Early-era VIA in Kingston: 1976-1977 and More!

 

VIA's early era was an interesting time. I'd previously published a post showing early-era VIA in Thunder Bay and recently scanned some of my Dad's early-era VIA slides. First seven photos - L.C. Gagnon. On a sunny, school break March 24, 1977 we caught a couple of VIA trains. Eastbound at 1248 (top photo and below): 6527-6622-9662-Mount Royal Club-5467-2505-5634-5631-CN 15000! At the station, unlike at Amherstview six miles west where we lived, it was possible to get the whole consist while stationary. And at the time, many of the VIA-painted cars still had the small CN logo beneath the VIA one.

That's right, CN 15000 - a surprise on the tail-end was this CN track geometry car. A CN official heads for a warmer climate, inside:

Westbound at 1335: 6760-6869-9600-Saint James's Club-5536-5446-2512-5591-5508-557x-Great Slave Lake. Oh, and escaping steam. In both head-end photos, that's your humble blogger in the day-glo orange toque:

Early 1977, undated westbound with an interesting three-unit locomotive consist at Amherstview:

August 11, 1976 Turbo arriving Belleville:

Summer 1976 train between Kingston and Napanee, likely Townline Road:

December, 1976 westbound freight led by a CN RS-18 passing the Amherstview Golf Course:

While reading through some recent issues of the Kingston CRHA Kingston Rail magazine, I found a few very interesting photos taken by Hugues W. Bonin, a long-time denizen of the Kingston railfan scene and Kingston's VIA station. A prolific photographer, we all attended some early meetings of the local CRHA branch held at St. Lawrence College, as well as sharing the platform at the Kingston VIA station at times. Below are my photos of a few of Professor Bonin's images in the Kingston Rail: 

December 20, 1981 - When the Canadian graced the CN Kingston Sub, VIA No 2/44/54 with Riding Mountain Park on the tail-end meeting No 53 Eng 6769 at Kingston VIA station. Steamy and smoky:

April 11, 1982 - VIA No 65 Turbo 154 crossing the Cataraqui Creek near Counter Street, just east of the station:

October 3, 1982 - Westbound Turbo between Hillview Road and Collins Bay Road crossings. CN logo dirty but long gone, dented and patched nose, and in the last month of its long life with CN and VIA:

March 28, 1982 - VIA No 65 Turbo 151 stopped at Kingston station. The station gardens were petite then, now fully-grown and self-tending, apparently!

April 21, 1982 - CN 3634 and transfer caboose 76554 laying over at CN's Outer Station. That's Professor Bonin's yellow Duster in the background. 

Though I have a good grasp of what my Dad captured in his instamatic in this early VIA era, Professor Bonin's prolific work has sometimes been shared in Kingston Rail. I think it may be a VIAceberg though, and we may only be seeing 10% of it. 

Running extra...

Ripped from today's headlines! [Do they still have headlines?] Late-era VIA in Kingston featured a J-trained (double-double?!) VIA Siemens Venture Sets 3 and 4 on VIA train No 61 on April 22. Thanks to a heads-up from Mi 17 Kingston Sub (thanks, Lion Liu!) I found myself atop the windswept concrete tundra of the Bayridge Drive overpass to catch No 61 in this Youtube video, from which these video captures are taken (below). A first for the vast majority of the Kingston Sub, although there have been rescues that formed J-trains in the Quebec-Montreal-Ottawa lanes. Some have opined there was a fire in Set 4 around Central Station necessitating the J-train move to Toronto, with passengers aboard Set 3. Another video posted by CJ Burnell on Youtube, farther west on the Kingston Sub.