VIA Northern Quebec Service

Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum

Help Support Amtrak Unlimited Discussion Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
They usually have one of the 3 HEP-I coaches with a galley you mentioned (8145-47), but that leaves them only one spare, so they will sometimes have to use a HEP-2 coach instead (because none of the other HEP-1 coaches has galleys)…
That probably explains why there was no food stored in my Jonquière bound coach from Montreal to Hervey-Jonction. The VIA attendant mentioned he had to go to the Senneterre car to get items. At Hervey-Jonction he set up a coffee urn and I assume brought a cart of food over (but I did not notice this perhaps it was just stored someplace in the Jonquière car).

Can the crew pass between the two trains that are coupled together?
 
Can the crew pass between the two trains that are coupled together?
They would have to pass through the second F40. It's more likely that the coach without a galley was substituted at the last minute and was not loaded on this occasion. It would also make sense to store supplies in each train's baggage car.
 
Last edited:
VIA has started sending LRC coaches on the Northern Quebec service. While the Budds are definitely preferred for their cold weather durability, this time of year sees some interesting exceptions:



Given some of the mixed consists seen lately on the corridor and the impending retirement of the Renaissance coaches on everything but the Ocean, all bets are off on what cars will show up on what day. I went out the other day to view one of the new Siemens trains and wound up with a Budd consist. Being a VIA watcher certainly isn't boring these days. ;)
 
When I rode it in 2016, the back half was the Senneterre section. The Montreal engineer runs through to Jonquire.
Back then, the Montreal-based crew went all the way to Jonquièrre, whereas the Senneterre-bound crew boarded the rear train in Shawinigan and took over at Hervey Junction. My understanding is now that the Montreal crew operates the Senneterre train until La Tuque from which the Senneterre-bound crew takes over, whereas a third crew takes the train from Garneau to Jonquièrre (with a much higher chance of actually making it to Jonquièrre before they reach their 12-hour limit):
IMG_6003.jpeg
https://groups.io/g/Canadian-Passenger-Rail/topic/83797439#msg93867

In that case, it would make more sense for the Senneterre-bound train to be in front…
 
Last edited:
Back
Top