VIA Rail

[smallspy]

I don't think I've even seen any photos of it. That's a very different vintage than everything else I can think of in Toronto. Could be interesting from a heritage perspective!

Veering off topic here, but it's actually not that uncommon a design, even in the Toronto area. Many of the stations built post-war by the railroads tended to be of International design, and this is best seen in the suburban CN stations built in the 1950s and 1960s. The original Oakville, Oshawa and Dorval station buildings certainly show a lot of design commonality with Leaside, even though they were built by the other railway. (Of course, of those only Dorval looks remotely like it did when built - Oakville is gone and Oshawa was heavily modified for GO service in the 198os, and again by VIA in the early 2000s - and its demise is imminent.) On the CP side, several of the stations from that time and design period still exist, such as Field in B.C., and Owen Sound.

Dan
Toronto, Ont.

 

[ShonTron]

Windsor (Walkerville) had the same international style look, but like Oakville, it was replaced by a new VIA station. Cornwall's 1950s-era CN station (built on a re-routed CN corridor) is almost untouched, even after VIA Rail started putting sloped roofs on other post-war stations like Oshawa, Kingston, and Dorval.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Quick question. Was looking at VIA's Dedicated Tracks page. Maybe I didn't notice it before but the proposal for HFR is to Quebec City. Was this always the case or is this a recent change? I always thought the initial project proposed was for Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal.

http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/pdfs/About_VIA/HFR_Info_EN.pdf

The proposal was originally Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal, but for the better part of a year Quebec City has been included in "phase 1". One would assume that this is due to wanting to include more of Quebec in the project, not mainly Ontario.

Phase 2 is proposed to run Toronto-London-Windsor, but with the province's HSR plans, I'd assume that this is up in the air now.

I'd would tend to think that the next logical VIA dedicated tracks project would be Calgary-Edmonton? It would make VIA more relevant to the west of Canada and would bridge an obvious public transit gap in Alberta. It would also check some good political boxes.

I'd love to see a higher-speed dedicated tracks Vancouver-Calgary line, but there is one big obstacle: the Rockies. Doubt this one would come to fruition anytime soon.

 

[jcam]

Poked around today. You are correct, didn't sense any bum or tramp activity whatsoever. Unfortunately the building has been broken into and vandalized. Looked to be drunken and moderately recent. Also in the hydro property didn't realize such an attractive building.

View attachment 115589View attachment 115590



This is what I'm saying. It's largely a forgotten area of the province, and so close to the GTA. It'd be nice if people could eventually take a train>bike/bus/uber/rental to places like Petroglyphs or Bon Echo. Or someone's cottage.

Submission was made to list the hydro building a couple of years ago, so pretty sure its safe.

 

[crs1026]

Submission was made to list the hydro building a couple of years ago, so pretty sure its safe.

Doesn't show in the City's Heritage Register, but so long as it's in Hydro's hands there is hope that it won't be demolished before the process can be completed. The City's process is hugely backlogged.

Is it on the list to be "Listed" or "Designated" ?

- Paul

PS - I'm also on a Heritage Preservation Panel, for Etobicoke-York

 

[Northern Light]

And finally, a picture. From the Toronto Library.

View attachment 115573

And from reverse searching the image, I realise if I had clicked (or seen!) the link in the Old Time Trains link above, goes to a page with a few images, including the one above. Though not as high resolution. http://www.trainweb.org/oldtimetrains/CPR_Toronto/stns/leaside.htm

Sigh, and the Wikipedia article links to the image as well. Hmm, might as well add it directly. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leaside_station_(CP_Rail)

Just want to TY for taking the time to dig this up!

 

[SamStar]

Quick question. Was looking at VIA's Dedicated Tracks page. Maybe I didn't notice it before but the proposal for HFR is to Quebec City. Was this always the case or is this a recent change? I always thought the initial project proposed was for Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal.

http://www.viarail.ca/sites/all/files/media/pdfs/About_VIA/HFR_Info_EN.pdf

There was a lot of fuss with the Mount Royal Tunnel now owned by RTM (Previously known as AMT ; Agence Métropolitaine de Transport) as it would have been used for the Mtl-Qc City segment of the HFR. However, it seems that the tunnel will be used by the future REM project exclusively and VIA will be left with either an longer alternative route around the mountain or a different terminal station North of the mountain with a REM connection to the Central Station.
There is a plan to build a brand new district North of the mountain with a REM stop, commuter train stop (Mascouche Line would terminate there) and VIA rail trains to QC City via the new route on the North via Trois-Rivières.

 

[dowlingm]

There was a lot of fuss with the Mount Royal Tunnel now owned by RTM (Previously known as AMT ; Agence Métropolitaine de Transport) as it would have been used for the Mtl-Qc City segment of the HFR. However, it seems that the tunnel will be used by the future REM project exclusively and VIA will be left with either an longer alternative route around the mountain or a different terminal station North of the mountain with a REM connection to the Central Station.
There is a plan to build a brand new district North of the mountain with a REM stop, commuter train stop (Mascouche Line would terminate there) and VIA rail trains to QC City via the new route on the North via Trois-Rivières.

