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Post by Mike C on Apr 22, 2008 14:51:33 GMT -8
That's correct. The design itself was created at the time to be as simple as possible. While successive rebuilds and modifications have dine away with much of the standardization across companies RDCs much of the aspects that originally made the RDC so great still remain. I cannot recall the change out time for an RDC engine given original specs with a three man crew but it was quite fast all things considered, enough for a standard RR turn around time that's for sure. The fact so many of these cars still run and reenter service despite the progressive cuts to non-commuter rail over the last 70 years is a testiment to their quality. Speaking of which, I rode it yesterday, and I was thinking, wouldn't it be put to better use if it were run back-and-forth during rush hours between Langford and Victoria to shuttle commuters, instead of up island once a day and back? Since it's so slow (don't know if the limitations are due to the train's mechanism or the tracks that it's run on), I figure its best use would be to bypass rush hour congestion. there are hundreds of people who have beaten you to that idea, my friend... ironically, they all live in Victoria... surprise surprise.
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Post by ruddernut on Apr 22, 2008 15:25:57 GMT -8
Speaking of which, I rode it yesterday, and I was thinking, wouldn't it be put to better use if it were run back-and-forth during rush hours between Langford and Victoria to shuttle commuters, instead of up island once a day and back? Since it's so slow (don't know if the limitations are due to the train's mechanism or the tracks that it's run on), I figure its best use would be to bypass rush hour congestion. there are hundreds of people who have beaten you to that idea, my friend... ironically, they all live in Victoria... surprise surprise. I don't even live on the Island, but that's my utilitarian perspective speaking. I figure it would serve the most people in the most needed way. (A trans-island trip could just as well be served by a coach bus.) As a compromise to those up island, they could put it on one trip just up to Nanaimo and back between AM and PM rush hours.
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Post by CN2972South on Apr 23, 2008 13:40:53 GMT -8
Before anything like a commuter service can be started on the E&N, the tracks need major upgrades. The tracks are so bad now the max speed the train can run is about 60 km/h. The railway also doesn't have enough crews to cover any extra runs.
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Post by Canucks on Apr 23, 2008 20:45:50 GMT -8
Here is an example of how bad the tracks are as the Dayliner bounces all over the place. There are many spikes missing and the ties are even almost fully rotted in some spots.
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Post by ruddernut on May 6, 2008 1:26:39 GMT -8
Here is an example of how bad the tracks are as the Dayliner bounces all over the place. There are many spikes missing and the ties are even almost fully rotted in some spots. I wonder how well inspected and maintained the trestles are. It's a freaky feeling seeing how high above the ground you are as the train goes over those things.
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 23, 2008 19:51:06 GMT -8
From the E&N Railway YahooGroup, posted by Glenn Migneault
124 and 129 are apparently on the way over, The Vancouver Island Railtours engine could be going over as well.
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Post by Mike C on Jun 23, 2008 21:00:15 GMT -8
That's really sad. Metal theft has really sunk to an all-time low, to a hate crime almost. We had 911 service cut out a few months ago due to copper theft...
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Kam
Voyager
Posts: 926
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Post by Kam on Jun 23, 2008 22:33:02 GMT -8
That sucks big time. Copper theft is a huge problem on the island right now. Last year I had my transmitter site on Cottle Hill in Nanaimo raided 5 times, and Little Mountain in Parksville twice. We finally gave up and replaced all the tower and building grounds with galvanised steel cable...
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Post by Curtis on Jun 23, 2008 22:46:20 GMT -8
Well, this goes to show that Copper Thieves are desperate. As well it shows they keep on sinking to new lows. What do we need to do to make them stop?
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Post by Alex on Jun 23, 2008 23:37:15 GMT -8
Well, this goes to show that Copper Thieves are desperate. As well it shows they keep on sinking to new lows. What do we need to do to make them stop? Crack down on scrap metal dealers who pay cash for bundles of copper wiring. It doesn't take a genius to know it's stolen, but they just want to make a quick buck.
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 24, 2008 10:18:04 GMT -8
From the Nanaimo Daily News.
Thieves shut down rail freight service Danielle Bell Daily News
Tuesday, June 24, 2008
Rail freight service on Vancouver Island is at a standstill after thieves disabled a pair of locomotives.
