VIA No 62 arrives at Kingston on March 30, 1992 with 6413-15420-5584-3246-5448 (above). VIA No 63 arrives one hour later with 6425-15478-9624-3201-5458-5529-5576-3224 (below). At the time, these trains were the only VIA trains operating between Montreal and Toronto with a baggage car. However, it would normally be an
ex-CP HEP or
ex-UP HEP baggage car and LRC coaches!
The lucky folks in southwestern Ontario would see blue & yellow cars until the mid-90's on trains like VIA Nos 72, 73 and 78, hauled by 6400's and sometimes SGU's. 
In the early 1990s, VIA Rail experienced
axle failures on its Light-Rapid-Comfortable (LRC) cars. Such axle failures had
the potential to cause serious derailments.
VIA’s organizational response and ensuing operational modifications led
to some unexpected travel hiccups for passengers, while producing interesting
train consists for those of us who were trackside. This tenuous period in VIA
Rail’s history has been dubbed by some - Operation Axle. I touched on this period
in my second book on VIA Rail, and now I'll give Trackside Treasure's readers more background and depth here.
The first LRC locomotives and
cars entered service in the summer of 1981. Conceived by MLW (later
Bombardier), Alcan and Dofasco, the bilingually-titled
Light-Rapid-Comfortable/Leger-Rapide-Confortable prototype locomotive and coach
were built by MLW in 1973. VIA placed orders totalling $93 million in 1980,
eventually totalling 31 locomotives (6900-6930) and 100 coaches (3300-3399)
which were delivered between 1981 and 1984. The wedge-nosed 6900's produced
3700 hp, and the coaches' steps were 10 inches from low-level platforms,
compared to 21 inches for conventional coaches. Starting with the fall
timetable, the LRC equipment was expected to replace fifty percent of the ex-CN
equipment by mid-1982. In December 1983, VIA removed its 50 LRC cars from service for inspection by Bombardier and replacement of wheel bearings. Resulting car shortages required leasing of GO equipment for some trains west of Toronto. Foreshadowing of things to come, perhaps.
DERAILMENTS CAUSE CONCERN
A minor derailment on early in
1991 was followed by more in 1992.
On January 31, 1991 VIA No 37
derailed at Mile 72.9 of CN’s Alexandria Sub. The train’s consist comprised
F40PH-2D 6423-VIA 1 ‘club’ car 3474 and coaches 3339-3317-3343 and it was 3474
to which the derailment cause was traced.
On February 17, 1992
Ottawa-Montreal train No 34 derailed two LRC cars at 78 mph, near Glen
Robertson, Ontario at Mile 15.3 Alexandria Sub. The break was at the bearing
backing ring groove of an axle under coach 3339.
An axle defect inboard from the
brake rotor led to the next LRC derailment less than two weeks later, on
February 29 at St Lambert, Quebec on CN’s St-Hyacinthe Sub. LRC coach 3319 was one of the coaches on
Quebec-Montreal No 621, which was moving at only 15 mph at the time. The axle had only been in service since
December 19, 1991.
Finally, on March 16,
Toronto-Ottawa No 46 experienced a broken axle east of Belleville, Ontario at
Mile 204.3 of CN’s Kingston Sub – the third in a one-month period. VIA 1 club
car 3461 suffered an axle break in the area of the bearing backing ring
shoulder groove while the train was travelling at 89 mph. The story made it to the pages of the Kingston Whig-Standard:
Previously, in 1990, VIA had
altered its wheel shell size condemning limit from one-inch to one-and-a-half
inches, in reaction to proposed limits to be stipulated in Transport Canada
minimum safety standards for passenger equipment. Wheel shelling can occur if
the wheel’s entire tread surface is heated to high temperatures for long
periods of time. The steel surface is weakened and contact rolling stresses
cause tiny cracks called heat checks on the tread surface. If the cracks are
not worn out, the cracks will eventually link together, pit out, and form a
shell.
