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VIA Rail

Trackside_Treasure said:
Slowly, slowly. The removal of Rens from the Corridor, the dropping down to one HEP set, temporarily returned to two sets, sidelining of HEP cars, continued retirement of LRC cars are all part of a slow increase in the number of Corridor rotation lines covered by Ventures, now up to 16.

There are two impediments to more Ventures entering service. One is the ongoing CN-imposed reductions that continue to hamper Venture On-Time Performance. Couple this with ongoing court case in Quebec waiting to be heard as VIA seeks injunctions against CN restrictions.

Then there are ongoing maintenance issues that result from TMC servicing buildings not ready, niggling teething troubles with Venture maintenance (though VIA seems hesitant to release Venture serviceability data) one set never entering service and another in the shop after a September incident.

On the bright side, the incremental gains in Ventures that have entered service have resulted from all sets delivered, all operating crews trained, TMC and MMC staff knowing the Ventures better, finding mechanical and schedule workarounds, and limited creativity creating 32-axle sets. All of these have happened very slowly.

I have to imagine a world in which VIA orders these sets and is allowed to run them on some fantasy parallel Corridor free of any interference from the euphemistic 'infrastructure owner'. How different would that world be, and what VIA trains would be operating in it?
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Hopefully they can complete the overhaul of the HEP cars to be able to use them on LD routes.
 
Just spotted some Ren cars getting scrapped in the Montreal maintenance center.
IMG_4261.jpeg
 
I haven't been tracking enough. Can someone give me an easy explainer on the 32 axle limit and why it cause VIA heartburn?
 
kEiThZ said:
I haven't been tracking enough. Can someone give me an easy explainer on the 32 axle limit and why it cause VIA heartburn?
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You have lots to read. Spoiler: CN has imposed highly restrictive speed restrictions on Ventures with under 32 axles (ie most of them) at level crossings.

Trackside Treasure

tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com

- Paul
 
Random question, if VIA suddenly decided that it was interested in bringing back routes that they cut years ago, like the Canadian on the CP route thru Calgary or a Havelock train (obviously not possible how it was originally with the Don Branch being out of order and the sub being a slow line), and if they were willing to fork up the money for the necessary infrastructure and stations and whatnot, would the be able to? Would the freight railways play ball, seeing as these were routes that they previously were forced to handle by the government, but had them taken off their hands by the creation of VIA?
 
bpbpbpbp said:
Random question, if VIA suddenly decided that it was interested in bringing back routes that they cut years ago, like the Canadian on the CP route thru Calgary or a Havelock train (obviously not possible how it was originally with the Don Branch being out of order and the sub being a slow line), and if they were willing to fork up the money for the necessary infrastructure and stations and whatnot, would the be able to? Would the freight railways play ball, seeing as these were routes that they previously were forced to handle by the government, but had them taken off their hands by the creation of VIA?
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The problem, especially with CPKC is they are very busy and adding slots would be challenging for them, With enough money, anything is possible. The question would really be how much?
 
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