Via P42 assignments

I notice the P42s almost never stray off the corridor. Any reason behind this? It seems that they might be better on a heavier LD, while a F40 can easily handle a 4-5 car corridor run. But I'm no expert, so I'm interested in your thoughts.

As far as I know a P42 has never been used by VIA to power a train outside the corridor. The main reason for this is speed limits. VIA's F40s are geared for either 90 or 95 mph while the P42s are set for 110 mph. The corridor is the only place passenger trains are permitted to travel at up to 100 mph while the rest of the network has a maximum allowed speed of 80 mph.

I also believe Tadman if Im not mistaken I once heard that service & trained maintenance personal for repairing the P42s are in Toronto and Montreal. With only the F40s running out east there no need to retrain personal out that way for the P42s. As we know in case of a break down its always good to be somewhere near home.

Yes buddah, that is correct. Since VIA never intended to use the P42s outside of the corridor, there was no need to set up the other maintenance facilities or train crews elsewhere to handle the locomotives. Only TMC and MMC are set up for P42 maintenance, and only corridor crews receive full training on them.

Makes good sense, thanks for the answers.