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Post by WettCoast on May 11, 2008 19:07:17 GMT -8
Here is a larger version of my current sig picture... Via's Skeena - west bound on CN's Skeena Subdivision about 4 km west of Terrace, BC. The Skeena will require about two hours to travel the remaining 135 km to its final destination at the Prince Rupert BC Ferries terminal. Time - 6:00 pm, 10 May 2008  JST photo © |
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 11, 2008 20:45:14 GMT -8
to Wet Coast Kid, re the picture of the short Skeena VIA train:
Is there a special reason why there is CBC-Radio advertising on the locomotive? Is that a common thing?
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Post by WettCoast on May 11, 2008 20:53:11 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on May 11, 2008 20:59:19 GMT -8
Thanks for that quick follow-through. I'm glad that that logo & ad are still on the locomotive. |
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Post by Dane on May 11, 2008 22:27:44 GMT -8
Thanks for that quick follow-through. I'm glad that that logo & ad are still on the locomotive. Via Rail has had a lot of issues with the decals that were used on locomotives simply removing all the paint when it came time to strip off the decal; a result of this has been that all the current Via Rail decalled locomotives will likely stay with their current advertising until they are rebuilt - which for some may be a few years away from now. |
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Post by CN2972South on May 11, 2008 22:28:30 GMT -8
That's a nice picture of The Skeena.
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Post by Retrovision on May 12, 2008 14:24:20 GMT -8
Beauty shot, Jim, thanks for the effort. I don't know about you, but for the blockiness of the up until recently main workhorse EMD F40PH locomotives of VIA Rail the new paint scheme finally does the shape justice.
I'm not up on the seasonal consist of The Skeena so I'm curious about why there is only one coach car followed by a Park Car in your photograph. Do first class travellers share the seats with "Comfort Class" passengers in the same car while only they have access to the domed Park Car, or is everyone welcome to the elegance of the streamlined tail end car in the off season? No worries if you aren't up on the details like I'm not, I'd appreciate anyone who knows how to respond to do so; thanks ahead of time.
Though I won't be taking The Skeena, and I haven't yet, I'm looking forward to taking my 3rd cross Canada rail journey this summer ahead of schooling in the fall. I'm so thankful that these same cars, the 1950s era streamlined stainless steel clad Budd cars restored in the mid-1990s, still serve the route between Vancouver and Toronto without exception. For anyone who might be worried, rest assured that the incident this week that took place in rural Ontario involving the scare of an infectious disease outbreak was quite coincidental in the circumstances that brought it to the attention of the national media and that if anything it was a great exercise in regional preparedness for such an event.
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Post by Retrovision on May 12, 2008 14:36:11 GMT -8
In this set you might notice BC's current Minister of Finance and much-touted until recently announcing otherwise potential premier Carole Taylor who at the time, between 2001 and 2005, was the chair of the CBC, building on her already longstanding name through our national broadcasting corporation. |
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Post by WettCoast on May 12, 2008 18:17:55 GMT -8
Via Rail's eastbound Skeena on CN's Skeena Subdivision between Prince Rupert & Terrace, BC - 27 June 2003
Note the extra car just ahead of the dome. During the summer season (mid may to Thanksgiving) the Skeena operates with both 'Comfort Class' (economy) and 'Totem Class' (first class). At other times of the year only Comfort class is available. Totem class passengers have exclusive access to the Panorama & Park cars at the tail end of the train. They will enjoy excellent views from both cars, and their meals are included. For all this the cost is just a mere $650~ adult. In the off-season the Panorama car is not part of the train, but the Park car is. Only during the off-season do Comfort Class passengers have access to the Park car and the view from its dome. In the recent photo above (see previous page) the Panorama car is missing. This likely means that that train was still on the off-season schedule. The summer schedule, with Totem Class, starts this week. Summer packaged tours around BC & Alberta often link together Via Rail's Skeena Totem Class service and a trip along the Inside Passage via BC Ferries. It makes a splendid way to blow a few days and more than a few dollars. |
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Post by Northern Exploration on May 12, 2008 18:47:14 GMT -8
I have always wanted to take the Skeena from Jasper. You leave the train though I believe in Prince George and stay in a hotel. The return for the rest of the trip.
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Post by Retrovision on May 12, 2008 19:04:39 GMT -8
The Skeena - westbound between Terrace & Prince Rupert - June 2003 JST photo ©Note the extra car just ahead of the dome. During the summer season (mid may to Thanksgiving) the Skeena operates with both 'Comfort Class' (economy) and 'Totem Class' (first class). At other times of the year only Comfort class is available. Totem class passengers have exclusive access to the Panorama & Park cars at the tail end of the train. They will enjoy excellent views from both cars, and their meals are included. For all this the cost is just a mere $650~ adult. In the off-season the Panorama car is not part of the train, but the Park car is. Only during the off-season do Comfort Class passengers have access to the Park car and the view from its dome. In the recent photo above (see previous page) the Panorama car is missing. This likely means that that train was still on the off-season schedule. The summer schedule, with Totem Class, starts this week. Summer packaged tours around BC & Alberta often link together Via Rail's Skeena Totem Class service and a trip along the Inside Passage via BC Ferries. It makes a splendid way to blow a few days and more than a few dollars. I might have quoted The Simsons' "Comic Book Guy" too much lately to have any novelty to offer, but I can't help but keep up the trend... Comic Book Guy voice: "Best Skeena train explanation ever!"   Thanks, Jim. |
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Post by WettCoast on May 30, 2009 20:42:16 GMT -8
I managed to get a couple of new pics of Via Rail's westbound Skeena as it entered Terrace, BC, this evening. Here they are:  Rounding a curve just upstream of the old Skeena River bridge on the east side of Terrace.  Heading west into the Terrace yards, just downstream of the old Skeena bridge. The tracks on the left are at the beginning of the Kitimat Subdivision that runs 70 km south to serve the industries and port facilities in Kitimat, at the head of Douglas Channel. |
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pscurr
Chief Steward
Posts: 204
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Post by pscurr on May 30, 2009 21:44:16 GMT -8
do you have more photos of this route?
