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Orangeville-Brampton Railway (OBRY)

SaugeenJunction

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I thought I would make a thread dedicated to the Orangeville-Brampton Railway and the Credit Valley Explorer train service. With a chunk of the line running through the GTA, the OBRY as a rail corridor could become more and more important in the future.
 
1 dead, another airlifted to hospital after car and freight train collide in Brampton
http://globalnews.ca/news/2626745/t...in-collide-in-brampton-peel-ems/?sf23989812=1

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Photo of crash from Brampton Fire Twitter.

Surprises me that the crash was so bad - OBRY trains are typically slow moving and the damage seems disproportionate.
 
I (unfortunately) thought of it after seeing that article. Thought someone might be able to explain why damage was so bad with a slow moving train.
fast moving street? with very few trains? I have driven that stretch of road maybe a 1000 times....never seen a train....so I am going to guess a careless, speeding driver not expecting a train to be there....but let's wait to find out for sure.
 
The trains are allowed to do 30mph - that's not an inconsequential speed.

I've had crews tell me that one of the more common types of accidents on the line is a car hitting the train broadside. I suspect that's what happened here.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
The trains are allowed to do 30mph - that's not an inconsequential speed.

I've had crews tell me that one of the more common types of accidents on the line is a car hitting the train broadside. I suspect that's what happened here.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

It does not appear to be the case here....it was a very short train and the car was

pushed between 50 and 100 metres from the crossing south along the tracks

Whatever happened, it seems the car got on the tracks and was hit by the front of the train (not assigning blame there just pointing out that not the car hitting side of train).

http://www.bramptonguardian.com/new...entified-as-father-and-daughter-from-brampto/
 
As for potential GO train service, the two rail lines through Caledon present different problems.

The CP Rail line through Bolton currently carries high volumes of freight, and most of it is single-track. Accordingly, the most that could be hoped for initially would be one or two trains morning and evening until such time as the CP line is double-tracked between Bolton and Weston.

No such problem exists for the former CP line between Orangeville and Brampton, which currently has only a few freight trains and perhaps one or two Credit Valley Explorer tour trains a week.

However, the trains currently are held to a maximum speed of 30 miles an hour, and upgrades of the rails and roadbeds would be needed to permit the speeds found on the line of up to 70 m.p.h. when CP Dayliners ran between Owen Sound and Toronto in just three hours.

Were an Orangeville/Caledon delegation to approach Metrolinx, they might also inquire as to the agency’s long-term equipment plans.

For reasons we’ve never seen explained, all GO Transit trains are the double-decker variety, with each of up to 12 coaches being capable of carrying about 200 passengers.

This clearly is needed during rush hours, but far more than what is required for off-peak hours or for new services to places like Orangeville, Alliston and Peterborough, not to mention for the Smart Track service Toronto Mayor John Tory is proposing for the Toronto-area GO lines.

As we see it, an ideal conveyance for low-demand periods on GO lines would be a self-powered, natural gas/electric hybrid similar to Toronto’s new low-slung streetcars or perhaps the type of vehicles now being used for the UP Express service between Union Station and Pearson Airport.

http://citizen.on.ca/?p=4031

I've always envisioned a fleet of small GO DMU's operating on new lines to Bolton, Cambridge, Peterborough, and Orangeville. However I've been told that buses at that ridership make more sense.
 
Buses on Highway 10 and on Hurontario/Main to Downtown Brampton will always be faster than train service on the OBRY corridor. And since there are only a six buses a day - weekdays only - on Route 37, I don't see the need. The tourist train is great - probably the most scenic train ride in Southern Ontario, too bad you have to get up to Orangeville to use it.
 
It does not appear to be the case here....it was a very short train and the car was

Whatever happened, it seems the car got on the tracks and was hit by the front of the train (not assigning blame there just pointing out that not the car hitting side of train).

http://www.bramptonguardian.com/new...entified-as-father-and-daughter-from-brampto/

There are all sorts of appliances on the sides of railway equipment that can snag things like cars and drag them along. It doesn't need to be the front of the loco doing the damage.

In any case, I haven't had a chance to talk with any of my contacts up there, so I haven't heard their side of the story as yet.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.
 
There are all sorts of appliances on the sides of railway equipment that can snag things like cars and drag them along. It doesn't need to be the front of the loco doing the damage.
Yeah, thought of that but the story did say the car was pushed not dragged/pulled....of course this could just be laymen (or lazy) language but that is what it says.
 
Since there is now a thread on this I might as well contribute. The diamond between OBRY and the CN Halton sub was upgraded in the last few years to allow the OBRY trains (which run at much slower speeds) to be "lifted" over the CN tracks by the the flanges of the wheels of the OBRY engine and cars it pulls. Here's a video of it. This reduces the banging sound when trains go over the diamond in both directions and it reduces wear and tear on the diamond. BCRY also uses this type of diamond.