Around 6 a.m. on Monday, a Nanaimo mechanic discovered copper cables missing on the two Southern Vancouver Island Railway locomotives. The cables act as the power supply for the only two freight-hauling locomotives on Vancouver Island.
The theft occurred sometime between Saturday evening and early Monday.
Don McGregor, SVI general manager, said on Monday that freight service will likely be affected for up to three days, if not longer, while they work to either repair or replace the locomotives.
While the value of the copper cables is minimal, lost business and repair costs could run into tens of thousands of dollars.
"It's shut us down for the time being," said McGregor. "The reason we're looking into it so seriously is (because of) the impact."
SVI, which hauls freight from Duncan to Courtenay five days a week, delivers to a half-dozen major customers with products ranging from agricultural goods and propane to power poles.
A Pacific VIA Rail barge of freight cars was turned away Monday morning, and future shipments put on hold.
McGregor hopes to have locomotives running sometime this week, and said three days to have them back on the tracks is a "best-case scenario."
Security, which could be a combination of in-person patrols or electronic measures, will definitely be stepped up, said McGregor, though the Nanaimo railyard is already patrolled.
With the price of copper going up, thefts have been on the rise, said Nanaimo RCMP spokesman Gary O'Brien. Besides the inherent dangers cutting cables poses, "our concern is that people are buying (random copper)," said O'Brien
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 26, 2008 3:20:30 GMT -8
SRY 124 and 129 arrived in Nanaimo today. 110 and 119 will have to go to New Westminster for repairs unless SRY can send mechanics over to Nanaimo.
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 26, 2008 11:40:35 GMT -8
Dave Wheatcroft caught 124 and 129 in Nanaimo last night.
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Post by ruddernut on Jun 27, 2008 18:04:08 GMT -8
Well, this goes to show that Copper Thieves are desperate. As well it shows they keep on sinking to new lows. What do we need to do to make them stop? Encourage those who do it to commit suicide, and provide them with facilities and staff to assist them with it. Chances are, they're hopeless drug addicts anyways, with little left to live for. Yeah, I know I'm bound to piss people off and stir up a hornet's nest once again. But my convictions are fully behind it.
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 27, 2008 18:32:16 GMT -8
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Post by Canucks on Jun 27, 2008 19:43:03 GMT -8
Nice catch! Good to see they are running two cars again.
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Post by ruddernut on Jun 28, 2008 14:54:47 GMT -8
Nice catch! Good to see they are running two cars again. If they have two cars to go around, why don't they run one in the opposite direction?
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Post by Canucks on Jun 28, 2008 16:11:16 GMT -8
Nice catch! Good to see they are running two cars again. If they have two cars to go around, why don't they run one in the opposite direction? I don't the track is double tracked up the island and I don't know of any sidings that are functional enough with the state of the track, so it could pose a problem. Also, VIA probably has a hard time getting people to work it.
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Post by Coastal Canuck on Jun 28, 2008 16:14:03 GMT -8
how did they get the replacement locomotives over to Vancouver Island
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Kam
Voyager
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Post by Kam on Jun 28, 2008 16:18:38 GMT -8
Same way as the freight and tank cars, by one of the Sea Span ships I would guess.
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 28, 2008 20:19:26 GMT -8
During the summer, VIA needs both cars on one train, as they often sell out both cars during the summer. Southern Railway of Vancouver Island, who supply the train crews, doesn't have enough people to run more than one train a day.
Both CP Rail and VIA Rail tried running the trains out of Courtenay, which destroyed ridership. Many days the train left Courtenay empty, and arrived in Victoria empty. VIA also used to run a train south on Saturday from Courtenay(the ski train ran up on the Friday night before), for people from up island to spend Saturday afternoon, evening and Sunday morning in Victoria before catching the noon train back up island. That ended when the railway laid off several running trade employees after the loss of the Port Alberni freight traffic, leaving only enough to cover the one passenger train a day and what little freight service left.
Another issue that keeps them from expanding the service, crewing the trains. As I said above, the railway only has enough running trade employees to cover the one passenger train a day and what's left of the freight operation, with one guy on the spareboard to cover when one of the regular crewmembers books off.
