# VIA's Rainbow Era



## NS VIA Fan

Unlike Amtrak's early years where equipment from about 20 different railroads were combined for some very colourful train sets.......VIA only had CN and CP to choose from but still it provided for several varied consists: 

VIA started out in 1976 as a subsidiary of Canadian National. (Hence the "CN" along with the VIA logo) It would be a couple of years before the separate Crown Corporation: "VIA Rail Canada Inc" was formed.


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## NS VIA Fan

>


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## jis

Wasn't VIA originally just a brand managed by CN? That was very different from Amtrak.


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## NS VIA Fan

jis said:


> Wasn't VIA originally just a brand managed by CN? That was very different from Amtrak.


Yes it started out as CN's Pssenger Marketing Department with the April 1976 timetable.....then by the October 1976 Timetable......CP was involved too:


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## jis

AFAIR it was sometime in 1978 when it became a separate Crown Corportion. The CP trains finally transferred over a little later I believe, but I could be wrong. All just vague memory from a time when I had just arrived in the US for Graduate School.


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## NS VIA Fan

VIA had already been marking the CP trains prior to acquiring their passenger equipment in 1978. 

The first timetable rationalizing and combining the former CP Canadian and CN Super Continental routes was in October 1978.


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## Swadian Hardcore

Those blue railcar with yellow stripes didn't look very good. They should have just kept them in the original ivery. Does anybody know where the smooth-sided cars went?


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## NS VIA Fan

Swadian Hardcore said:


> ..................................Does anybody know where the smooth-sided cars went?


Rocky Mountaineer, Private Car Owners and several Tourist Railroads in the US. A lot are still in service today.


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## amtrakwolverine

Those blue cars I think I remember riding in those on the corridor from Toronto to Windsor sometime in the 90's.


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## NorthCoastHiawatha

Swadian Hardcore said:


> Those blue railcar with yellow stripes didn't look very good. They should have just kept them in the original ivery. Does anybody know where the smooth-sided cars went?


I believe the blue and yellow fleet as they we called lasted on VIA until the late 90s and were sold off to private operators or scrapped. A couple still survive on The Pas to Pukatawagan mixed train in Manitoba which is operated by the Keewatin Railway with the VIA train stuck on the rear of the freight train.


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## jamesontheroad

Swadian Hardcore said:


> Those blue railcar with yellow stripes didn't look very good. They should have just kept them in the original ivery. Does anybody know where the smooth-sided cars went?





NorthCoastHiawatha said:


> I believe the blue and yellow fleet as they we called lasted on VIA until the late 90s and were sold off to private operators or scrapped. A couple still survive on The Pas to Pukatawagan mixed train in Manitoba which is operated by the Keewatin Railway with the VIA train stuck on the rear of the freight train.


+1

I last saw a few of these in 2006 when I was touring the USA and Canada by train (my pic of a baggage car here). Although VIA Rail promote it, a number of locals and VIA Rail employees strongly advised against travel unless you were either a local or accompanied by one. Can be a rough ride, and I'm not talking about the track conditions. Here's

.
That said, I've never seen inside one of those cars, I'd be interested to know what condition they're in today.


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## Swadian Hardcore

Nice to see that the old cars are still in service! Would love to ride one of those!


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## jamesontheroad

Some additional info: the last remaining blue & yellow cars in service out of The Pas are 9631 (baggage), 3248 (cafe/coach), 5648 & 5649 (combine coaches). I think one or two of them have made a few trips down to Winnipeg or even Toronto in recent years for maintenance, but otherwise you'll only ever see them between the Pas and Pukatawagan.

Photos of their interior appear to be non-existent online, however some folk who traveled up there about four years ago uploaded

 which has some shots of the inside of the carriages from about 2m 15s.


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## Swadian Hardcore

jamesbrownontheroad said:


> Photos of their interior appear to be non-existent online, however some folk who traveled up there about four years ago uploaded



Ah, nice! Looks just like the current VIA coaches inside. I wonder if they ever changed the seats, and also where they were used before been put on this branch route.


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## NS VIA Fan

Swadian Hardcore said:


> ...........I wonder if they ever changed the seat, and also where they were used before been put on this branch route.


The blue & yellow cars you see in the video were originally from the CN fleet (CN had very few stainless-steel or flutted cars) There were hundreds of these smooth sided cars that eventually went to VIA and were used everywhere across the system.

Only these few remain now…….VIA concentrated on rebuilding the xCP stainless-steel cars instead when they initiated the HEP (head-end power) program in the late '80s.


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## Swadian Hardcore

NS VIA Fan said:


> The blue & yellow cars you see in the video were originally from the CN fleet (CN had very few stainless-steel or flutted cars) There were hundreds of these smooth sided cars that eventually went to VIA and were used everywhere across the system.
> 
> 
> 
> Only these few remain now…….VIA concentrated on rebuilding the xCP stainless-steel cars instead when they initiated the HEP (head-end power) program in the late '80s.


So did they ever cange the seats?


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## Swadian Hardcore

NS VIA Fan said:


> Only these few remain now…….VIA concentrated on rebuilding the xCP stainless-steel cars instead when they initiated the HEP (head-end power) program in the late '80s.


You mean these blue & yellow cars still use a steam generator?


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## NS VIA Fan

Swadian Hardcore said:


> NS VIA Fan said:
> 
> 
> 
> Only these few remain now…….VIA concentrated on rebuilding the xCP stainless-steel cars instead when they initiated the HEP (head-end power) program in the late '80s.
> 
> 
> 
> You mean these blue & yellow cars still use a steam generator?
Click to expand...

No……one of the baggage cars used now contains a diesel or gasoline generator to provide power. Some of the cars used on these remote services also had individual stoves or furnaces….don't know if any of these are left or not.

Here's a link to VIA's car fleet on their web page: Click on each for a description and some have diagrams and 360 deg. Photos:

http://www.viarail.ca/en/about-via-rail/our-fleet


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## Swadian Hardcore

NS VIA Fan said:


> http://www.viarail.c...-rail/our-fleet


Nice link! Thanks!


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