UA Turbotrain. I remember boarding or exiting it at Dorval.

--I met my Dad in Calgary off VIA No 1 and we continued to Lake Louise likely arriving on August 13.

--We traveled from Jasper to Prince Rupert on No 9 which ran daily that summer.

--BC Ferry Queen of the North (now at the bottom of the Inside Passage) to Port Hardy, overnight. Likely date of sailing was August 15 or 17.

--Pacific Western 737 to YVR, spent a night there, then Western Airlines to SFO. Two nights in SFO.

--Amtrak Pioneer OAK to Ogden, Utah.

--D&RGW Zephyr, Ogden to Denver, likely date of travel August 21 or 23.

--Home to O’Hare on United the next day.

Adam met a girl in Montreal who asked him to travel with her, which he almost did, but gallantly (and now a little regretfully?) stuck to his plan. He rode trains which were on borrowed time: the UA Turbotrain, defunct mileage on the CP out of Montreal, the now-gone Pioneer on Amtrak out of Oakland, and of course the Rio Grande Zephyr which died two years later. The Skeena when had a diner and sleepers. The Queen of the North later notoriously sunk in the Inside Passage. Sinking his teeth into the trip, Adam even got a piece of meat stuck in his esophagus on the Western Airlines flight from YVR to SFO and had to have an endoscopy in St. Francis Hospital in SFO to remove it. (Back when they served steak in economy flights for dinner!)

Adam writes, "It was a very emotionally resonant time for me. My parents had split up a year earlier and I hadn’t seen a lot of my dad, and this was the last time I was alone with him for an extended period of time before his death a decade later. I had difficulty with emancipating, I would get terribly homesick when I left home and by being away for three weeks literally a week before I left for college, I was trying to build independence."

Adam's trip account really sparked my imagination. Mainly because I was interested to see if I could figure out more about his consist on No 1, how far he travelled, and where his photos were taken. I like a good bit of sleuthing. Some of my favourite bits of sleuthing have previously been shared on this blog. (I used to enjoy 'looking for missing things' in my workplace - dogged tenacity paired with a minutes-long attention span after which I would generally admit defeat!) Adam has kindly acceded to being the subject of this post - as a reporter, he's used to writing about other people but not to someone writing about him!

Coincidentally, Adam recently retraced his route aboard VIA (partially, in reverse) travelling in late August from Vancouver to Port Hardy, Port Hardy to Prince Rupert, then VIA to Jasper and then Edmonton. It was 45 years to the week that he did it as a teenager, (not by design, but happenstance).  

Prior to retracing his route decades later, Adam started to get more nostalgic about 1981, where they travelled and why. With 2,000 slides from 1977-87 to go through, they may help him piece the trip back together, but right now it seems like dealing with a jigsaw puzzle. The exact dates and itinerary which he did not keep good records of, but have fairly narrow date parameters based on when the trip started and when Adam left for college.

Adam explains, "One of the real challenges for me in my current situation is trying to understand whether I was riding or just railfanning. I didn’t have a process to tip me off, like taking an interior picture of every train I rode. So my lack of note-taking is really taking a toll. All my transit and commuter photos are while railfanning, but the passenger rail, ugh. But I think on the big 1981 trip I did not do any railfanning outings or days. If I was shooting I was riding."

THE PLATFORM PHOTO

Just look at this photo (above) taken by Adam's dad from aboard the train. It just personifies the word 'Enthusiasm'! Adam's dad met him in Calgary and they rode No 1 westward from there. Believing that he just met his Dad when his Dad boarded the train, Adam doesn't think he disembarked at any time. Why would they have gotten off at Field where there were no services - no rental car, etc, especially since they were not staying at Emerald Lake or in Yoho? If they were driving or busing to Jasper the next day, Banff or Lake Louise would have been the logical stops at which to leave the train, not Field.

Adam realized that this seminal photo posed something of a mystery to him. It is a print, not a slide, and is the only photo he still has taken by his Dad, who died 34 years ago, on this trip. If it was today and he were 18, he knows he’d be taking pictures of himself every 10 minutes -  his Canon FtB was bulkier than a smartphone and not good for selfies.

That trip was really the only lengthy time he'd spent with his dad after Adam finished high school. Staying on the train while Adam got off to railfan and take pictures at that unknown location, Adam was sure the picture taken by his dad on the platform was at Jasper -  until the shadows created doubt and the feedback from the group discussion online convinced him that it wasn't

He had hoped that returning to BC with his friend and travelling up Vancouver Island to Port Hardy and taking the ferry, Skeena, and Super Continental (er, Canadian) to Edmonton, that there would have been some 'aha!' moment of inspiration - because it was 45 years to the week that he did it in the opposite direction. But that didn't happen. Asking the current VIA staff aboard the train about his photos, most of whom wouldn't even remember the train on the CP, didn't help much. 

Since the car in the photo is not a freight car but a CP Service car, it is obviously not on CN which greatly narrows the options and confirmed to Adam that it was not taken while aboard the train to Prince Rupert. Such script-lettered Service cars could be former CP smooth-sided cars, heavyweight coaches or boxcars repurposed into various uses: crew diners, bunk cars, storage cars etc. I'd favour the first two, as there is no access door visible, but some passenger car underframe elements like a water tank and a long span between wheel sets. Where the hands-in-pockets fellow is standing - is that a ladder and door, or is it a car-side consolidated stencil?

