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Post by Low Light Mike on Aug 27, 2009 17:24:03 GMT -8
Thanks for the correction and explanation, Mr. Wett Coast. Much appreciated.
One thing that I noticed while riding the train, is that it's really hard to get pictures of trestles / bridges ! Much easier to hike through the woods to the tracks and get a picture of a train running by.
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Post by CN2972South on Aug 28, 2009 20:27:47 GMT -8
The train is operated by Southern Railway, not VIA. No crew uniforms, they were very casually dressed, sometimes gruff, sometimes cheerful.....just regular guys doing their jobs. Yep that's the reason the Malahat kept running while the rest of the system was shut down due to the Locomotive Engineer strike, the only VIA Rail employees on Vancouver Island are the 2 ticket agents in the Victoria station. |
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Post by CN2972South on Sept 29, 2009 12:54:42 GMT -8
VIA Rail RDC's 6148 and 6133 out in the Victoria yard for E&N days. 6148 had earlier been used to give train rides between Victoria and Langford. 6133 would have been used too if she wasn't suffering some mechanical problems. The third RDC, 6135 was being used for the regular passenger train.  6148 pulls into the yard with a full load of E&N Day patrons. The train was sold out from about 9 in the morning until the last run at 4:30 PM.  6133 on display at E&N Day 2009.  |
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Post by Scott on Oct 14, 2009 21:43:44 GMT -8
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Post by Ferryman on Oct 14, 2009 22:26:52 GMT -8
Very tragic....
The Nanaimo News bulletin reports that the accident was at the Dorman road crossing, which is just south of Country Club mall where all the fire fighters do their training. I go through that crossing quite often, and I must say that it is a bit of a dangerous crossing, because there is no merge lane to slow down on if you're going southbound, and you want to turn right on to Dorman road. The railway crossing is basically right up against the intersection too, so if you're going fast enough, and you're an Islander who takes the lack of trains for granted, anyone could easily breeze through that crossing like its not even there. Also, if I recall, there's no arms that come down at the crossing when a train comes through either.
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Post by CN2972South on Oct 14, 2009 23:34:11 GMT -8
Very tragic.... The Nanaimo News bulletin reports that the accident was at the Dorman road crossing, which is just south of Country Club mall where all the fire fighters do their training. I go through that crossing quite often, and I must say that it is a bit of a dangerous crossing, because there is no merge lane to slow down on if you're going southbound, and you want to turn right on to Dorman road. The railway crossing is basically right up against the intersection too, so if you're going fast enough, and you're an Islander who takes the lack of trains for granted, anyone could easily breeze through that crossing like its not even there. Also, if I recall, there's no arms that come down at the crossing when a train comes through either. This is the crossing where it happened. i65.photobucket.com/albums/h237/enr3870/3870nanaimo.jpgNo arms, but there are warning devices and the engineer was whistling for the crossing. Because the driver pf the car didn't look or listen( www.operationlifesaver.ca/), 2 people are dead. I have no sympathy for people who run the crossings. They are putting their lives, the lives of those in the car, and the lives of those near by(a car can derail a train depending how they hit) at risk just because they can't wait for the train to go by. Not to mention what it does to the crew and in this case passengers.
Moderator Edit: Photo exceeds acceptable width for posting to a thread. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 15, 2009 6:20:59 GMT -8
No arms, but there are warning devices and the engineer was whistling for the crossing. Because the driver pf the car didn't look or listen( www.operationlifesaver.ca/), 2 people are dead. I have no sympathy for people who run the crossings. They are putting their lives, the lives of those in the car, and the lives of those near by(a car can derail a train depending how they hit) at risk just because they can't wait for the train to go by. Not to mention what it does to the crew and in this case passengers. I read an article in the last few months about the experiences of subway/transit train drivers, and how it's inevitable in someone's career that he/she will be driving a train that hits and kills someone. If you work on an urban train long enough, sooner or later your train will hit a wrong-place pedestrian. So in an incident like we had in Nanaimo yesterday, there's tragedy for the family from the car and there will be ongoing trauma for the people on the train, especially those driving the train. ---------------- Regarding the Nanaimo crash yesterday, it's reported that the car was travelling southbound on the highway. The train was of course travelling southbound on it's return trip to Victoria. I just drove this section of highway this morning, and the train-track is parallel and in clear-sight of the highway for at least 1km before the crash scene. The car would have recently been travelling beside or have just passed the moving train, and the train's horn would have been honking at the previous intersection. I can't think of many more places that are any clearer than that crash-spot, for the ability of a car-driver to see a train. ------------- late edit: the Nanaimo newspaper is now reporting that the vehicle may have stalled as it was crossing the tracks. That's the logical explanation that we were missing. I don't want to imagine what that was like for all involved. |
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Kam
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Post by Kam on Oct 29, 2009 14:52:32 GMT -8
I was up in Port Alberni the other day and saw a mower working its way along the abandoned Port Alberni Line.