Would be interesting to see what implications that might have for service on the Jonquiere-Senneterre route (maybe a Montreal analogue to Boston North Station?)

 

[kEiThZ]

There was a lot of fuss with the Mount Royal Tunnel now owned by RTM (Previously known as AMT

I've read this ages ago:

http://www.cat-bus.com/2016/10/via-torpedoed-regional-rail/

And I still don't get it why sharing isn't possible. The entire suggestion seems to be that since the tunnel is sold, it won't be used. But I don't get that. Would Caisse pass up revenue from VIA just like that? I don't see it.

 

[SaugeenJunction]

Local media hit for VIA HFR. Not much new here but the article includes the new map we saw the other day.

Tweed among stops on proposed Via line

Edit: Plus here is an article from the same author with a more Kingston-centric focus:

Via confirms proposed rail route

Of note:

"There are several options for stops along the route being considered, it would be premature to comment further at this time."

The plan is meant to allow Via to operate trains on a more frequent basis, solving what the company says is the biggest obstacle to travellers choosing the train.

Via trains currently run on tracks owned by Canadian National Rail, which limits how often the passenger trains can run.

A new passenger route would benefit communities along the existing Via route, Diaby added.

"For the existing routes, residents along the Toronto-Kingston-Montreal-Quebec corridor will see improved scheduling and service tailored to their community's needs," Diaby wrote.

 

[nfitz]

Veering off topic here, but it's actually not that uncommon a design, even in the Toronto area. Many of the stations built post-war by the railroads tended to be of International design, and this is best seen in the suburban CN stations built in the 1950s and 1960s. The original Oakville, Oshawa and Dorval station buildings certainly show a lot of design commonality with Leaside, even though they were built by the other railway. (Of course, of those only Dorval looks remotely like it did when built - Oakville is gone and Oshawa was heavily modified for GO service in the 198os, and again by VIA in the early 2000s - and its demise is imminent.) On the CP side, several of the stations from that time and design period still exist, such as Field in B.C., and Owen Sound.

Interesting, I haven't seen the latter two. Oakville was gone long before I ever got there. I should be able to remember Oshawa given the number of times I rode through it in the 1980s, but I don't.

Dorval has been very modified too in the last 25 years or so, though the original structure is all in there somewhere. But now you say that, I think I can see some resemblance - I spent a lot of time in that station in the early 1980s. Far too much time. I must look up some old photos. I don't think it's as old though. And the brickwork on part of the Leaside station looks different from what I've seen on stations before - though not that dissimilar from what you see a lot of today - there's probably a word for it.

But how much of it is still under there ...

 

[kEiThZ]

It's interesting to read guys like Paul Lanagan and Greg McCormick over at High Speed Rail Canada. Gotta wonder where the truth lies. Is VIA incompetent and missing out on a opportunity to launch HSR by pushing a half-baked plan or are they try to push thing a proposal that has a reasonable chance of actually coming to fruition?

I will admit, my opinion sways back and forth. I often wonder how much real background work you can get done for $3 million. Makes you wonder how concrete the HFR proposal is. At the same time, I actually appreciate Desjardins-Siciliano trying to make a sincere effort to thread the needle of the difficult task of trying to find a role for VIA in the 21st century.

I am hoping above all else that we end up with something that is upgradable. For example, launches with may at-grade rail crossings. As they get capital, they upgrade and increase speeds. Something to that effect. It's a tall order, I know....

 

[nfitz]

I haven't read enough of their stuff to get a handle on their views. Even I hope I'm wrong. I fear I'm not.

 

[SamStar]

I've read this ages ago:

http://www.cat-bus.com/2016/10/via-torpedoed-regional-rail/

And I still don't get it why sharing isn't possible. The entire suggestion seems to be that since the tunnel is sold, it won't be used. But I don't get that. Would Caisse pass up revenue from VIA just like that? I don't see it.

The CDPQ might have committed funding for VIA's HFR project in exchange of abandoning the Mount Royal Tunnel for the exclusive use of the REM. This is just me extrapolating what we know at the current time.

 

[nephersir7]

And I still don't get it why sharing isn't possible. The entire suggestion seems to be that since the tunnel is sold, it won't be used. But I don't get that. Would Caisse pass up revenue from VIA just like that? I don't see it.

For the same reasons why the TTC presumably wouldn't accept to share its tunnels.with VIA trains (if we pretend track gauge wouldn't be an issue).

The operational and safety headaches wouldn't be worth whatever revenue could be earned..That is even more true in the case of a privately owned and operated metro system like the REM.

The REM will have two stations between the tunnel entrance and Central Station, with a travel time of 7 minutes and headways as short as 90-120 seconds during rush hours. This means that there will be about 3-5 REM trains per direction in the 5km tunnel at any given moment.

Even if the VIA trains were made compatible with the REM's CBTC system, I can't see how they could be inserted in that traffic without causing service disruptions.