As a result of preliminary
information, the Transportation Safety Board (TSB) forwarded a Safety Advisory
to Transport Canada in April 1991, advising that axle failures may be related
to corrosion pitting, and that early signs of failure might be detected using
ultrasonic testing techniques. VIA performed subsequent ultrasonic testing of
axles, finding six axles with an anomaly. These LRC coaches were removed from
service. As a further preventive measure, VIA began using another lubricant,
this one containing a corrosion inhibitor, on roller bearings of LRC axles.
Further investigation of the axle
failures revealed that other factors, in addition to corrosion, had caused the
failures. Therefore, in March 1992, the TSB made the following recommendations:
R92-01: The Department of
Transport ensure that all axles on VIA LRC equipment that have not been
ultrasonically tested within the past month be removed from service for testing
as soon as practicable.
R92-02: The Department of
Transport require that the axles of all VIA LRC equipment be ultrasonically
tested at intervals not to exceed the average monthly mileage of the LRC fleet,
to ensure the continuing integrity of the axles.
R92-03: The Department of
Transport inform any other operators of equipment employing axles of the design
used on LRC equipment of the potential for rapidly-propagating fatigue cracks.
R92-04: The Department of
Transport require a program of dynamic testing on LRC axles to assess
in-service stresses under actual operation conditions.
R92-05: The Department of
Transport, in cooperation with VIA, evaluate the adequacy of the current LRC
axle design, manufacture, and maintenance, and if necessary, develop a plan for
the replacement of all current LRC axles.
VIA took immediate action with
regard to recommendations R92-01 to R92-04. In February, VIA had already begun
in-depth ultrasonic axle inspections.
The broken axle in the March 16 incident had been inspected on March 4,
and had travelled 4,800 miles afterwards, only half the inspection interval
recommended by the TSB. This unfortunate
and unforeseen event, coupled with the potential for a major derailment, led
the TSB to issue an urgent warning of “life-threatening mechanical defect” for
the LRC coaches. VIA management decided
to withdraw all LRC coaches and club cars from service until better inspection
methods restored confidence in predicting axle breaks. The LRC-2 (6900-6920) and
LRC-3 (6921-6930) locomotives were unaffected, and some continued to operate
during Operation Axle with non-LRC cars.
On April 5, 1992 an instrumented
test train of LRC equipment was operated on CN’s Kingston Subdivision. Results
of the testing showed that axles equipped with shelled wheels recorded dynamic
stress peaks, specifically in the area of the bearing backing ring grooves and
inboard rotor seats, that were near the endurance limit of the axle. The
endurance limit is the stress limit beyond which an axle can fail.
Metallurgical analysis by the Engineering
Laboratory of the TSB revealed that the steel conformed to Association of
American Railroads Standards and Recommended Practices as did the size design
specifications of the axles. However, the micro-hardness examination of the
bearing backing ring grooves failed to indicate the effects of cold rolling as
indicated in the manufacturer’s drawings.
Public safety was paramount. Railway industry experts, VIA officials, the
TSB and Transport Canada’s Railway Safety Branch worked together in an
extensive investigation. A group of
replacement axles first used in 1983, as well as original axles manufactured by
Dofasco in 1978-1979, were found to contain manufacturing defects which could
rapidly lead to total axle breakage and failure.
VIA subsequently acquired and
installed new axles for its LRC fleet. Corrective action involved complete
replacement of LRC coach axles, at a total cost of $750,000. VIA contracted CN’s Atelier Montreal Facility
at Pointe St Charles to produce 500 new axles with wheels pressed, including
100 to be held if needed. After research
and testing indicated the replacement axle design was acceptable, VIA resumed
LRC service in April, 1992.
Douglas N W Smith's excellent
Canadian Rail Passenger Yearbook 1993 Edition contains the only photo I've seen of Operation Axle replacement actually in progress. Doug's photo, used with permission, shows a shopped LRC coach with a line of inspected axles ready to be installed:
A TSB Safety Advisory was
forwarded to Transport Canada in May, 1992 proposing the definitive condemning
limit for passenger equipment to be one-inch diameter. Shelling in the VIA LRC
fleet was widespread, with 43% of wheels surveyed having shells larger than the
one-inch condemning limit, 11% of wheel sets with wheels of varying
circumferences, and 7% with radically out-of-round (eccentric) rolling
surfaces. VIA continued to use the one-inch standard.