Departing Montreal on August 10, based on the VIA public timetable, here's  VIA No 1's schedule:

• Day 1 depart Montreal 2030
• Day 2 Carleton Place-Thunder Bay, ON
• Day 3 ON-SK including Winnipeg servicing stop 0920-1330
• Day 4 Swift Current -through the mountains-Kamloops
• Day 5 arrive Vancouver 0700

Day 4 stops west of Calgary were few, especially ones where passengers could disembark and take platform photos! Field and Lake Louise were both pickup points for Brewster and competing tour bus companies running along the Icefields Parkway to Jasper. In 1981, Day 4 of the schedule of No 1 put Adam's train at Calgary from 0810-1030, Banff 1240-1250, Lake Louise at 1335, and Field at 1455. So there were three main options for that photo's location: 

Banff?  Private-car 'garden tracks' had their own platforms but they were narrow and made of wood. His photo doesn’t show a wooden platform. Unaware of the garden tracks at Banff that had been suggested, Adam thought perhaps Banff was the only option other than Calgary. Banff being a scheduled 10-minute stop makes the possibility of temporarily disembarking more plausible.  I'm looking back at the Banff station from an ex-CN E-series sleeper aboard No 1 in 1980:

Here's a Skyline view of a short work train there in 1986, combined with a vintage view looking toward the station in the other direction, showing the garden tracks occupied at left and a switcher at right:

Lake Louise?  The platform photo cannot be at Lake Louise because yard tracks there were removed before 1981 to allow construction of the second main track on an embankment. The Lake Louise station and new embankment are shown in a screenshot from aboard Rocky Mountaineer dated 2021 in this video, with a Sperry car waiting on the other main track:

Field? Though married at nearby Emerald Lake in 1992, the summer of '81 was Adam's first time in the Canadian West and he is positive he would never have left the train at such an obscure place, so he seriously doubted the photo was shot there. However, there would be a crew change at Field, so there would be ample opportunity for passengers to get some fresh air on the platform. Field station, west of Lake Louise, had two platforms - one on each side of it - and as a division point was a likely place to find ex-passenger cars in maintenance-of-way service. The presence of a CP Service car on the track running behind the station, the unusual paved/stone wide platform between that track and his train, and the reported departure of tour buses from Field to Jasper, all convinced me that his dad took the photo at Field.

Check out two photos that quickly popped up during an online search. The Stan Styles photo looks east in 1984 (above) and 'DM' photo looks west, undated (below) both show boarding car outfits across a wide platform at Field, matching afternoon shadows in Adam's photo. Look sharp and you can see the crack running down the platform visible in his Dad's photo. No 2 is stopped at Field, headlights and ditchlights dimmed for a meet and not on the platform track. Its stop was scheduled for 1645 in the summer of '81; VIA 6569 was released from rebuild from VIA 1425 at the end of December, 1980.

A circa 1962 pre-VIA photo from this previously-published post shows Mount Stephen dominating the yard and station, giving an idea of how many cars would be spotted along that wide platform:

Interestingly, Adam used Google Gemini to input information and receive a Historical Photo Verification Report incorporating astronomical data, track geometry, regional geography to evaluate his photo. If you are a fan of AI's reliability, you'll be pleased to know that in providing a full verification matrix, the AI confirmed with absolute certainty that the photo is at Field, British Columbia.

THE CONSIST

Since I also travelled and railfanned out West that month, I was hopeful that there was a good chance I could provide Adam his consist on No 1. I rode the Canadian later in August, 1981 and core cars in the Canadian's consist routinely stayed mostly together for at least one pair of east-west trips across Canada.  Having said that, there were often minor changes to the consist - a coach or sleeper swapper here or there - but the majority of core cars were the same. My Dad made an intensive investigation into Corridor Canadian consists (though that was post-November, 1981 and into 1982). He was able to document a robust and reproducible rotation: 12 days between a consist's westbound departures out of Montreal. A consist would reach Vancouver, departing there and passing again through Kingston nine days after it had left Montreal. But that was when the Canadian was operating over CN's Corridor Montreal-Toronto before continuing to Vancouver. That rotation would not necessarily hold in August, 1981 when the Canadian was still departing Montreal, staying overwhelmingly on CP rails westward to Sudbury and beyond.

For the August, 1981 time period, I consulted my own consist notes from that month, finding only one east-west paired example I considered reliable. VIA No 1 through Portage on August 26 (core cars Skyline 512 and Butler Manor) returning through Portage eastward on September 4. Using my Dad's rotation, that consist would have been serviced and restocked in Vancouver between its 0700 arrival and its same-day eastward 2145 departure, returning east through Portage as No 2 four days later, not nine. That means my August 26 example spent six days in Vancouver. Was this a representative example, or a one-off? Forty-five years later, it's hard to know!

Based on that timing, however, Adam's consist that departed Montreal on August 10, reached Winnipeg on August 12 thence Vancouver on August 14 before departing Vancouver late on August 20 and again reaching Winnipeg eastward on August 22. The same day, unfortunately for this investigation, was the day I left Toronto for Winnipeg on VIA No 3, so I would not be trackside on the appropriate day to see his consist through Portage. Not knowing the turnaround dwell times in Toronto or Montreal, I can't predict when that same consist would return west when I was trackside in Portage.