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Post by CN2972South on Jul 25, 2009 14:14:33 GMT -8
VIA Rail engineers on strikeTens of thousands of travellers are scrambling for alternative transportation today after VIA Rail Canada halted all train departures when its engineers officially walked off the job at noon. www.thestar.com/news/gta/article/671171Only two trains continue to run, the E&N Dayliner and the Sudbury-White River train. Those trains do not operate with VIA Rail crews. The E&N Dayliner is run by the Southern Railway of Vancouver Island crews, 1 engineer and 1 conductor. The Sudbury-White River train is run by Canadian Pacific Railway crews, 1 engineer 1 conductor and a baggage handler.
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Mill Bay
Voyager 
Long Suffering Bosun
Posts: 2,887 
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Post by Mill Bay on Aug 17, 2009 12:35:17 GMT -8
Via Rail train evacuated after engine catches firectvottawa.ca
Train service on Via Rail continues to be disrupted after an engine fire forced hundreds of passengers to evacuate a train bound for Ottawa from Toronto on Sunday night.
More than 300 passengers and crew members were evacuated from the train when the [locomotive] caught fire in an isolated, swampy area in south Ottawa just after 8 p.m.
The train came to a stop just south of the town of Richmond on a four-kilometre stretch of tracks between McBean Street and Kettles Road, about 20 minutes away from Ottawa's Fallowfield station.
Via Rail is now launching an investigation into the matter. The cause of the fire remains unknown.
"Initially, our engineers tried to extinguish the fire, but were unable to do so," said Via Rail spokesperson Catherine Kaloutsky.
Some of the evacuated passengers had to walk about two kilometres in the dark because buses were unable to get to the train. A few, including the elderly, were escorted by firefighters. Others were transported by Via Rail service trucks that are able to drive on the tracks.
The 324 passengers boarded buses to shelter themselves from the barrage of bugs in the area, and were later driven to the main terminal in downtown Ottawa.
Minor injuries
Thirteen passengers were treated for minor injuries, including knee and ankle injuries, as well as bug bites.
Ottawa paramedics say the train's two engineers helped make sure all passengers were safely evacuated before they left the scene.
Both men were treated for minor smoke inhalation. They were transported to hospital where they were listed in stable condition Sunday night.
Waiting for hours
Meanwhile, frustrated family members waited hours for loved ones at the main train terminal on Tremblay Road. Some called CTV Ottawa to say Via Rail hadn't passed on any information about the incident.
Kaloutsky said the last passenger arrived at the train station at 12:04 a.m. on Monday. The train was scheduled to arrive just after 8 p.m.
Travellers who were onboard the train will get a full refund on the one-way portion of their ticket, as well as a credit for a future round-trip.
"We want to acknowledge that there were extenuating circumstances. At the same time, we are very pleased with how the evacuation was handled," Kaloutsky told CTV Ottawa on Monday.
Travel disruptions between Ottawa and Montreal
The situation is now causing headaches for passengers travelling between Ottawa and Montreal on Monday. Four of those trains are being replaced by buses.
"The equipment that was on Train 46 would have been doing a cycle today between Ottawa and Montreal and because that equipment is not available, we've replaced that by bus," Kaloutsky said.
Via Rail is offering passengers affected by those changes a 50 per cent travel credit.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Jul 22, 2010 10:55:26 GMT -8
Skeena train at rest at the end-of-track at the Prince Rupert waterfront. July 6, 2010  |
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Post by stingray on Sept 17, 2011 20:34:35 GMT -8
I got a bit of train news for you. VIA's last working FP9Au locomotive #6300, is now sitting inside the area leased by the NRHS BC Chapter, at the old Woodward's Warehouse site in New Westminster. I happen to see it there when passing by on the SkyTrain this evening. String  |
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Post by WettCoast on Jan 15, 2012 9:47:14 GMT -8
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Post by Mike C on Apr 22, 2013 14:24:15 GMT -8
Scary, but thankfully nobody hurt...
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Post by Scott on Apr 30, 2013 13:06:56 GMT -8
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Post by WettCoast on Apr 30, 2013 17:03:28 GMT -8
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Post by Cable Cassidy on Apr 30, 2013 18:48:51 GMT -8
It'll take a lot of those new $10 bills to pay for a VIA ticket out of BC  |
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Post by WettCoast on Jul 29, 2013 18:52:21 GMT -8
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Post by WettCoast on Sept 1, 2013 19:10:23 GMT -8
Via's west bound Skeena on bridge over the Skeena River @ 'Skeena Crossing' on CN's BC North main, Bulkley Subdivision - 29 August 2013. This train was a full two hours behind schedule by the time it reached this point, thanks to the 'priority' that CN puts on the movement of Via passenger trains over their tracks. The Skeena is in 'summer mode', with two extra cars to support the addition of a high-end summer tourist service.  photo © WCK-JST by Wett Coast, on Flickr
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Post by Low Light Mike on Sept 15, 2013 6:55:09 GMT -8
VIA Canadian, eastbound at Louis Creek, BC. - this nice curve location is next to the corner of Hwy-5 and Agate Bay Rd., a few minutes south of Barriere, BC. The Canadian left Kamloops at 6:30am (or so the schedule says) and it passed by me at 8:00am. Here is the VIDEO: ---------- And here are 3 stills, cropped to show the coach detail.    |
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