Fictitious Vancouver Island passenger train

[dibber25]

If they ever do return, passenger trains are not likely to run again on Vancouver Island in my lifetime, so I decided to produce a 'what-if' passenger train for my layout. Railway operators always like to have an image and a livery long before they have a railway or a train, so a couple of years ago the Island Corridor Foundation selected a design by native artist Darrel Thorne to decorate any new trains they might eventually have. The salmon family motif was shown on a Stadtler 'Flirt' DMU drawing. There's no suitable model so I used this Piko Desiro unit as the basis for a VIA/ICF livery. As it is a very scenic railway I decided not to have the salmon across the windows as in the original drawing but repositioned them on the lower bodysides. At the other end, Microscale VIA decals cover the American 'Sprinter' logos of a California operator. The Piko model is a lovely runner, fitted with an 8-pin decoder. I haven't yet ventured to try installing sound. (CJL)

[pH]

Thems is orcas!

 

https://www.islandrail.ca/https-www-islandrail-ca-darrell-thorne-family-decision-orcas-003/

[cessna152towser]

That looks fabulous.   Can just imagine it running across a trestle on the Port Alberni sub.  If only.    My last ride on the E & N was from Qualicum Beach to Courtenay in March 2011 just a few days before the service ended.    It was sad to see the tracks at Johnson Street bridge gone when I returned to the island the following year.     Not been back on the beautiful Vancouver Island since 2012 and I doubt whether I will be back.    My cousin who hosted me last time at Sooke is married to a native of the Kwakiutl tribe.  They are both now in their eighties.

[dibber25]

2 hours ago, pH said:

Thems is orcas!

 

https://www.islandrail.ca/https-www-islandrail-ca-darrell-thorne-family-decision-orcas-003/

I thought that I might be wrong about the fish but when I searched for the original description of the artwork, I could not find it. I love the native art. I was last on the island in 2018 but my sister with whom I usually stayed, was in a care home by then. I stayed in a hotel in Victoria. There were serious forest fires and the air smelled of smoke. The Johnson Street bridge has gone and there are new condos going up around the roundhouse. A few bits of rolling stock were scattered around but it was the first time I had been to the island and not seen a moving train of any sort. So glad I did the Englewood when I did (twice) and that I caught the Port turn at Cameron Lake some years ago. I have a niece and nephew on the island but I'm not sure I'll be going back, either. (CJL)

[dibber25]

About to take my first island rail trip. Shawnigan Lake was a flagstop. My wife asked how we stop the train. "I guess like stopping a bus at a request stop," I replied. So she stuck her arm out and it stopped. 1976 and it was still CP Rail at that time. .....and the track was awful then! It would be another 35 years before it was awful enough to withdraw the service. (CJL)

Edited April 12, 2022 by dibber25