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Post by backshophoss on Feb 15, 2017 21:47:02 GMT -5
Something that has not been discussed yet has been the operations and models of passenger trains by
"Independent" operators,other than VIA Rail and the commuter operations.
The 2 well known are Ontario Northland's "Northlander" and the Alcoma Central's passenger operation.
There're others I'm aware of,believe by various native tribes in Canada.
In the recent past the remaining "Nortlander" cars/cab cars were returned to Holland for restoration and possible
use at a Dutch Rail Museum,as they were Trans Europe Express diesel powered fixed consist sets.
Believe the F-7's used to power them are still rusting in an ON deadline,the original european diesels could not
survive in the "Great White North",were scrapped for a pair of ON's F-7's.
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Feb 20, 2017 14:35:40 GMT -5
Good point. At present, the independent operators out there are pretty limited. Ontario Northland is still operating, but The Northlander was cut in 2012, despite much protest, and now there's just the Polar Bear Express from Cochrane to Moosonee. The ACR from Sault St. Marie to Hearst was ended by CN a few years ago, and even though some funding was subsequently provided to keep the service going, there has been a struggle to find a new operator. CN still runs the Agawa Canyon tour train, though that really falls into the realm of tourist operations.
Otherwise there's the Keewatin Railway that runs passenger trains from The Pas to Pukatawagan Manitoba. That used to be a VIA service, but was taken over by local First Nations. It's still run with old VIA equipment, and operates twice weekly as a mixed train. Seems like a really unique operation.
The other major First Nation owned railway operation is the Tshiuetin Railway headquartered out of Schefferville QC, which runs trains between there and Sept-Iles QC through a good chunk of Labrador. It runs with F40s and ex-CN wide nose GPs, with an eclectic mix of Budd equipment of various US origins.
I've never seen anyone modelling either of those operations, though I have seen some modelling the ONR and ACR. Even in those cases, there's a real limit to the amount of accurate equipment available. The ONR ex-TEE sets were made in HO, and Rapido has released a few usable models, but there isn't much else. The Tshiuetin equipment might not be that hard to model (any of the ex-US Budd equipment and locos anyway), but I don't know about available decals.
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timberley
Member
Posts: 189
Primary Railroads: VIA Rail Canada, AMT (Montreal)
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Post by timberley on Feb 20, 2017 14:42:05 GMT -5
A train on the Tshiuetin:
And a CBC min-doc about the operation:
A glance at the Pas-Puktanawagan mixed train several years ago:
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Post by slowfreight on Feb 21, 2017 22:37:33 GMT -5
That last one looks pretty ragged.
It's a bit OT, but I remember years ago reading an article about a VIA train that ran somewhere in the wilds of Canada over an otherwise unused CN secondary, and CN would pay VIA to forward locomotives across the line at the end of the trains....does anyone else remember this, or maybe even have a copy of the article? It's probably from 20 years ago.
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