The good news is that I have several west-of-Winnipeg (where the sleeper swap took place) consists that would be representative of Adam's consist. A new set of CP units was always swapped at Calgary for the trip through the mountains, but the passenger consist remained the same from Winnipeg through to Vancouver:

Visible in Adam's photo are:

• ex-CP F-unit
• two CP passenger Geeps
• ex-CP baggage
• crew sleeper still in CN colours
• two ex-CP coaches
• ex-CN 3200-series snack bar-coach
• ex-CP Skyline

Following would have been:

• two ex-CP Manor sleepers
• two ex-CN Dayniters
• ex-CP diner
• three ex-CN E-series sleepers
• ex-CP Park car

LOCATION OF THE CURVE PHOTO

Following the line via satellite imagery, there appear to be only two left-hand curves adjacent to the Bow River west of Banff. At Massive, between the river and a large curved gravelly cutting:

And the world-famous Morant's Curve a few miles to the west at Mi 113 CP Laggan Sub. (Photo above - looking the opposite direction aboard Rocky Mountaineer dated 2021 in this video looking back at Morant's Curve. Screenshot - Life of a Train Driver):

I checked my three trip accounts riding west on VIA No 1 on CP rails [obligatory statement of regret here as to why this route is now the sole province of willing-to-pay Rocky Mountaineer passengers]:

• October, 1980 - in left-side vestibule perhaps continuously from Exshaw to the Spiral Tunnels.
• September, 1985 - in the Skyline on a snowy/rainy afternoon from Banff to the Spiral Tunnels.
• May, 1986 - in the vestibule from Exshaw again to the Spiral Tunnels.

My 1980 curve photo (above) shows no cut at right. Could this be Morant's Curve? The mountain profile (below) suggests 'maybe'. Understandably, despite searching cab ride/vestibule videos on YouTube, it's virtually impossible to reproduce this track-level view today, the closest approximation location being Morant's Curve viewpoint on the Bow Valley Parkway, sans train in June, 2019:

Here's a comparison of my 1986 curve photo which seems to match the background in Adam's, including the yellow-circled mountain crag and trees at right. Without doing a rock-by-rock, tree-by-tree analysis, I believe this curve is the one near Massive, backed by the gravelly cutting visible in my photo, and hey, the trees along the river do match, just five years' taller in my photo. So, not Morant's Curve:

Perhaps imprecisely, my notes say "Train on curve near Mi. 108"

Regardless, by the equipment and topography, I can conclusively confirm that Adam was riding the Canadian over CP rails - before he began the Jasper-Prince Rupert leg of his journey.

UPDATES AND UPCOMING

After all the sleuthing, there are certain things that only Adam can further elucidate: where he disembarked from the Canadian, and how he and his father travelled to Jasper. It seems we have been able to allay some of his lack of clarity about this segment of his extensive trip. Now Adam is exploring his slides and will likely come up with some key details that help him recreate his itinerary in detail. I'm in favour of consulting enthusiasts online and answering initial questions, but those answers are being superseded by what he finds in those slides, I intend to preserve preliminary and presumptive posits in this post, as a way of documenting our research and 'showing our work', just like in math class. I will share updates here, hoping that Adam and I can collaborate on a follow-on post.

UPDATE: Between completing the draft of this post and the publication date, Adam answered the slides' siren-song and waded into the boxes of slides from his 1981 trip. He's planning a slide-scanning marathon. There are slides showing that he and his dad continued on to Vancouver, not disembarking before that. So our discussion about Banff, Lake Louise or Field as a disembarkation station is now moot. He reports, "...have started the slide box exploration….last night’s box, labeled Winnipeg-Calgary, revealed photos of a lot of cars at station and yard in Winnipeg. If I could get better magnification there are numbers and names. Also prior I got a cab ride in an F! ...and then pix from in Calgary, from the tower and streetside."

Here are three photos from my 2019 visit to Field. No life in that old station whatsoever, with the entire dead end property posted 'No Trespassing' by CP. Overlook northwest from the townsite:

Looking southwest down the mainline.

COINCIDENCE AND CONCLUSION 

There are so many coincidences that really got me interested in this intensive investigation. I'm nearly the same age as Adam, I was also travelling solo across Western Canada that summer, just a couple of weeks after Adam's Dad took the photo from aboard the train. Also, like Adam I retraced my 1980s VIA routes years later, in our case in 2019. On that trip, a young fellow about Adam's age, also a railfan photographer, was travelling west with his parents as a graduation gift. Toting a Canadian Trackside Guide, the young Illinois lad named Eric on a gifted grad trip. We also met Tim and Liz on our way back east on the Canadian who happened to be from...Minneapolis! Adam is now editor of Twin Cities Business magazine (not to be coincidentally confused with Another Adam Platt - the New York magazine restaurant critic and 'glutton-in-residence).

I'll close this post with this appraisal by Adam about looking back as a young solo traveller. (I, too, made my first solo trip on the Canadian in 1980 at the tender age of 16):

"One thing I realized is once I turned 16 I was on the move. It was a simpler time, but also a harder time to travel. I didn’t have a credit card, no cell phone, etc. I’m barely old enough to drive, and yet I’m all over the damn continent. Multiple trips in these slide boxes that I have no memory of..."

Running extra...

Faithful Trackside Treasure reader Mark Hudson sent me some VIA Venture photos taken June 24, 2026. In the area to visit some of his wife's family, Mark normally photographs Nos 71 and 72 at Glencoe, ON, where they have a scheduled meet.  "We took a wrong turn and ended up in Bothwell.  It all worked out.  We made the short jaunt to Glencoe, after taking pictures, to enjoy some refreshments at the trackside Timmies! The first shows Sarnia-Toronto No 84, speeding through Watford, ON, at 0910."

"The second is Toronto-Windsor No 72 at a crossing in Bothwell, ON, at 0958 (above) the last, No 71 moving quickly at Bothwell on its trek to Windsor (below).  Mark adds, "Relaxing at Lake Huron is great but the itch to see VIA, CN, and possibly CP trains gets me out one morning during our week long stay.  By the way, a wooden CN caboose and the depot (beautiful) are on display at Glencoe." Thank you, Mark!

