VIA Toronto to Halifax? - December, 1979

On the prolific Railpictures.ca website, I recently viewed this interesting Steve Danko photo. In his caption information, Steve mentioned VIA's willingness to experiment with its services, based on anticipated demand, in its early years. 

THE TRAIN IN THE PICTURE

The photo (link and thumbnail above) shows VIA 6539 (recently purchased from Ontario Southland Rly. by the VIA Historical Association) departing Toronto eastward with an eclectic consist around noon on Saturday, December 22, 1979. Steve describes the consist: 

• GMD FP9A 6539
• GMD F9B 66xx 
• NSC-built baggage 96xx CN livery 
• Pullman 1941-built ONR Polar Bear Express coach 836 (ex N&W 1733)
• CC&F coach 5200-series in CN livery 
• CC&F 1930-built heavyweight 577 club lounge buffet car Lake Couchiching
• two Budd-built 100-series coaches in CP Rail livery, vestibules forward 
• CC&F-built 5500 series coach 
• one sleeping car in CN livery.

Well, it turns out I'd seen this consist in Kingston, four days later than the caption on Steve's photo. His photo would lead me to another of the plethora of intriguing VIA historical mysteries I get drawn to like a tractor-beam in Star Wars. For example, the Sceneramics' tiny lettering and reversing the Skylines.

My notes from that Wednesday - at the train tracks near our home from 1530-1615 with my Dad on a snowless afternoon. Did we know something cool was about to appear? I snapped a photo of the unexpected CP coaches also pictured in Steve's consist (below) unfortunately moving much faster through Kingston so I was only able to write down the highlights:

VIA SERVICE IN THE MARITIMES - REVISED!

October 28, 1979 saw major changes to VIA service in the Maritimes and the integration of services. The Atlantic Limited and the Scotian were replaced by the Atlantic. Steve theorized, inviting corroboration, that the train he photographed was a direct Toronto-Halifax scheduled extra, hence an additional departure, though without the white flags required at the time. The corroboration would have come from the supplemental October 28, 1979 Revised timetable. 

In my collection I have the original 'uncirculated' VIA system timetable as well as the Revised-Revise´ (printed in large black letters on its cover) timetable. The only differences I see between the two are the removal of one Toronto-North Bay train and the rescheduling of the Gaspe-Matapedia service. In the centre is a four-page insert on VIA's Fare For All plan. In neither issue is there any mention of a scheduled 1979 Toronto-Halifax additional service for the Christmas holidays.  

But....the February, 1980 issue of CRHA's Canadian Rail had this news tidbit, really an inquiry, with a typo showing Dec. 22/80 instead of /79. Regardless, it's one of the few in-print references I've found to a through Toronto-Halifax train in 1979. Much respect to the T&Y, but were they the fount of all VIA wisdom? I could find no published follow-up answers to support or deny the theory:

VIA's BUSY 1979-1980 HOLIDAY SEASON

VIA passenger traffic was reportedly up 20% from the previous year, perhaps due to the world energy situation and Canadian gas prices topping $1 per gallon! VIA even borrowed GO Transit bilevel for Southwestern Ontario service on Boxing Day between Toronto-London and Toronto-Sarnia! Maurice Simms, PR director for VIA Ontario, said in a press interview that there are a lot of Maritimers in Toronto who go home for the holidays by train. Part of a nationwide advertising campaign that didn't mention specific services, this December 1, 1979 newspaper ad mentions adding extra cars to existing trains, and extra trains to existing schedules:

This article, published in the St. Catharines Standard on November 24, 1979 listed some additional services for the impending Christmas season, though no through Toronto-Halifax runs:

NOW SOME CONSISTS 

In my first book, Trackside with VIA - The First 35 Years, I found several intriguing, long corresponding consists I'd observed in the 1979-1980 Christmas rush. Westbounds around 1245, eastbounds around 1545 and westbounds around 1615 caught my eye. Being on Christmas break from high school, I was spending a few hours each day trackside. On December 20, I observed a westbound passenger of unknown consist around 1600 with the notation 'Combo'. [Was this a baggage-dorm I was referring to?] It became apparent something different was happening around 4 pm each day! 

More consists follow. I will include the photos of the trains if I have them. Otherwise, the photos show other trains photographed by me or my Dad during our Christmas break time trackside. The photos were taken using 126-format Instamatic (L.C. Gagnon photos) and 110-format Kodak Hawkeye by your humble blogger. Most days were overcast, one was sunny, and in the late afternoon in December when these interesting trains were scheduled, the light is already failing. 

I can't confirm the train numbers as correct, but they match the schedule times closely enough for me to give them a 'probably, likely' designation.

We were at the Kingston VIA station from 1100-1400 on Thursday, December 27. Three L.C. Gagnon photos follow.

Looked like it might be a special train, but more probably just No 53 with a sleeper in the consist (above). An earlier eastbound, likely No 44 with 6787-6612-CN 3123 and 12 cars at 1218 as your humble blogger crosses the yellow line!

A late-running No 62 with 6788-6624-CN 3126 and 15 cars at 1333. Sun!

