Pugsley Posted February 26, 2014 Share Posted February 26, 2014 Withdrawal of the service is only a matter of time. That would be a great shame, it's a great trip, which I've been fortunate enough to have done twice now. My one regret was missing the end of the Bras D'or by about a month, that's a journey that I would have loved to have done, sadly I didn't find out until I was in NS in October that it existed. I expect that the Ocean only appeals to a certain sub-set of people though - most are going to take a flight these days if travelling between Halifax and Montreal. I was also surprised to learn, on the latest trip, that the overnight service between Toronto and Montreal had been stopped. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 Can it be co-incidence? The stock is allegedly in a poor state. The main service they are used on (The Ocean) was cut from six days a week to three. CN is closing 70 miles of track over which the Ocean operates. Withdrawal of the service is only a matter of time. The relentless run-down of VIA Rail continues as Canada heads to be the first nation in the western world to have no national passenger train service. CHRIS LEIGH The question comes down to: How much of the taxpayer's money should be expended to maintain under-utilized services (and the infrastructure) when there are less expensive alternatives? We will end up with a national passenger train service like the US - only in the corridors where there is a reasonable amount of traffic. The number of corridors is less than the US due to the population density and distribution (basically, it is one). It isn't a great situation for rail entusiasts, but it is an economic reality. Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
RMweb Gold Oldddudders Posted February 27, 2014 RMweb Gold Share Posted February 27, 2014 I don't know about welded stainless steel but welded aluminium was definitely used by BR for parts of coaching stock and of course the Mk3 coaching stock design is basically an integral welded structure. I think Mk 2 was also touted as being integral construction, which I'm not sure predecessor XP64 was. As far as welded aluminium is concerned, were the 158s not the first passenger rolling stock example built by BR? ISTR manufacture did not go well, with major delays due to welding technique on aluminium just not being up to scratch. I think there were distressing revelations at the time in Sunday newspapers, with the poor BR project manager being named and possibly quoted. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
cheesysmith Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 BR had integral body shells used in the DMU built in the 50's, the MK2 and 3 coaches, and for aluminium the APT was built from welded Ali extrusions. The 158 problem was the fact the bodies were not strong enough in the bogie yaw damper mounting area. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
dibber25 Posted February 27, 2014 Share Posted February 27, 2014 The question comes down to: How much of the taxpayer's money should be expended to maintain under-utilized services (and the infrastructure) when there are less expensive alternatives? We will end up with a national passenger train service like the US - only in the corridors where there is a reasonable amount of traffic. The number of corridors is less than the US due to the population density and distribution (basically, it is one). It isn't a great situation for rail entusiasts, but it is an economic reality. Adrian I think you're right - and it will likely be a franchise called First Via Rail. The speed with which the size and scope of VIA Rail has contracted since it was launched is quite alarming. Makes Beeching look like he was a fan of train travel! CHRIS LEIGH Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
BernardTPM Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I think Mk 2 was also touted as being integral construction, which I'm not sure predecessor XP64 was. XP64 was Mk.1 bodies with larger windows, wider (recessed jack-knife) doors and prototype interiors used to evaluate the new ones planned for the production Mk.2 series. The first Mk.2 FKs pre-date the XP64 and had basically Mk.1 style interiors. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Adrian Wintle Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 I think you're right - and it will likely be a franchise called First Via Rail. The speed with which the size and scope of VIA Rail has contracted since it was launched is quite alarming. Makes Beeching look like he was a fan of train travel! CHRIS LEIGH Considering that VIA Rail was formed because the existing passenger services run by CP and CN were uneconomic and they wanted to get rid of them, it isn't really surprising. Amtrak was formed for the same reasons. The economic realities were masked for a while by the fact that the lines were owned/maintained by CN and CP, and the initial stock was existing used equipment, followed by various subsidized schemes to promote Canadian businesses. Now that VIA has to own and maintain some of its own lines and buy new stock, the cost structure has increased. Outside of the LRCs, AFAIK the only substantial new purchases were the F40PHs and P42s - coachs were either refurbished used equipment or refurbished unused equipment (Nightstar/Renaissance). Adrian Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
rapidotrains Posted February 28, 2014 Author Share Posted February 28, 2014 I think you're right - and it will likely be a franchise called First Via Rail. The speed with which the size and scope of VIA Rail has contracted since it was launched is quite alarming. Makes Beeching look like he was a fan of train travel! CHRIS LEIGH The people I know at VIA are having a very hard time of it. When the huge cuts were made in 1990, management fought them tooth and nail. The cuts from 2012 onwards have been instigated by management at the behest of Transport Canada, which has been anti-VIA since day one. I'm very grateful that Marc Laliberté is no longer there. He easily ranks as the worst VIA president in history - no effort at all to get to know the front line workers and he rarely ever rode by train. He also lied to workers telling them (and the public) there were no cuts planned just a month before formally announcing the cuts in 2012. Despite the fact that in 1990 the system was chopped in half and in the recent cuts we just saw service reductions, a lot of people tell me it wasn't as bleak back in 1990 as it is now. I have not met one VIA employee who thinks he or she will have a job should the Tories win the 2015 federal election. -Jason Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
Dave47549 Posted February 28, 2014 Share Posted February 28, 2014 . Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
DonB Posted March 5, 2014 Share Posted March 5, 2014 The question as to why Stainless steel was / is not used would generally be down to cost. I'm out of touch with current material prices but stainless steel used to be about 5 to 7 times the cost of "ordinary" steel. There are, of course, many other engineering and safety-in-use factors to consider at the design stage. Link to post Share on other sites More sharing options...
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