Some YouTube finds:

• This is just fun to watch. America does it bigger and better. I didn't count. Are there actually 250 locomotives? 
• Also fun to watch. It's not relaxing in the Park car with a beer, but it is a very scenic trip through Northern Ontario nonetheless. Sadly, 30 minutes of fire-ravaged forest from recent wildfires.
• Autumn 2025 at Morningstar Road action, though the last minute zoom-outs are a little jarring at times.

First past the post...

The coffee-table book Between Friends/Entre Amis was Canada’s official gift to the United States on the occasion of its bicentennial in 1976. This treatise discusses the tome's historical impact, ending with "As polarization reshapes North American politics, the question is not whether Canada and the United States remain 'between friends'. It is whether they are prepared to practice the kind of friendship that democracy requires: honest, resilient, and capable of self-reflection."

We are fortunate that 80% of Canadians support our Prime Minister Mark Carney, and that he is not responding rashly to midnight memes while our country which sits serenely atop our neighbour to the south - the neighbour I cannot Gander as I gooseneck from our Lake Ontario shore, save the steam escaping from the Oswego nuclear plant - if the wind is just right. 

We have to believe the winds will shift amicably.

Bonus quasi-political image: Hopelessly underexposed on the GoC webpage; I did my best:

Oh, and guess the location!?

50 YEARS TRACKSIDE...2010-15 BOOKS AND BUSINESS CLASS

Welcome aboard this year-long retrospective series celebrating my Fifty Years Trackside - watching trains and taking numbers. This is the Eighth of a year-long series celebrating those five decades - each month's post is a time capsule; a five-year slice of those fifty years. In the previous post, we continued into the second half of the new millennium's first decade. This month, it's the third-last post in the series. A Ren(aissance) consist behind VIA 907 westbound at Shannonville on August 15, 2011 showing third track roadbed at right (top photo).

June 15, 2010 found me boarding VIA No 47 and the start of two journeys...the first was a finite one to Toronto, the second was a professional journey into laboratory quality assurance at the provincial level. The first journey was easy to begin - just buy a ticket and get on; the second required a bout with imposter syndrome - was I really able to fulfil the requirements as a member of the Ontario Quality Management Program - Laboratory Services? (QMP-LS, later rebranded Institute for Quality Management in Healthcare - IQMH).

The route to Toronto? Totally known. The second I took was more circuitous. Normally a slide survey assessor joined the Anatomic Pathology Committee whose role it is to review slide survey assessment results. I had no experience yet with assessing, but my Quality Management training and sincere interest led me to  a posted vacancy on the committee. Not only that, my involvement would last six years beyond the usual three-year mandate - nine in total - to retirement and beyond!

So on that auspicious June 15, I observed P42-hauled LRC train Nos 64, 46 and 65 in the hour prior to boarding my No 47 at Kingston behind hard-luck unit 911 and taking window seat 12A in VIA1 car 3470. Trips to regular committee meetings, and later to slide assessments as well, were reimbursed. Not only that - since half of the committee membership were pathologists (doctors) they did not travel in Economy! Watch for an upcoming post on my 'club car' trips: dates, train numbers and car numbers. So far, I'm up to about 25 trips and counting.

The usual panoply of CN Kingston Sub sights and sites revealed themselves on each trip: Millhaven, Belleville, Cobourg, Bowmanville, Whitby, Oshawa, Mi 319 industries, and Union Station. At Mile 270 near Port Hope, there was an original three-sided concrete mile marker with the modern motel replacement on a steel T-rail banded to it. Returning the next day on No 68, I was in north side window seat 5D of HEP2 VIA1 car 4006. We met Renaissance-equipped No 67 near Trenton Junction.

Same-day trips meant a morning arrival at Toronto Union and the VIA/Amtrak Maple Leaf on the track ahead of us under the train shed. If we were on time, and I was lucky, I could hustle ahead to catch its departure on video.

The following month, CN intermodal No 107 was led by GP-9's CN 4139-4018. The trains' previous leader, 5791 was offline as it passed me at 1025, and it was more train than 2619 could handle, it seemed. Now, where was my camera? Erika was the photographer, and I was the glassy-eyed (!) driver when two other Geeps, CN 4131-4132 led a 12-car No 590 west at Vista Drive/Bath Road:

On August 25, 2010 Karen and I retraced my steps to some notable trainwatching locations east of Napanee - ones that my brother and I had rail fanned in the late-seventies  such as McIntyre Road and Big Creek Road. A September 18 visit to Belleville revealed new trackage at the VIA station that allowed freight and passenger operations to be disentangled - one track at station, three tracks in yard. CN 8877 at west end of yard with westbound VIA train:

A September 30 stop at Kingston's VIA station revealed a seldom photographed (by me) Renaissance consist: 919-7005-7221-7305-7113-7211-7104-7106, and westbound No 53 at 0909:

October 11, 2010 we were in Washago to see ONR 1809-204B-604-601-609-700 and on October 30, some intriguing well cars for Saudi Arabia. There was also a trip to Belleville on March 12, 2011. On March 19, 2011 after the Kingston train show I came across Work 6020, a rail train lifting the former Queens track 1. I noticed that CNWX cylindrical grain cars were having the 'WX' of their reporting marks painted out. My Canada will always include WX, from my early Western trainwatching days and the use of 'WX' to donate dedicated grain fleets.

My first book on VIA Rail was another journey I embarked on in these five years. On Wed, Nov 7, 2007 at 1:29 PM, I had received this eminent email from uberVIAphile Jakob Mueller...

