VIA Rail traditional baggage carts

[dibber25]

It has long fascinated me that, whatever else changes on the railway, the traditional baggage cart on the platform remains the same. Here's one I photographed - with traditional motive power! - at Banff in 1981 just before we boarded the Canadian to Vancouver. Despite the locomotives still being in CP Rail action red, VIA had taken over the service some 3 years earlier, and the cars had been repainted, at least on the outside. Items such as bed linen remained CP-branded.

Next is one of several VIA-Rail liveried baggage carts that I photographed at Sudbury, Ontario, in August this year. These carts were in frequent use for the loading and unloading of the Budd RDCs on the White River service. They were mainly supplies for fishing trips, as far as I could tell. It's fascinating, the Ontario fishing method. I presume the idea is that you fill the lake with beer and when the fish are completely legless (as fish usually are) it's easier to catch them! Why else would you need to transport quite so much beer?!!

Seriously. I decided that I needed baggage carts and step boxes to make my Canadian stations look complete, so I asked that fount of all VIA Rail knowledge, Jason Shron, where I could get accurate-looking baggage carts and step boxes. Turns out, Rapido produces the step boxes, while a friend of Jason's (who, I think, is also present here on RMweb from time to time) produces the baggage carts, 3-D printed through Shapeways. In less than a week I've ordered them, received them, and painted them, so here they are. Don't they just look great?!! Thanks, Stephen! Do you produce anything else that I should know about? (CJL)

[sjgardiner]

Seriously. I decided that I needed baggage carts and step boxes to make my Canadian stations look complete, so I asked that fount of all VIA Rail knowledge, Jason Shron, where I could get accurate-looking baggage carts and step boxes. Turns out, Rapido produces the step boxes, while a friend of Jason's (who, I think, is also present here on RMweb from time to time) produces the baggage carts, 3-D printed through Shapeways. In less than a week I've ordered them, received them, and painted them, so here they are. Don't they just look great?!! Thanks, Stephen! Do you produce anything else that I should know about? (CJL)

 

Those aren't my carts (though I am also a Stephen on Shapeways who is friends with the Rapido crew), but other things you might be interested in if you are detailing a station scene that I have on Shapeways include a variety of speeder cars modeled from those used by CN and CP and preserved at the Toronto Railway Museum that I have done:

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/4WSBTMJNC/ho-scale-woodings-cbi-railcar?optionId=61088774&li=shop-inventory

https://www.shapeways.com/product/NKETSPCGN/ho-scale-1-87-fairmont-s2-speeder-car?optionId=43880278&li=shop-inventory

https://www.shapeways.com/product/CM6BCJ5EY/ho-scale-1-87-fairmont-m14-speeder-car?optionId=60750812&li=shop-inventory

 

Apologies for shameless self promotion

 

Stephen

[BR60103]

I always think of them as red or "used to be red".

[sjgardiner]

I always think of them as red or "used to be red".

We have two post office red ones at the museum. They were a different shape from the VIA ones Chris bought, though they may also have been specific to the postal sorting centers rather than general station, I don’t think we have enough historical information on them to be sure.

 

I did model them as well, but the wire frame for the cage wouldn’t print and you have to make it out of brass rod:

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/EQGQL2D4W/canadian-railway-postal-baggage-cart-ho-1-87?optionId=43791569&li=shop-inventory

 

There are also the electric carts from Toronto Union Station, but they are something pretty much only Jason will ever need on their layout!!

 

https://www.shapeways.com/product/78Z5HN272/ho-scale-1-87-electric-baggage-cart?optionId=43740493&li=shop-inventory

 

Stephen

[BR60103]

At Perth, back in the 50s, as far as I recall they used the same carts for mail and express, although the mail may have had one designated for them.

 

The only model we could get was the Dinky Toys electric cart.

Edited September 22, 2018 by BR60103

[dibber25]

I've just received one of the little Fairmont speeders. I'll post up a photo once I've painted it. Been a while since I used any 3D printed items and they really have come a long way in that time. Modelu has done me some figures for British-outline job that I'm working on and these, too, are really great. So good to have correctly proportioned figures in 'OO' as so many are either castings or plastic mouldings which require lots of work. (CJL)