The line is thick with broom and weeds but the mower left a nice clean path behind.
Looks like there may be life for the line in the future!
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Post by Low Light Mike on Oct 29, 2009 17:01:37 GMT -8
I was up in Port Alberni the other day and saw a mower working its way along the abandoned Port Alberni Line. The line is thick with broom and weeds but the mower left a nice clean path behind. Looks like there may be life for the line in the future! A story in the Nanaimo Daily News today mentioned the possibility of rail excursions to Cameron Lake. The same article was mainly about a proposed idea to run the dayliner from Nanaimo south to Victoria in the morning. I think it was the Island Corridor Foundation sharing some of their ideas. ================== Sunday Nov 1st at 1:00pm-3:00pm there is a bbq event at the Nanaimo train station to publicize the coming fundraising campaign for the restoration of the Nanaimo train station. You can find more information on the project at www.nanaimotrainstation.org |
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Post by CN2972South on Oct 29, 2009 17:28:59 GMT -8
The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island and volunteers from the Alberni Pacific Railway have been clearing vegitation on the Port Alberni Sub. Expect to see Alberni Pacific Railway excursions and SVI freight using the Port Alberni Sub again. I was up in Port Alberni the other day and saw a mower working its way along the abandoned Port Alberni Line. Officially it's not abandoned. The E&N never filed a petition for abandonment with Transport Canada. They just stopped running on it when the pulp mill went to truck. Part of the line is used by Alberni Pacific Railway in the summer to run to McLean's Mill. |
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Neil
Voyager
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Post by Neil on Oct 29, 2009 19:53:05 GMT -8
The Southern Railway of Vancouver Island and volunteers from the Alberni Pacific Railway have been clearing vegitation on the Port Alberni Sub. Expect to see Alberni Pacific Railway excursions and SVI freight using the Port Alberni Sub again. Why would they re-open it? Isn't Port Alberni pretty depressed? Where would the business come from? |
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Kam
Voyager
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Post by Kam on Oct 29, 2009 21:06:46 GMT -8
That sounds like fun! We will go check it out and report back. I was up in Port Alberni the other day and saw a mower working its way along the abandoned Port Alberni Line. The line is thick with broom and weeds but the mower left a nice clean path behind. Looks like there may be life for the line in the future! A story in the Nanaimo Daily News today mentioned the possibility of rail excursions to Cameron Lake. The same article was mainly about a proposed idea to run the dayliner from Nanaimo south to Victoria in the morning. I think it was the Island Corridor Foundation sharing some of their ideas. ================== Sunday Nov 1st at 1:00pm-3:00pm there is a bbq event at the Nanaimo train station to publicize the coming fundraising campaign for the restoration of the Nanaimo train station. You can find more information on the project at www.nanaimotrainstation.org |
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Neil
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Post by Neil on Oct 29, 2009 21:48:10 GMT -8
Tourists. Put a steam engine or a vintage diesel loco on the line and run from Nanaimo during the summer. Tourism's a given, but bcr4604 mentioned it being used for a freight run, which is what I'm curious about, given the Alberni Valley's poor industrial base of late. |
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Post by Northern Exploration on Oct 30, 2009 8:00:59 GMT -8
Tourists. Put a steam engine or a vintage diesel loco on the line and run from Nanaimo during the summer. Port Alberni is pretty depressed since much of the forest industry has gone pffft. The two major camps are pretty much goneand close to going ppfft and the mill is barely operating compared to what it used to be, so tourism is a good bet. Three tourism jobs isn't worth one forest job but it would be a good start to get that great part of The Island back on it's feet. Lots of potential for outdoor tourism, if the investment and initiative is there in the right combination. My brother had dinner in Port Alberni on his way over to paradise last Thursday. He told me the table beside them were talking about the rail line. A leased surplus Dayliner/Budd Car is what they were talking about. Vintage equipment, while great for nostalgia, would cost considerably more in terms of outlay and upkeep. |