"I am researching VIA Rail equipment in the early transition period, and I'm especially interested in the paint scheme progression of the passenger cars. I'd be interested to see any VIA consist you have from about 1979 to 1983 that records paint scheme information. I certainly don't want to burden you with what I expect would be a lot of transcribing or typing - if you're willing, though, I would be interested in purchasing photocopies of your consist info."

Thus began a three-year exchange of emails between us dealing with CN/CP-->VIA paint transition data. The benefit that I brought was that I'd 'been there' and taken notes. On note pads that filled a shoebox and therefore precluded photocopying! Jakob brought a more analytical mind than mine - one that could fact-check and reconcile data. It took until October 3, 2010 before I launched a 'New VIA Rail Book' blog and finally created the first draft page of consists for my first book. That blog would stay live until 2019 and include four 'new' books on VIA Rail during its lifespan in cyberspace!

In the book, along with Jakob's data was my time trackside with VIA and that meant 2,700+ consists from the first 35 of these 50 years trackside. On May 20, 2011 I received two boxes of printed books, personally delivered by my ever-affable and talented graphic designer Bryan Babcock. Who'd have ever thought those days three decades prior, shivering and taking pencil and paper notes at the sports field would have led to this publishing promontory?

We had been on a weekend trip to Syracuse and as we came back within cellphone range atop the Ivy Lea bridge, the phone began pinging with incoming book orders. Canada Post had different ideas - a mail disruption resulted in two boxes of books packaged for delivery but with nowhere to go. Regardless, it was a very exciting time.

Within days, I made book deliveries to other uberVIAphiles passing through Kingston aboard VIA. Jason Shron on No 61 on May 26 with Andrew along to preserve the moment photographically. VIA locomotive engineer Jordan MacCallum was actually operating VIA No 57 when I made his delivery, as was Terry Brennan on VIA No 55 in September. The day before Jordan's delivery, it was Matt Soknacki on June 10's LRC/Ren No 56/54: 6439-3454-3356-3358-3301-913-7002-7218-7307-7103-7205-7206-7225.

On August 6, I was recording consists onboard VIA to Toronto and back. Karen, Erika and I headed there on No 655, visiting Toronto Island and returning on No 648. On September 2, it was onboard to Ottawa with Karen and Erika, on No 44 returning on No 59 - Ren interior of VIA 7206 (below). On September 25, it was trackside on CN's York Subduing a book signing at George's Trains.

On October 12, 2011 I was Kingston platform railfanning with Adam Walker, a fellow blogger, of the Walker Express blog who was on a road trip through Kingston. Nos 46 Eng 905 and 65 Engs 6415-901 are meeting at the station:

March 18, 2012 a drive-by shot of OBRY 1000 used to switch the former CN Millhaven Spur. The unit is stabled along Taylor-Kidd Boulevard. Out of service by 2015, replaced by SW1200RSm 1004 (ex-CP 8118).

Stopping in Staunton, VA overnight on a trip to Myrtle Beach in May, 2012 we had dinner in the restored station and of course then, mid-meal, a long coal train went through. Exploring the curved platform before and after dinner, there were no trains to be seen. Two cabooses and a former work boxcar were stuffed and mounted nearby:

June 16, 2012 found me atop a berm in Shannonville to see CN Nos 369 and 149. On June 27, 2012 private car Pacific made the first of several trips through Kingston and Eastern Canada to raise awareness and funds for research into dementia using a unique promotional 'vehicle' on VIA No 48 To see a car that used to transport the King and Queen coupled to an LRC consist was mind-bending. On another stop to see Pacific pass through, VIA No 66 Eng 903 departs over the Counter Street crossing:

Early on July 16, 2012 I had time before work to catch the domed Skrillex tour train at the VIA station at 0650. Then on November 22, 2012 we Black Friday'd in Syracuse. "Take all the Time you need, honey! I'll be trackside with CSX and Amtrak at DeWitt." I watched the double stacks roll, in this case in Burlington Northern green:

A frigid day in January 28, 2013 hosted a warm meeting with fellow VIA author Chris Greenlaw inside the Kingston VIA station. We made another trip to Myrtle Beach in May, 2013 including a stop trackside in Selma, North Carolina. A trip down the Seaway to talk about my books with the Seaway Valley Model Railroaders on June 15, 2013 took me to Prescott and got me an in to the homey Macintosh Country Inn in Morrisburg.

I observed the first refurbished Business Class car with 'swoosh' scheme - VIA 3475 on No 56/54 interestingly bustituted, deadheading east from June 7, 2013 Newtonville Mudslide. I caught up with the car on August 29 in Brockville. (VIA had rebranded its 'VIA1' logo and service for the first time since the 1980s. As of 2011, VIA1 because 'Business Class'.)

On Monday, August 26, 2013 I spent a good old-fashioned 'evening at the station' from 1630-2100. Like so many spent with David and/or my Dad back in the 1970s early in the VIA era there were plethoric passenger trains on the platform: VIA Nos 644, 657, 64, 46, 65, non-stop 656, non-stop 59, non-stop 67 and 66, No 650, No 659 as well as two CN freights. The evening ended shadowing 650's equipment to Rigney Street in the shadows, where it turned on the Queens wye to become Tuesday's No 651: 907-4003-4109-4110-4118. 

Some feedback received on my first book indicated there was interest in consists from further across Canada. Who was I to say 'no'? I began work on my second book on VIA Rail in February-March, 2012. which outgrew my self-imposed 500-gram limit for mailing and became two books, released that October!