VIA introduced revised inspection
procedures and increased audits to ensure proper wheel inspection, introduced a
program to upgrade LRC axle manufacture, testing and maintenance, wheel tread
standards and the use of rust-preventative compounds.
Since the withdrawn LRC cars were
the backbone of VIA’s car fleet in daily Corridor service, replacements had to
be found – quickly! VIA hustled to
inspect and return to service conventional blue & yellow cars that had been
stored serviceable. The last conventional equipment between Montreal and Toronto was on VIA Nos 62/63 into May 1991, and Nos 168/169 into 1992, though blue & yellow equipment would continue in intermittent use into 1996 in Southwestern Ontario. There were not enough
such cars immediately available, so trains ran with only three or four cars in
an attempt to protect schedules. VIA was
forced to borrow bilevel coaches, APCU’s and locomotives from GO Transit. Passengers
were not used to riding commuter equipment in longer distance intercity
service! VIA F40PH-2D’s operated with GO Transit bilevel coach consists west of
Toronto.
Ex-CP stainless steel coaches, Steam
Generator Units (SGU’s) and F-units were once again seen in Corridor service. This was before Head End Power and during
cold weather, so steam heat had to be supplied to conventional cars. VIA’s
F40PH-2D’s did not have this capability, so SGU’s or F-units were also required.
LRC cars began deadheading back towards Montreal via Toronto, as conventional
equipment was deployed in the opposite direction. VIA passengers transferred to buses or GO
Transit bilevels received travel credits for 50% off ticket price from VIA. Shorter
trains, caused by VIA scrambling to provide sufficient cars to protect
schedules, meant that some passengers were turned away. Conventional train
consists stayed coupled together for days once assembled. VIA even considered borrowing equipment from
Amtrak. Operational train-handling differences due to mixing of equipment types
included braking and acceleration, plus slightly-reduced operating speeds.
A timeline of events shows the
speed and scope of VIA’s response, and the effects on day-to-day Corridor
operations once the LRC cars were removed from service for axle replacement.
After the March 16, 1992
derailment east of Belleville, VIA management made the decision to sideline the
LRC car fleet at once. What would happen to VIA’s Corridor operations the next
day? Here is a timeline of some of the key events of Operation Axle:
On March 17, the following trains
were replaced by buses: all Montreal-Quebec trains, all but one Montreal-Ottawa
train, and one Sarnia-Toronto train. One Montreal-Toronto train each way was
cancelled, as was one Windsor-Toronto train. Trains set to operate with LRC
equipment were deadheaded back to shops – Nos 70 and 72 from Windsor to
Toronto, No 80 from Sarnia to Toronto, and Nos 41 and 30 from Ottawa to
Montreal. Fortunately, the schedules of trains 70 and 72 were protected by
conventional (blue & yellow) equipment already in Windsor. Trackside Treasure Malcolm Peakman was in Montreal for a meeting regarding the Bombardier takeover of Lavalin. He returned to Kingston on a delayed, blue & yellow consist with a cantankerous club car and eventually no lights!
VIA used
3500-series LRC coaches to protect the schedules of Nos 71 and 81 from Toronto.
(The ten 3500-series cars had been refurbished for International service to the
U.S., and therefore were not compatible with the rest of VIA’s LRC cars.) The
3500’s were also then deadheaded back to Toronto and removed from the joint
Amtrak-VIA Toronto-Chicago service, with Amtrak providing both trainsets. Trackside Treasure reader and VIA hogger Terry Brennan was in Windsor that day, and reports that afterwards, on-board service personnel had to set up on a piece of plywood across a GO four-seater. Try making coffee on that!
