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I was surprised to see a train with locos on both ends, pass over me as I was walking under the tracks the other day.At the beginning of this year VIA's Corridor cycle used 25 trains (the current schedule requires fewer), including the one above. Several trains (7, if I go by memory) were of fixed "top-and-tail" configuration, made up of a loco, a business class car, 4 economy coaches, and another loco. Three more trains had a single loco and a baggage car, a business class car and ranged from 3 to 5 economy coaches. Two trains were made up of Renaissance equipment, and operated only between Québec and Ottawa. The rest of the trains were between 3 and 6 cars and a single loco, almost always a single business and the rest economy coaches.
I was surprised to see a train with locos on both ends, pass over me as I was walking under the tracks the other day.
Why use 2 locos and 5 coaches, if they can run 1 loco with 6 coaches? Is it for improved acceleration? I assumed it was some break-in thing ...
Is it so they don't have to turn the engine? And if so ... wouldn't some cab cars be a better deal?
As I haven't been west of Bay since March, it was on the Kingston sub somewhere - but I don't recall where.I presume it is to save them from having to turn the trains around.VIA doesn’t currently own any cab cars but all the trains in the new fleet will have them so it is a temporary solution. I assume this is for trains West of Toronto as I have never seen this on trains in Ottawa and have often been on a train from Montreal that had to turn around at the beginning of the route. Maybe Windsor doesn't have a wye.
As I haven't been west of Bay since March, it was on the Kingston sub somewhere - but I don't recall where.
I suppose it could have been a Kingston train. Though I can't imagine why they'd need that power ... as I'd think 2 or 3 RDCs could do that run.
Interesting. I don't think it would be for the extra power.
I haven't seen any trains since COVID, so it could be that with all the unused equipment, due to service reductions, they have double ended most/all of their corridor trains to save the cost of having to turn the trains around. If you think about it, even if it only takes 5-10 minutes to turn a train around, the cost in labour and track rights would add up.
As for using RDCs, even if VIA had some to spare (VIA only has 5 remaining), when new they only had a max. speed 85 mph (and given their age, VIA might not want to operate them at max. speed) which is slower than the top speed of 100mph for LRCs along the lakeshore. Granted the Kingston train has frequent stops and may not get to max speed very often.
We need to give up on the RDC's except for situations like the Vancouver Island railway or commuter solutions (i'd love to see them run from Orangeville to Brampton GO for example, or on the Fergus sub to Guelph GO)
But for intercity solutions, if we want DMU's, we should order something like the Union Pearson Express trains, new DMU's that can go 100mph and are reliable.
They are high floor, but so are VIA's current trains technically, they can be fitted with extending stairs.
The Nippon Sharyo DMU used by the UPX actually have a maximum speed of 90 mph. For regional (a.k.a. stopping) trains, that might be good enough though, as acceleration is more important than maximum speed.
Anyone know what the Ocean and Canadian usually run? I know summer is longer and winter is shorter.
I was surprised to see a train with locos on both ends, pass over me as I was walking under the tracks the other day.
Why use 2 locos and 5 coaches, if they can run 1 loco with 6 coaches? Is it for improved acceleration? I assumed it was some break-in thing ...
Is it so they don't have to turn the engine? And if so ... wouldn't some cab cars be a better deal?
The Nippon Sharyo DMU used by the UPX actually have a maximum speed of 90 mph. For regional (a.k.a. stopping) trains, that might be good enough though, as acceleration is more important than maximum speed.
We could ask that about just about anything.As for cab cars - of course they would be better. And with what funding would they have purchased them from?
We could ask that about just about anything.
Though, during the LRC purchase and Renaissance purchase would have made sense - though clearly the latter wouldn't have happened, given the used nature of the equipment.
Why they haven't looked at a few more RDCs over the years I don't know, for things like the shorter Ontario runs, etc. Do we really need full trainsets doing the commuter run to Kingston?
No question that feds shouldn't have funded more equipment years ago ...
Indeed. Compare to GO, that have received over 140 cab cars over the last 40 years - recently replacing most of the old ones for ones with improved crash standards.The Canadian government is not known for investing in replacement equipment when it is needed. They give new meaning to "A day late and a dollar short." LOL
Indeed. Compare to GO, that have received over 140 cab cars over the last 40 years - recently replacing most of the old ones for ones with improved crash standards.
Would have 20 new cab cars for VIA, decades ago, really been more than a federal budget rounding error? Or a dozen new RDCs?
4.4 Other Strategies
Corridor trains are being modified to operate in a bi-directional mode, meaning that equipment will be configured to travel in both directions, eliminating the need to wye the train (the process of reversing the direction of a train by performing the railway equivalent of a three-point turn), which is a time consuming and expensive manoeuvre. This will mean progressively changing the interior configuration of LRC cars to a 50/50 seating plan (50% of the seats facing one end of the car, the other 50% facing the opposite end).
The major advantage of bi-directional mode is a quicker turnaround, allowing VIA Rail to:
50/50 seating is the standard in the passenger rail industry worldwide. SNCF, Eurostar, SLA, Amtrak and Virgin, among others, have adopted it. The first LRC Business class car with the 50/50 seating plan has already been placed into service, together with a newly refurbished LRC Economy class car with 50/50 seating. The full LRC fleet refurbishment will be completed by December 2016.
- Operate more flexibly (notably in terms of scheduling);
- React more efficiently to last-minute changes or tight scheduling;
- Optimize fleet usage, i.e. increase frequency and capacity without adding equipment; and,
- Alleviate station congestion issues.
When I used to ride more frequently, they were doing bi-directional, and only changing the engine around. They simply rotated the seats between runs - which I've certainly observed them doing on a frequent basis. And then changing them myself to get a 4 - which got ugly looks. And some trains back then were double-ended with fixed seating, similar to now! When they started switching to the newer LRC rolling stock from the older 1950s and Turbo stock, it got stuck. That's the point they should have gone for cab cars.Should they have acquired cab cars in 2016? Maybe, but the new fleet was approved only a couple years later, so they would likely only have used them for about 8 years.
Why they haven't looked at a few more RDCs over the years I don't know, for things like the shorter Ontario runs, etc. Do we really need full trainsets doing the commuter run to Kingston?
As originally built, neither the LRCs nor the Renaissance cars supported bi-directional operation (the former have been since upgraded to support it, but the latter can't). I always thought they should have converted the LRC locomotives into cab cars, but with the new fleet having cab cars the whole point is moot.