Work-rest rules come into play as well. Currently the crew works from about 07:00 to 18:30-19:00(depending how late they get back to Victoria), 11 to 12 hours. After 12 hours, the engineer cannot touch the throttle and the train must be recrewed, if the railway doesn't have the people available to recrew then they can't run a train that would push the crew over their 12 hours. I've heard people talk, "why not have the train run up to Duncan, or Nanaimo after it's run to Courtenay and back?" The main reason being the railway would have to supply another crew, which is difficult for the SVI to do, for two reasons; 1) they don't have the employees to cover the extra crews needed and 2) the fresh crew would have to be taxied from Nanaimo, as since the late 1980's there are no crews based in Victoria. All train crews are based out of Nanaimo.
The 2 Nanaimo crews that work the dayliner during the week work 4 days on, 3 off, and are put up in a hotel in Victoria every night. If they were to run another train from Courtenay, they would also have to pay for the crew's taxi and hotel costs while they are laying over in Courtenay as well.
BTW the railway has sidings at Esquimalt, Langford, Malahat, Koksilah, Somenos, Cassidy, Wellington, Parksville, and Dunsmuir; and storage tracks at Cobble Hill and Chemainus. As well as sidings at Cameron Lake and Arrowsmith on the Port Alberni branch line.
If the railway had the employees to cover the extra runs, it would make sense for them to run another train, but that won't happen until the railway starts moving more freight and making more money to cover the extra operating expenses. Until then, it's just one trip a day.
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Post by ruddernut on Jun 28, 2008 22:47:07 GMT -8
since the late 1980's there are no crews based in Victoria. All train crews are based out of Nanaimo. The 2 Nanaimo crews that work the dayliner during the week work 4 days on, 3 off, and are put up in a hotel in Victoria every night. If the trains are parked in Victoria for the night, why don't they base the crew there?
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Post by CN2972South on Jun 29, 2008 7:24:18 GMT -8
If the trains are parked in Victoria for the night, why don't they base the crew there? The Victoria terminal was closed in 1988, freight traffic had declined to a point it was no longer economical to keep the terminal open and crews based out of Victoria so CP centralized all freight operations out of Wellcox yard in Nanaimo. Since the passenger train never makes money, freight traffic dictates the amount of crews available and where the crews are available. CP Rail believed it was just as easy to have the crews change off at the "Home Terminal" at Nanaimo and stay in a hotel at the "Away from Home Terminal", Victoria. That was also the same time CP Rail moved the Victoria sales offices to Vancouver. Comes down to money again. The railway has a contract with one of the Traveler's Inns in Victoria where they pay a small fee for the two rooms. The railway would have to pay employees to relocate to Victoria, they'd also have to cover the employees' expenses such as gas for driving between Victoria and Nanaimo. CP Rail based all the train crews out of Nanaimo and now the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island doesn't have the money to pay the employees to relocate to Victoria. It's less expensive for them to pay for the taxi and hotel. The dayliner looses about $1 millon a year, so I hear. What railway would want to sink more money into a money loosing run? CP and VIA have made it quite clear over the last 30 years that they don't want to run the passenger service on the E&N. VIA's attitude is, "Be happy with what we run, we can shut it down any day. Don't like it? Too bad so sad." Even if the railway had crews in Victoria, the 2 crews they have to protect the assignment over the week would still limit them to one trip a day, as they'd still be on duty close to their 12 hours.
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Post by ruddernut on Jun 30, 2008 0:56:53 GMT -8
I think VIA should get rid of the runs to all these remote, low-populated areas like Jonquiere, Churchill and Courtenay, and focus on connecting the bigger cities, such as Calgary. Those low traffic intraprovincial routes should be downloaded to the provinces.
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Post by ruddernut on Jul 2, 2008 14:58:53 GMT -8
The dayliner looses about $1 millon a year, so I hear. What railway would want to sink more money into a money loosing run? CP and VIA have made it quite clear over the last 30 years that they don't want to run the passenger service on the E&N. VIA's attitude is, "Be happy with what we run, we can shut it down any day. Don't like it? Too bad so sad." Even if the railway had crews in Victoria, the 2 crews they have to protect the assignment over the week would still limit them to one trip a day, as they'd still be on duty close to their 12 hours. Would it be all that big of a loss if they lost the Dayliner? It's hardly an improvement over the bus. I'd rather have a commuter rail system running between Duncan and Victoria, and possibly between Qualicum and Nanaimo and Ladysmith and Nanaimo instead.
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