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Post by CN2972South on Oct 31, 2009 9:37:04 GMT -8
Tourists. Put a steam engine or a vintage diesel loco on the line and run from Nanaimo during the summer. Tourism's a given, but bcr4604 mentioned it being used for a freight run, which is what I'm curious about, given the Alberni Valley's poor industrial base of late. The development of a coal mine near Union Bay could bring traffic to the Port Alberni Sub as they are looking at building a dock in Port to load coal onto the ships. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Nov 1, 2009 15:59:37 GMT -8
Here's the plan for the restored Nanaimo train station:  Here's the Selby Street view of the station today, and the fundraising event today:  The community fundraising goal is $400,000 of cash and in-kind donations. www.nanaimotrainstation.org/about.html |
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Post by Dane on Nov 16, 2009 10:34:17 GMT -8
5 cars are moving to Port Alberni shortly to go the the Steam Railway there who is a partner with BCIT. They will be used for practicums. Starting in 2011 there is also a daily (weekdays) customer 5 cars/day all year in Port Alberni.
Things are also close to in place for the Port Alberni excursion to continue to Parksville in the next year or two.
This is all from a presentation I heard last night on rail operations in the area.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Feb 19, 2010 8:57:21 GMT -8
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 8, 2010 20:47:16 GMT -8
Pictures from March 6, 2010: Rail station, near Alberni Quay:   - looking through the windows at the train station (it is open in the summertime for the steam-train trip to McLean Mill)   (pardon my reflection)  ----------------- Trestle at Cameron Lake, on the Port Alberni subdivision: - Setting the scene. From the roadside pullout. look above the white arrows....  Various degrees of zoom...     |
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Post by WettCoast on Mar 18, 2010 20:52:04 GMT -8
The Alberni line in happier times...  Vancouver Island Dayliner on Port Alberni subdivision excursion - fall 1970 (photo by the late Dr. Max Edwards of Victoria) |
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Post by CN2972South on Mar 18, 2010 21:17:09 GMT -8
I've heard the trestles along Cameron Lake need some work. CP Rail in later years and RailAmerica used untreated wood on them, many of the timbers have started to rot in the 8 years the line has been sitting dormant.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 19, 2010 19:08:26 GMT -8
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Post by colinhotham on Mar 23, 2010 1:51:41 GMT -8
I am vacationing in Qualicum Beach from the 6th June 2010 to 15th june 2010. As a railway enthusiast I was wondering if there are any railway events in the area around this time. I have already in past years travelled the E&N line but are there any other lines operating for tourist travel? Will the Port Alberni line be in operation at this time of year?
Colin.
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 23, 2010 7:08:32 GMT -8
I am vacationing in Qualicum Beach from the 6th June 2010 to 15th june 2010. As a railway enthusiast I was wondering if there are any railway events in the area around this time. I have already in past years travelled the E&N line but are there any other lines operating for tourist travel? Will the Port Alberni line be in operation at this time of year? Colin. It looks like the Alberni steam-train doesn't start it's tourist season until June 26th. This is the tourist train (short 40 minute ride) from the Alberni train station (next to the Frances Barkley dock) to the McLean Sawmill. Here's there website: www.alberniheritage.com/alberni-pacific-railway/schedule-fares#Spring....and I haven't heard anything about the sub-line from Parksville to Port Alberni being open. I think that's still just a dream. |
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Post by Low Light Mike on Mar 27, 2010 23:26:06 GMT -8
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