The next day likely No 652, and we headed home from the tracks just after it passed:

On Saturday, December 29, I observed what were probably VIA Nos 43 Engs 6537-6858-CN 3114 with 11 cars;  No 62 Engs 6770-6866-CN 3127 with 15 cars and No 52 Engs 6765-6871-6862 - three of eight trains passing between 1240 and 1400. 

The following day, Sunday's probably No 652 with a Crusader car (below). I noted "running two trains at 4:00 instead of 1 RDC [consist Toronto-Kingston return]

and probably No 655, with 5303 in CN colours:

Monday, December 31 - probably No 652:

Probably No 652 with a 9400-series baggage-dorm and Crusader car behind the power (above) and No 655 (below) on New Year's Day, Tuesday, January 1. We made our way to the tracks and were there 1515-1630. At this point, I noted that Toronto-Montreal and Montreal-Toronto trains had replaced the normal Toronto-Kingston-Toronto afternoon RDC.

On Wednesday, January 2, I observed the likely VIA No 62 Engs 6540-6519-CN 3105 and 15 cars (below - taken from just north of the tracks in Amherstview) at 1258, and three minutes earlier No 63 Engs 6784-6762-CN 3125 with only nine cars.

By January 6, I noted VIA 6208-6006-6115 westbound at 1620 pencilling in the notation "No more passengers at 4:00, RDC's now". The extended runs of VIA Nos 652/655 had made their last trips two days earlier.

About the weather...we're currently experiencing a green Christmas. Global warming is playing a part, but the above photos belie an earlier green Christmas. Records show that Kingston only received 4 cm of snow over three days December, 1979 the last being 1.8 cm on December 18. Daily high temperatures were above freezing every day after December 21.

This photo is an outlier. Captioned by me as January 1, taken by my Dad from the earthen berm near the Amherstview water tower west of Mi 182 Kingston Sub. My photo, captioned the same day, is overcast. And I doubt the two of us would be not standing together. It's likely December 30th's VIA No 652. But enjoy the glorious sun! VIA 65xx-66xx are followed by a Crusader car and a CN-painted coach likely 5620, showing that these unusual consists stayed together, likely for the duration, perhaps making one trip each way each day.

SO WHAT TRAINS WERE THESE ?

[I've let the cat out of the bag a few times above, so just play along!] Even though VIA had launched a national advertising campaign promoting additional services for the upcoming Christmas rush, our local newspaper included notice of a Corridor-specific service enhancement. The ad below was published in the December 7, 1979 Kingston Whig-Standard. The existing Toronto-Kingston-Toronto RDC train had its run lengthened on most days between December 18 and January 4. On those specified days, eastbound Toronto-Kingston VIA No 652 would now run through to Montreal, arriving at Kingston at 1545. Its westbound Kingston-Toronto counterpart VIA No 655 would be running all the way from Montreal to Toronto, arriving at Kingston at 1605. Note that snack and lounge services were being provided on these trains, hence the presence of the ex-CN Lake-series Club Lounge Buffet cars in the above consists:

CONCLUSIONS...DRUMROLL, PLEASE

So, having checked the usual sources - railfan newsletters and newspaper clippings of the time, social media and various historical sources - I feel confident that trains observed at the above times seem to indicate that the train Steve and I observed and photographed were VIA Nos 652/655 rather than a Toronto-Halifax service.

Unlike the 1980 Toronto-Halifax direct VIA Nos 111/112, widely described as the first such Halifax-Toronto through trains in VIA history, the presence of sleepers in the above trains seems to be coincidental, perhaps with the sleeper space sold to coach passengers. After all, every car was being pressed into service, according to VIA's publicized plan. Unlike the following year's trains, the 1979 consists show minimal lounge and food-service cars in the consists. Also, no diners, Dayniters and no more than one sleeping car. Where would the passengers eat and sleep on that overnight-plus run? Not to mention the presence of those tantalizing ONR, CP, ex-Reading Crusader cars. I'm sure I would have recorded any additional sleeping cars, even at 15 years old, visibly unusual to this young railfan's eyes.

One other clue - each of those 1980 trains for which I've collected consists had an FPA4 in the lead of the three-unit locomotive consists. MLW's were the usual leaders in service to the Maritimes, and in 1980 operated through to Halifax.

Yet another clue - VIA widely publicized its additional 1980 trains in newspapers, including this column in the Kingston Whig-Standard on December 10, 1980. And it says, another drumroll please, "...for the first time ever..."

I think the above explains what is in Steve Danko's intriguing photo!

Running extra...

Hoping your new year has been good so far! PBS specials featuring Josh Groban, Cynthia Erivo and friends were better than ABC's Times Square and CBS' modern country music offerings.

A cool concept - Home Shops freelance rolling stock. Ever wanted a Cat Mountain & Santa Fe covered hopper? To find out the story behind some of these colourful lines' rolling stock, the Home Shops blog tells the story of each railroad's car release.

Nobody expects websites to last forever. Not long ago, the comprehensive Mountain Railway website of CP locomotive images was taken on by a new website owner. Not sure Ray Kennedy's equally-comprehensive Old Time Trains will be: