VIA's HEP Baggage Cars, Part 2

In Part 1, we looked at the use of non-HEP ex-CP baggage cars with LRC equipment in Corridor service in 1991-1992. An LRC-equipped train with the baggage car behind the locomotive streaks over the Napanee River bridge in August 1991 (above). These baggage cars were released from their HEP conversions as follows: 612 on July 7, 1993 (see below); 613 on June 9, 1993; and 615 on September 24, 1993. As part of the HEP1 program, all VIA's baggages received a solid blue letterboard above the windows with an "8" added to their number, joining the 8600-series. (HEP2 Corridor coaches and club cars received a blue/yellow letterboard and were numbered in the 4000 and 4100-series respectively.)

In the late 1980's, VIA acquired one dome-observation (built for D&RGW), four baggage cars (built for RI and CB&Q) and seven dome coaches (built for CB&Q, D&RGW, SP&S and WP), some languishing at Ottawa Union Station. Intended as part of the HEP1 rebuilding program at CN's Pointe St Charles facility, the January 1990 cuts made these cars unnecessary, and they were sold or stored. However, six ex-UP baggages that had been acquired by VIA in 1991 were converted to HEP.

These cars, the last ones built for 'Uncle Pete' in 1963 by Budd, were acquired along with 18 ex-US railroad coaches, tendered for rebuilding by Septa Rail in Montreal for long-distance service, with the first cars released to VIA in September 1992. Upon Septa's bankruptcy on March 16, 1993, AMF at PSC completed the cars, the last by June 1994. The cars' Railway Post Office section's interior partitions were removed, with the windows plated over.

Here are the cars' VIA numbers, (UP numbers), date accepted by VIA, and date of my first observation of each:

8618 (5907) February 26/93, April 6/93:

8619 (5909) May 31/93, October 15/93

8620 (5910) October 23/92, January 24/94. Here's 8620 on the Ocean at Montreal's Central Station, behind 6435-6436 on August 22, 1996:

8621 (5906) March 11/93, March 14/93 (On VIA No 64, behind 6429 and 7 LRC cars, soon after being released!)

then again on No 64 on April 24, 1993 two photos (below):

8622 (5903) December 16/92, May 14/93

8623 (5905) December 8/92, December 17/93

By very late 1992 and early 1993, the ex-UP baggage cars became a fixture in the Corridor, as well as eastern Canada and occasionally western Canada. They remain in service today; 8618 'waves the flag' on No 55 at Kingston on September 2, 2011:

The HEP'd 612 still operates in the Corridor as 8612, shown here on No 60 also on September 2, 2011. ATV+baggage cart span the decades of baggage-handling!

Running extra...

Randy O'Brien sent along some photos of an interesting way of modelling the Prairies. If you don't have a lot of real estate for full-size grain elevators, or they're not right for your modern era, consider a grain elevator memorial park. Garden railway-size models of a town's former prairie giants, appropriately painted and lettered, placed in the town park. Here's Yellow Grass, Saskatchewan's memorial:

Did you notice the newest United Grain Growers (Agricore United) elevator at the top right corner of Randy's photo? It's the only elevator still extant in Yellow Grass, and is an example of UGG's last pre-concrete wooden elevator design. Here's Yellow Grass' elevator row as I photographed it in 1985, with the new UGG elevator at far right:

Go railfanning with Michael Hammond in his most recent post to his fine blog The Beachburg Sub. One never knows what's lurking in the weeds...

Bust a move with NBC Nightly News' Brian Williams! And I thought I had too much time on my hands :)