Retail therapy! A Black Friday trip to Syracuse on Nov 29-30, 2013 netted 16 CSX and three Amtrak trains, before we again made it to Myrtle Beach from April 26-May 10, 2014 including NS trains in Selma, NC along the Interstate. May 26, 2014 a 'stat' run to the store for chips found me at a break apart along Golden Mile Road. LMIX flat cars...

On May 30 I was all lined up to snap an ex-BN Oakway with CN 5427-8923 on No 377 (above), its CTCX oil empties heading west. I was borrowing Andrew's camera and the auto-focus did not co-operate. It was time for my own new (and first digital) camera - Nikon 9700-S from Best Buy with 30X zoom! The above are the very last photos taken with Andrew's D-SLR.

Unit oil trains were starting to operate from the US into Canada with run-through power:

• April 4, 2014: 2280-5480-5466 VMSX TA
• June 10, 2014: 2296-BNSF Grinstein 8798-CP 8739 CTCX TA 
• July 6, 2014: No 720 CN 2690-NS 8346-BNSF 4985 CTCX TA
• Aug 8, 2014: No 710 CN 2565-NS 6644-BNSF 5837
• Aug 14, 2014: No 711 CN 2276-8911

A QMP-LS meeting trip on July 10, 2014 started ominously. CN No 310 had derailed at Brockville at 0410, resulting in VIA trains cancelled and bustituted between Ottawa-Toronto and Montreal-Toronto, except for my little 651 which had spent the night in Kingston, therefore west of the derailment. Upon arrival at Toronto Union, I hurriedly rebooked my ticket to No 650, which would definitely be returning to Kingston, instead of No 48. Another derailment at Cliffe Road, Mi 155 affected VIA trains, with J-trains and even a triple-J resulting. The consists of Nos 42, 64, 44 deadheaded west to Toronto as No 669B at 2000 on August 1, and J-trains were still operating until the afternoon of August 2.

Only two freight trains were moving during our Black Friday in Syracuse trip to November 28, 2014 though there were three Amtrak!

Occasionally I would catch No 518 switching the Invista plant on Front Road but since our nephew was staying with us, he and I followed 4116-4121 south from Bath Road to the plant as they did their switching under the watchful gaze of Santa Claus on December 22, 2014.

An annual spring morning trip trackside took me to Napanee on May 23, 2015 netting five freights and three VIA trains.

The creation of my books led to various speaking engagements that were always fun. Driving to OVAR in Ottawa on June 9, 2014 we photographed a CP work train at Perth, and there was another enjoyable OVAR visit in June, 2015 to present 'Kingston Platform Scenes'.

It was still cold in Algonquin Park when Karen headed there with six family members on June 12, 2015. I headed instead to the station, catching 13 VIA and 2 CN trains. The next day I raced the rising sun to Cobourg on a sunny, warm day as far west as Cobourg, back home via Brighton, Trenton and Morningstar Road. It was as if I could feel my Dad's presence there between CN and CP mainlines, where we'd shared many times trackside. My son kindly called to ask me to dinner at their place on my way back to Kingston. His wedding to Caitie would take place there the following August.

These were tumultuous times. With the death of my Dad very early in 2014, my Mom who had faithfully and to me, somewhat-surprisingly and devotedly visited him EVERY DAY at Providence Manor, also began to show effects of dementia. It was slightly past time for her move to Conservatory Pond in December, 2014 followed by a move to Arbour Heights long-term care home in December, 2016. Between helping facilitate his care at home, moving him to long-term care then making my Mom's two moves, I had come to learn a lot about helping aging parents, and that it's not easy "raising parents". I tried my best to honour them. One of the lowest experiences was to proudly show my Dad the first copy of my first book, and for him to absent-mindedly flip a couple of page corners as if it were an old newspaper mildly of interest to him. I know that just a few years before, he would have taken hours to examine EVERY page and likely have returned to me a precisely-worded written review. He know so many facts, railway and otherwise - try to imagine watching them slowly trickle out from his reservoir of memory. At least both he and my Mom always know who I was.  A high moment came when the Invista-bound wayfreight would pass the window where she and I were chatting, and she would roll her eyes in feigned boredom when I purposely let my focus switch from her face to the passing train. We would both laugh. Our view through the window while visiting on October 5, 2019:

Skrillex, about whom I still knew nothing, started a second cross-Canada tour by train in July, 2015. His chartered consist tailed VIA No 61 on July 11 - a mini-streamliner! 

On October 10, I headed to the station upon a Michael Berry OS on Skyline 8501 trailing No 47, after deadheading on No 633 Montreal-Ottawa. The car was designated to delight its its denizens the next day as they travelled to Exporail for the launch of Rapido Trains' Icons of Canadian Steam. Karen and Erika were good sports and even better videographers as they volunteered to go out that Sunday, October 11 (YouTube link here) while I was busy organ-izing, though I was able to catch the group's return passage to Toronto the next evening. Shronians! Andrew Jeanes kindly shared a photo of me in front of our Hyundai, taking a photo of them. Trackside on the dark side:

The ascent of Jason's company to the pinnacle of the pantheon of Canadian model railway manufacturers - his interests mirrored mine, though me missed most of VIA's early years being born about 10 years after me. To this day, I enjoy pillorying and praising his legion efforts with equal verve. 