A passenger extra operated from
Montreal to Ottawa to cover No 41’s schedule. Toronto-Montreal Nos 66/67
operated on the schedule of Nos 166/167 later on the 17th. Of VIA
Nos 44, 63, 65, 66 and 166 expected into Toronto in the usual three-hour
timeframe, only No 166’s schedule was operated. VIA-1 enhanced service was
suspended due to the unavailability of sufficient blue & yellow 650-series
club galley cars.
On March 18, blue & yellow
conventional cars began operating in the Corridor once again. VIA trains
between Montreal, Ottawa and Toronto including Nos 46, 64 and 66 comprised
6400-series F40PH-2Ds or a 6300-series FP9ARM pulling conventional cars. VIA
train No 71 was the first GO bilevel-equipped VIA train operated. Three GO
trainsets were in use.
On March 19, a fourth GO bilevel
trainset entered VIA service. These trainsets would be used to protect the
schedules of VIA trains 72 or 74, 76, 78 and 80 eastward into Toronto and
trains 71, 73, 75 and 87 westward from Toronto.
On March 22, VIA-1 service was
re-established on Nos 166/167 using 650-series club galleys, followed by trains
60/61 the next day.
On April 5, Montreal-Quebec VIA
No 26’s locomotive 6903 had its fuel tank pierced by an unknown object.
Trailing SGU 15466 was damaged in the ensuing fire (though it returned to
service three days later). Coaches 3242 and 5590 were uncoupled to permit
access by fire crews. The train’s passengers were transferred to the Ocean, VIA
No 14. The same day, a test train operated on CN’s Kingston Sub, with LRC cars
3360-3465-3462-3464 bracketed by LRC locomotives 6905 and 6907. The cars had
instrumentation installed to measure output from shelled and unshelled wheels
for comparison. Thirty-four years later, I was pleasantly surprised to hear from
Scott Fulton who had his family vacation interrupted. VIA tasked him with operation of that instrumented train!
On April 7, VIA operated a
special overnight movement of 20 LRC cars from its Toronto maintenance centre
to Montreal.
By April 12, 80 of the LRC cars
were in Montreal, though little if any re-axling had been completed.
On April 17, the first re-axled
LRC trainset was placed back in service, with another set following two days
later. These trainsets protected Montreal-Toronto afternoon limited-stop trains 66/67 and evening express trains 166/167.
On May 1, the first re-axled LRC
trainset operated into Ottawa. Once completed, re-axled trainsets were re-entering service to southwest Ontario, Quebec City and across the Corridor.
On May 3, I was trackside at Kingston
to observe my last conventional-equipped Operation Axle-era train, VIA No 63.
The next time I was trackside on May 12, it was back to LRC cars on
Toronto-Ottawa No 46.
On June 2, the last of the
re-axled LRC cars returned to service.
