VIA Rail Info Wanted

I am new to VIA Rail and would like some info on the fleet and how they operate and the different routes.

Hi:

A good place to start is:

http://www.viarail.ca

Lots of info. on Trains, Routes, Schedules, etc.

For anything technical, just ask away. I’m sure there's someone here that can help. Also browse through some of the topics on this forum.

Via started somewhere around 1978 as a marketing arm for CN passenger, and quickly morphed into a Canadian Amtrak, operating most of CN and CP passenger trains. BCR and ONR operated their own train still. Until 1993, Via operated steam-heat legacy fleets of CNR carbon-steel lightweights and CPR stainless-steel lightweights, using GMD FP9's and MLW FPA4's. F40PH-2's were added mid-80's, and steam heat cars were used to heat the train. Around 1993 the CNR cars were sold off to tourist roads, CPR cars rebuilt for HEP, and legacy engines retired, as well as routes pared. Around 2000, P42's showed up for corridor service to replace the 251-powered LRC power cars, which were retired. LRC coaches were retained, and some ex-british cars were purchased for eastern LD trains. The routes basically consist of Vancouver-Toronto and Montreal-East Coast, with a "NEC-like" corridor between Windsor-Toronto-Montreal (diesel only).

Did I leave anything out? (do bears poop in the woods?)

Tadman wrote:Did I leave anything out? (do bears poop in the woods?)

Yes to both. It's hard to condense VIA's (albeit short) history down to a sentence or two. Notwithstanding some date discrepancies and other operational inaccuracies, you missed the biggest single event. In January 1990, VIA cut more than half of its trains and many of its routes.

If you plan to take VIA Rail often, I suggest the following bookmarks:

-Trains
-Travel Canada
-Canada vacations

(I use these all the time)

Cheers. GL

Also, if you would like a better grasp of their rolling stock and locomotives, you could check out www.rrpicturearchives.net - probably lots of pics there.