On November 4, our QMP-LS slide assessment finished in time for me to catch rush-hour GO action from the CN Tower Skywalk - 19 movements in 30 minutes. A few days earlier, an early-concluding committee meeting left me time to be an 'Avioner' taking advantage of the meeter-and-greeter Union Pearson Express half-fare to Pearson. The only part of my taking flight was my imagination, however. Typical views from the CN Tower Skywalk - September 29, 2013 departures of VIA No 87 Eng 6411 with LRC cars, and HEP-equipped No 75:

As 2016 dawned, VIA was reconfiguring all its coach seating to inward-facing, just as the LRCs had been delivered. Believing that the best data is that that you gather yourself, I started noting cars while trackside that I could see already had their interiors reconfigured - just as I had recorded the dates I'd observed refurbished Business Class LRC cars, refurbished LRC coaches, and rebuilt F40s.

On January 22, 2016 I was returning from a QMP-LS committee meeting and paid little attention to my seat mate in aisle Seat 9B of Business Class car 4009. After all, he was on his phone almost constantly. About Cobourg, I realized I was sitting next to Gary, brother of Greg who was a school classmate. It became an 'old home week' trip the rest of the way to Kingston. Gary would later leave us way too soon.

Thanks for being aboard this year-long train of thought as we retrace, remember, and yes, wallow in nostalgia these fifty years trackside. Watch for an upcoming [second-last!] Part 9 covering 2016-2020.

Running extra...

Watching the Jays, the colour man often comments that 'the ball Karen'd off towards left field' and I kept thinking - he means 'careened'. Don't Karens have it hard enough in today's world? Turns out it's a noun and a verb as in, "The ball caromed off Straw’s glove and went over the fence for a home run." I guess I was the one out in left field on that one!

Outstanding in its field of marine transportation is this YouTube video taken onboard the Algoma Buffalo as the laker navigates two of the Seaway's most impressive things to navigate: the Welland Canal and the Cuyahoga River snaking its way into Cleveland. The only thing slower than trainwatching is ship watching and thankfully this YouTuber made extensive use of time-lapse!

Tata For Now! The Train Station in in Tatamagouche, NS is for sale for a cool $1.2 million. All the memorabilia on the walls is probably the majority of that price. And I thought my walls were plastered! Wow!

First past the post...

Watch for an upcoming post on an August, 1981 trip by Minneapolis' Adam Platt. Young Adam made an epic trip around America by plane and train, including VIA's Canadian Montreal-Vancouver on CP rails then Jasper-Prince Rupert on CN rails. Being able to assist Adam in retracing his steps and find some missing information has been rewarding, allowing both of us to wallow in nostalgia since I coincidentally also travelled west that month - west aboard the Super Continental and east on the Canadian.

ALSTOM SELECTED AS BUILDER OF VIA's NEW LDRR FLEET

Today in Thunder Bay, Prime Minister Mark Carney, with Transport Minister Steven MacKinnon at his side, just announced the single-largest procurement in VIA Rail history  - the Long Distance, Regional and Remote (LDRR) fleet, surrounded by GO Transit cars as he glad-hands the plant staff:

At the Can-Car (Canadian Car & Foundry) plant, the Prime Minister hearkened back to the plant's production of over 1,400 Hawker Hurricanes under licence during WWII, with one preserved in Virginia Beach, VA. He also wove in Canada's railway history and its current long-distance trains, the Canadian and the Ocean, while waxing poetic about a young Canadian someday riding the Canadian, made in Canada. The iconic Toronto-Vancouver Canadian, covering 4,000 km currently served by cars that have already covered 150,000,000 km. 

Linking 165 First Nation communities the fleet will serve remote areas in which alternative transportation options are limited while it connects eight major routes across Canada, Montréal, Halifax, Gaspé, Jonquière, Senneterre, Toronto, Vancouver, Churchill, Prince Rupert, Jasper, Sudbury and White River.  The announcement includes a 15-year Technical Support and Spare Parts Supply Agreement (TSSSA) valued at nearly $700 million, with the overall agreement representing a total value of $4.7 billion.

The $4.7-billion deal with Alstom to manufacture and maintain 313 new passenger rail cars for VIA Rail. The cars' structures will be designed and engineered at the firm's engineering centre in Saint-Bruno-de-Montarville, QC, where there are 1,000 engineers and rail professionals, built in La Pocatière, QC (above), then moved for final assembly, fitting, testing and commissioning in Thunder Bay (below) using components built by Alstom or procured from 900 Canadian and international suppliers. Alstom will spend $38 million [good eye, Dan!] to upgrade and modernize the Thunder Bay facility. The announcement marks the first such construction of VIA equipment in Canada since the LRC and F40's in the 1980's, and the plant's largest contract in 10 years.

The LDRR project is expected to support 4,850 person-years of employment, including approximately 615 full-time equivalent jobs annually over four to eight years for design; and for manufacturing and delivery 55 jobs annually over 15 years for technical support, spare parts and maintenance services. Michael Keroullé, French-born CEO of Alstom Americas also spoke, noting that the plant had also been selected to produce new TTC subway cars in February. The CEO noted in a Bloomberg interview that the cars and components will be tested and expected to operate between -50C and +40C.

Carney was asked about whether VIA Rail service would return to Thunder Bay, which he deferred to VIA's Interim CEO Matthieu Paquette, who said VIA now has more options and that VIA is looking at adding more services and connecting more Canadians. “These new rail cars will retain signature features such as dome cars, full-service dining and social areas, while incorporating modern amenities, improved accessibility, and greater reliability. They will help us preserve essential services to remote communities and elevate the unique onboard experience that allows passengers to discover Canada in a way that only train travel can offer. We are very proud to partner with Alstom to create lasting value for Canadians by having these new cars designed, engineered and manufactured in Canada. More comfortable, more spacious and better-connected railway cars."