As a big believer in
the value of train consist information, I have selected some consists from the Operation
Axle era, many of which I observed at Kingston during that 1992 spring. Consists
not only place a train in context with date, train and direction, they also
give an clear picture of which locomotives and cars were operating together. I’ve
included an example of each of the unusual consist types that substituted for the
usual LRC cars:
Apr 9/92 Ott-Tor No 41:
6919-6310-5628-3253-5611 (LRC2-FP9ARM-B&Y)
Apr 10/92 Ott-Tor No 47:
6921-15448-3245-5522-5504 (LRC3-SGU-B&Y)
Mar 19/92 Ott-Tor No 49:
6308-3222-5447-5517 (FP9ARM-B&Y)
Mar 18/92 Nia Falls-Tor No 636:
6424-8115-8113 (F40-HEP1)
Apr 6/92 Tor-Mtl No 68
6428-6514-5569-3201-5531 (F40-FP9-B&Y)
Mar 20/92 Tor-Ott No 48:
6427-6312-3252-5437-5616-3032-5448 (F40-FP9ARM-B&Y)
Mar 17/92 Tor-Win No 71:
6422-3506-3503-3511 (F40-3500series)
Mar 17/92 Tor-Ott No 40:
6438-15472-5576-3219-5652 (F40-SGU-B&Y)
Apr 20/92 Ott-Tor No 47:
6419-15469-103-108-3240-5736 (F40-SGU-exCP-B&Y)
Mar 18/92 Tor-Mtl No 64:
6407-15468-5511-5654-3247-3242-3216-9624 (F40-SGU-B&Y-baggage)
Mar 30/92 Tor-Mtl No 64: 6422-15481-3212-109-100-3213-5531-9671
(F40-SGU-exCP-B&Y-baggage)
Apr 19/92 Tor-Win No 75: 6447-GO
2042-2023-2027-2022-908 (F40-GO bilevels-GO APCU)
Apr 19/92 Sar-Tor No 80: GO
902-2035-2026-2047-721 (GO APCU-GO bilevels-GO GP40)
Mar 21/92 Tor-Win No 75: GO
544-2250-2303-237 (GO F59-GO bilevels)
NON-LRC EQUIPMENT IN USE DURING
OPERATION AXLE
The following equipment has been
compiled from observed consists during Operation Axle. Each car type is listed
chronologically by first sighting, not numerically, to give a better idea of
which cars entered service first during Operation Axle. Unless otherwise noted,
all VIA cars are conventional, ex-CN blue & yellow cars.
VIA Ex-CP stainless steel coaches
– 100, 109, 103, 108.
VIA Ex-CP stainless steel HEP1
coaches – 8113, 8115, 8124.
VIA 650-series club galleys:
Mount Royal Club, Empire Club, Club Richelieu, University Club, Saint James’s
Club, Club St Denis.
VIA café-coach-lounge: 3032.
VIA snack bar coach: 3213, 3253,
3219, 3222, 3208, 3218, 3252, 3204, 3237, 3201, 3244, 3203, 3220, 3216, 3242,
3247, 3246, 3212, 3202, 3224, 3215, 3240, 3252, 3245.
VIA 5400-series coach: 5449,
5447, 5444, 5440, 5446, 5448, 5458, 5439, 5466, 5487, 5488, 5464.
VIA 5500-series coach: 5576,
5517, 5582, 5584, 5529, 5561, 5560, 5569, 5578, 5537, 5564, 5511, 5522, 5532,
5581, 5558, 5506, 5531, 5504.
VIA 5600-series coach:
5628-5652-5618-5623-5616-5654-5646-5603-5611-5642.
VIA Dayniter: 5736.
VIA baggage car: 9624, 9654,
9671, 9628.
VIA steam generator units: 15455,
15472, 15454, 15470, 15448, 15478, 15481, 15452, 15468, 15473, 15415, 15458,
15460, 15483, 15459, 15469, 15418, 15461, 15420.
VIA FP9: 6506, 6514. These
hold-out FP9’s had been in use on VIA’s Ocean and Atlantic from 1990 to 1992,
and were among the last of VIA’s unrebuilt cab units in active service. In
fact, 6514 was part of the locomotive consist of the Ocean that derailed on
CN’s Mont Joli Sub, on March 26, 1992.
VIA FP9ARM: 6307, 6308, 6309,
6310, 6311 and perhaps other 6300’s.
GO 2xxx bilevel coaches
GO 2xx bilevel cab car
LOOKING BACK AT OPERATION AXLE
For the rail enthusiast, evidence
can still be found of this important though short-lived era of VIA Rail’s
history. Check the date of quirky VIA consist photos you might encounter – were
they taken in the spring months of 1992?
These may not have been taken during the kaleidoscopic early VIA years
as they might first appear. They may in
fact have been taken during Operation Axle.
It’s a little remarked-upon blip on VIA’s timeline, when tragedy was
averted, innovation and safety were paramount, and those of us who were trackside
were rewarded with operations of unimagined variety.
This is a major Trackside Treasure series. Too much information to fit in one post. Coming up next: I'll publish
photos of Op Axle trains, and
consist mockups in the final post in the series!
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