VIA RAIL CANADA
Unlike the railroads in the U.S., the Canadian National continued to invest in and improve it's rail services in the 1960's and 1970's. As the Canadian government began to help subsidize these operations, VIA was formed as a unit within the CN in 1976 to operate their passenger trains and to keep accounting functions separate from the freight operations (early units repainted in the VIA yellow-blue had both the VIA logo on their side and the CN logo on the nose). Eventually the government agreed to cover 100% of the CN's losses, so the next logical step was to set up VIA as a separate crown corporation, which happened on April 1, 1978 and VIA took title to the CN's passenger equipment. Shortly thereafter on Sept. 29, 1978 VIA also tookover the Canadian Pacific's remaining passenger services and equipment.
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FP9A #6526 and a F9B speed by a CN freight on the north track at Princeton, ON on May 30, 1983. This is westbound T#71 the Trillium. |
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Another FP9A-B set power eastbound T#70, the Great Laker, over the Grand River at Paris, ON on July 5, 1982. |
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FP9A #6566 and 2 B-units are on the westbound Canadian, Train #1 in the Canadian Rockies west of Banff, Alberta on May 27, 1984. The train is on CP rails here, but in 1990 the Canadian would be shifted to the CN mainline to the north through Edmonton. |
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Riding the eastbound Canadian, T#2, throught the Kicking Horse River Canyon east of Golden, BC on May 26, 1984. View is from the dutch door vesitbule, which at that time crews would allow responsible fans to open. |
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FP9A #6504 leads the eastbound Canadian, #2, in the Kicking Horse River Canyon in British Columbia on May 27, 1984. |
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The same train continues around a curve at Ottertail, BC. The lead unit was an ex CN unit, same # |
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The dome-observation car of the eastbound Canadian at the station stop in Lake Louise, AB on 5/27/84. At this date the train is still running on steam heat as evidenced by the condensation coming out of the end of the car. |
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F40PH #6426 laying over with it's train at Windsor, ON on May 27, 2001. Visible in the background is the Renaissance Center in Detroit, across the river. |
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F40PH's #6414 & 6415 on combined T#601/603 eastbound has just passed through the town of Sainte Tite, PQ with it's twin church spires visible in the distance. This train will split into two trains at Hervey Jct. with one going to Senneterre and the other to Jonquiere. 8/25/06. |
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FPA-4 #6764 leads eastbound T#120 at Bathurst Street in Toronto, ON on September 1, 1984. The Alco cab units were kept in good condition as evidenced by the number of trains often powered by a single unit. |
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FPA-4 #6779 and FPB-4 #6865 are on eastbound T#72 as it speeds through Ingersoll, ON on June 20, 1986. The station here was active, but being a smaller town not all trains stopped here. |
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FPA-4 #6780 is on eastbound T#682 rounding the curve at Bayview Jct. in Burlington, ON on July 9, 1983. The Alco cab units were all ex CN diesels. |
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FPA-4 #6763 and F9B #6627 pull T#75 westbound out of Union Station and under the Bathurst St. bridge in Toronto, ON on July 26, 1977. At this date VIA was still a unit within the CN, as evidenced by the VIA and CN logos on the lead unit. |
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LRC3 #6919 eastbound under the old wooden bridge in Woodstock, ON on August 1, 1987. The LRC3's (Light-Rapid-Comfortable) were built by Bombardier in 1981-84 and were retired by 2001. |
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LRC3 #6903 is leading conventional Tempo passenger cars on westbound T#71, the Trillium around the curve at Bayview Jct. in Burlington, ON on July 9, 1983. |
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Here's #6901, this time leading an FPA-4 and conventional equipment on T#80, the St. Clair eastbound at Burlington, ON on September 1, 1984. |
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#6913 has a solid LRC trainset on the St.Clair (T#80) again at Bayview Jct. in Burlington, ON on June 20, 1986. The LRC cars had tilt mechanisms in them to help navigate curves such as this at higher speeds than conventional equipment. |
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Newest power on the VIA roster are the GE Genesis units. Here is P42DC #915 on eastbound T#52 passing through the junction at Coteau, PQ on August 24, 2006. The train is made up of LRC cars which were retained by VIA after the locomotives were retired. |
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Train #27 led by a P42DC is westbound coming off the massive Pont de Quebec, the longest cantilever bridge in the world, over the St. Lawrence River at Ste. Foy, PQ on August 25, 2006. The bridge collapsed twice during construction, killing a total of 88 workers before it was finally opened to rail traffic in 1917 (and later highway traffic). |
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P42DC #917 is pulling a consist of the new Renaissance cars, built for British service, but when the order was cancelled, VIA snapped them up and had them modified for North American service. This is eastbound T#620 at St. Lambert, PQ on August 27, 2006. |
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A trio of RDC-1's has westbound T#663 just out of Union Station and passing under Bathurst Street in Toronto, ON on July 8, 1983. Today, VIA still runs RDC's out of Sudbury, ON and on Vancouver Island. |