Replacing 77-year-old cars with a modern fleet will set new standards for passenger comfort, universal accessibility, digital connectivity and sustainability for passengers travelling across the country’s long-distance, regional and remote routes. Technical specifications require that at least 90% of the cars’ materials are recoverable at the end of their useful life. The design will also incorporate energy-efficient lighting, improved insulation, automatic climate-control systems, optimized vehicle weight, more efficient water use and onboard facilities supporting waste sorting, recycling and organics collection. The life expectancy of the fleet will be at least 40 years, perhaps longer with a mid-life extension.

The first car will enter service in 2031, the rest by 2035 as previously predicted. The RFQ was announced in December, 2024 and is coupled to the VIA locomotive announcement made just over four weeks ago. More energy efficient for Canada's weather with safe, depandable service with accessibility. Sleepers, full-service dining, panoramic views (not using the word 'domes' at this point). The cars will be introduced progressively, allowing them to operate alongside Legacy equipment during the transition. This phased approach will support a smooth rollout and maintain passenger service as the existing fleet is gradually replaced.

To be called the Alstom Adessia (previously X'Trapolis), the Alstom press kit included eight images labelled Advanced & Creative Design included in this post (for illustrative purposes only per the fine print). The cars will retain the iconic look and feel that people love and cherish while integrating the world class experience that travellers today expect. Transport Canada breaks down the fleet (below), anticipating VIA awarding the contract for the locomotive procurement in Q1 2026 and the contract for the fleet procurement in Q2 2026. [Almost on schedule, just like VIA!]

At a cost of $12-15 million per car, the new Adessia fleet will be available in nine different car configurations to support the diverse needs of long-distance, regional and remote travel, including coach, sleeper, accessible, berth, Prestige, Panorama, dome, dining and baggage cars. Passengers will benefit from brighter and more spacious interiors and full connectivity. The fleet will also incorporate the latest cybersecurity protections to support safe and reliable operations. Alstom describes the two most revolutionary cars thus:

The Panorama Car is an accessible passenger vehicle equipped with multiple functional areas, including lounging and dining spaces. The car incorporates a common wheelchair-accessible washroom and panoramic glazing to maximize passenger comfort and scenic visibility.

The Dome Car is a partially accessible multi-level passenger vehicle comprising a lounge area, a food and beverage service zone, and a standing social space optimized for sightseeing. The car also features a dedicated dome viewing area on the upper level, providing passengers with elevated panoramic visibility.

Dining car (above), lounge car (below):

In the Prestige bedroom, the screen says bilingually, Welcome Aboard:

The route map at the vestibule shows Western Canada:

The modern rail cars for VIA Rail are part of Alstom’s diverse range of Adessia commuter rail solutions which are among the most sustainable ways to connect people in cities, surrounding suburbs and remote communities. (The Adessia portfolio includes a wide range of high-floor multiple units and coaches, available in both single- and double-deck configurations and designed to operate in all climatic conditions at speeds of 120-200 km/h on both electrified and non-electrified networks.) As the leading manufacturer of commuter trains, with more than 60 years of experience, Alstom remains committed to further enhancing sustainable operations and passenger experience. With more than 48,000 rail cars sold for over 60 commuter systems in nearly 20 countries across Europe, Asia, Africa, the Americas and Australia, Adessia commuter trains deliver comfortable, safe and reliable journeys to more than 20 million passengers every day.

Compare the above renderings to those released by VIA in December, 2024 for diner and panorama cars. Each one soars upwards like a cathedral! Skylights have made it into the Alstom renderings, though!

Passenger rail expert Mark Charlebois correctly had Alstom high on his list when he made his predictions about the fleet announcement in this June post:

Alstom — X'Trapolis (Tren Maya) - highly customizable commuter shell, wheelchair friendly, diner, cafe lounge, coach, sleepers with rooms. Negatives: no domes, hot climate, not individually coupled, no baggage car, short haul overnight service plan.

I'm going to refrain from a now-and-then comparison, comparing the number of each type of car ordered versus the current VIA LDRR fleet. Why? Reports vary on the actual in-service size of VIA's fleet. Some are using AI and getting wildly-varying answers from 200 to 600. Also, we have lost frequencies and entire lines like Vancouver Island and Gaspé, patched together Ocean consists, kept the Sudbury Budds on life support, and reduced Northern Quebec and Prince Rupert consists to bare-bones two cars each. To my mind, the current fleet is deficient and the service levels are unreasonably low. It's also difficult to compare car types and seat counts to the 1950s designs. So I'll leave that comparison to the pundits. Let's start with a clean slate. I trust VIA staff building the order and government bean-counters have already designed the new LDRR fleet as best they can, to fulfil customer, political and regulatory demands. It appears the fleet size may be 20-30% larger than the current VIA LDRR fleet.

Of course, as they always do, the media is fighting the last stock video footage battle. The news story shows the new trains? No, it shows the old equipment the new trains are replacing. This does not inform the public unless they say that the stock footage shows the old equipment. Or worse...CN freights? The O-train? Really?

But a Liberal MP?

Alstom's Instagram account has some truly freakish images. Pardon my 'play' arrows:

Baggage car not quite ready for prime time:

I like the skylights. Lets in as much light as a Subaru sunroof!

Looks like a chair lift/accessible dome:

Skylights:

Bar car:

Wider video views are a little better:

Interesting dome closeup:

Meanwhile, life goes on in the comments section, where folks ask about the high cost of taking VIA, why hasn't CN been renationalized, and the colour of the carpeting in the initial renderings! Oh, and will they have wi-fi?