Over the years I've seen people post here that one option to reduce costs would be to abandon the OBRY track south of the CN Halton sub and interchange with CN rail. There used to be a connection track at the diamond before it was removed. Of course, this might not save any money because transferring cars via CN could take more time.
 
I want to take this moment to share some information about this line that people may not know.

I've taken an interest in the OBRY because, up until the late 1990's the line ran to Owen Sound under CP Rail. Even to this day, the line is called the Owen Sound Subdivision, despite terminating just north of Orangeville. Between Dundalk and Flesherton (towns in Grey County, that the former line served) was Saugeen Junction, where a branchline ran off the Owen Sound Sub to Walkerton, Ontario, called the Walkerton Subdivision. The line was pulled up in 1985. My Grandmother to this day owns a farm that the Walkerton Sub ran through. In 2002, we bought back our portion of the line from CP Rail (12 acres for $2500 + legal fees). My love of trains came from exploring the abandoned right of way as a child. Anyways, here are a few interesting pieces of information about the Owen Sound Subdivision line.
  1. Pre-abandonment of the northern section, the entire Streetsville-Owen Sound line was supposed to be purchased and operated as a shortline by the "Mid-Western Ontario Railway Company". This never happened due to Mississauga refusing to forgive outstanding taxes on the portion of the line in that city.
  2. The abandoned portion from Orangeville to Owen Sound is preserved to this day in one piece, acting as the Dufferin County CP Rail Trail, and the Grey County CP Rail Trail. CP originally gifted the right of way to the Trans-Canada Trail. TCT declared it surplus, and transferred it to the two counties.
  3. Today, CANDO Rail Services runs the OBRY on behalf of the Orangeville Railway Development Corporation.
  4. CP Rail still serves some customers on the very southern part of the line in Streetsville, with the OBRY serving customers in Orangeville, Brampton, and Mississauga.
  5. From around 2009-2012 it looked like there was a decent chance that the Orangeville-Owen Sound part of the line would be rebuilt to serve the proposed but never-built Melancthon Mega Quarry, which was to be the second largest quarry in North America. The proponent, Highland Companies actually paid the taxes on the line on behalf of the Town of Orangeville for a few years, in anticipation of purchasing it. Rough estimates said that the line would have seen up to 40 aggregate trains per day to serve this colossal quarry. Some would go to Owen Sound's port, some would go south to interchange with CP.
  6. Even to this day, towns along the abandoned right of way craft development policies anticipating the eventual return of trains north of Orangeville. In Shelburne, a townhouse development near the ROW was required to tell prospective buyers that one day trains may roll north again.
  7. The OBRY's Credit Valley Explorer is very very successful. Annually, it carries 32,000 visitors and is frequently sold out, especially for the dome car.
  8. Oh yeah, the OBRY Credit Valley Explorer has a dome car it leases.
  9. Orangeville's Mayor Jeremy Williams is very supportive of the OBRY. He frequently sings its praises on Twitter.
  10. Rapido Trains, a model train company has recently purchased a retired VIA sleeper and is restoring it for use on the Credit Valley Explorer. Check out its voyage to the OBRY: Part 1 & Part 2. It also recently purchased an RDC, which they want to return to operating condition. It is most likely going to the OBRY.
  11. The Toronto Railway Historical Association (at Roundhouse Park in Toronto) own a retired VIA LRC locomotive, which now is operational. The original plan was to move it to the museum, but now they are looking for a shortline to run it on. From what I've heard, the OBRY is the leading option for this.
Anyways, if I think of anything more, I will post it. I just wanted to share some of the past, present, and future of this very exciting shortline.
 
When the reopening of the Owen Sound portion as a shortline was explored, there was good reason to believe that new business, particularly agricultural, might be achievable. The limiting factor however was the condition of bridges on the line, which would have consumed a lot of work, ie money. There have been periodic rumours of relaying to Shelburne to serve an emerging customer there. Without a large customer however, Orangeville is as far as we will ever see it serve.

CP has been looking to OBRY to do more of the industrial switching around Streetsville. This being the case, it's less likely that the south end will be pulled up. Railroads just don't give away interchange rights. CP will stubbornly hold onto the interchange rights even if it looks on the traffic as an annoyance. A CN interchange (which would be quite effective) just won't happen.

- Paul
 
If the Brampton CN third track goes in, doesn't the option to curve the OBRY onto it and sever the southern portion become more attractive given the need to replace the diamond with an even more expensive one in both money and operational compromises? They could look at a grade separation I guess to retain the CP routing but that would be challenging to put it mildly.
 

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