Via Rail: All dressed up and nowhere to go

Does it seem strange (ironic? unlucky? typical?) that, within days of the federal government reaffirming its support for a Via Rail high-speed rail corridor in Ontario and Quebec, the passenger railway was hit with new regulations by CN? The new rules were brought in due to fears that its new Siemens Venture trains run the risk of not activating CN's grade crossing guards and signals. I won't get into the finer details of this new wrinkle for Via. Eric Gagnon of Trackside Treasure broke the story and did an excellent job of describing the problem. Check out his post on this issue here. 

As Eric points out, Via does not have a lot of great choices in the short term, as its Ventures alone run the risk of not activating signals at grade crossings (this is an oversimplification). The choices the railway faced were bad no matter what, so Via decided in the interim to slow its speed in the corridor to allow for these new trains to cross all grade crossings safely by properly activating the crossing guards and signals. 

It should be pointed out, and Eric did of course, that Via's legacy equipment, like its LRC and HEP cars, led by F40s and P42s, are not affected by this new rule. They have no operational issues with CN grade crossing equipment.

The reduction in Venture speed, however, means delays across the corridor, since Via Rail depends on its tenancy on CN rails for much of its routes. In the Ottawa area, Via enjoys much greater autonomy as it controls its schedule on the Smiths Falls and Brockville Subs between Ottawa and Brockville, via Smiths Falls. Also, Via largely runs unopposed most of the time on the Alexandria Sub from Ottawa into Quebec. In Southern Ontario, Via has more leeway between Chatham and Windsor as well as on the old Goderich Exeter Railway between London and Guelph, since CN does not use its Guelph Subdivision with the same regularity as it does its busier routes. 

For much of its operations in Quebec and Montreal, however, Via Rail depends on CN rails, many of which are its main routes.

Last week, I witnessed some of these challenges in real life as I was waiting to catch westbound Via Train 59, which usually passes through Nepean at 6 p.m. Instead, I saw an eastbound corridor train, Via Train 42, coming through the Merivale Road crossing nearly an hour late at a time when the westbound 59 usually has the all clear signal all the way to Fallowfield Station. The light was getting pretty dim, so I didn't stick around for Train 59, which might have been holding at the siding at Wass, closer to the Tremblay Road station in Riverside Park. 

Speaking of Wass, I noticed when I caught Train 59 in September on Hunt Club Road that Via has erected a sign on the right hand side of the track alerting crews that the Wass siding is ahead, although not before the train passes through Federal Junction, taking it onto the Beachburg Sub. 

Here's a shot from 2016 of a westbound Via Rail LRC consist overtaking a slower moving CN freight train on the Kingston Sub near Highway 401 through Kingston. Via Rail has always had to make do with its status among CN's freight traffic on this trackage. There was a time when a few of its long distance trains could make use of CN's Northern Transcontinental route through Algonquin Park and onto the Beachburg Sub through the Upper Ottawa Valley, but those days are long gone. With everything heavily concentrated on this right-of-way, Via Rail is at the mercy of CN, which has had an impact on its on-time performance since its very founding. 

So, in theory, re-establishing a route from Ottawa through Tweed, Marmora and Havelock sounds great, as this right-of-way still exists up to Havelock, and much of the path to the east would be salvageable, albeit at a cost. This line once connected Toronto and Ottawa via Peterborough, but has long since been severed and exists now as the more leisurely moving Kawartha Lakes Railway into Havelock and north into Nephton. This line has been the subject of political interest for more than a decade.

You might recall efforts to re-establish rail service between Peterborough and Toronto during the Stephen Harper years in power. First, there was talk of Via RDC service. At some point, the talk shifted to the possibility of a GO Train link, not unlike what you see in Kitchener today. But nothing has come of it. 

Given the complexity and cost of a high-speed rail line along the Kawartha Lakes Railway route and the former CP trackage to the east, I would put the chances of this happening as very low, especially given the fact that we are likely headed for a change in government in the coming year. The arguably profligate spenders at the wheel now will likely give way to a government of restraint, as is the normal case in this country. We tend to go back and forth and it seems the pendulum is swinging back toward fiscal conservatism.

So where does this week's headache leave Via? To me, it seems it leaves the railway pretty much where it's always been, which is in limbo. Try as its leadership might, it's an operation that just cannot seem to catch a break and it just can't seem to be able to realize its dreams. I'm trying to be fair here, but I would be remiss if I didn't mention some of the railway's missteps along the way, and there have been a few. But that is for another time.

 

It's a shame, really, since there seems to be a lot of factors that, in theory, are all aligning in Via Rail's favour. Canada is a geographically enormous country, so a fast, efficient railway network makes sense, especially at a time when fuel prices are high, airlines are anything but stable, and people are rethinking their travel habits. The addition of the new Siemens equipment should play a factor in making Via more reliable and less prone to mechanical failure. 

Finally, it seems as though much of the world is embracing rail as the greenest, most efficient mode of transportation. So, you would think we could make it work in a country like ours. But it seems as though Via is now at a point where it's all dressed up with new equipment, but the same problems it's always had continue to haunt it.

So you'll more than likely be late if you are taking the train in the corridor these days, but at least you'll look good getting there.

Still Standing: Glimpses of the Goderich Exeter Railway

It was a mixed blessing for railfans when Canadian National took back control of its Guelph Subdivision in 2018. At that time, its 21-year lease with shortline operator Goderich Exeter Railway expired, meaning that the GEXR railway had been severed from its London-Guelph-Georgetown operations and was forced to continue operating mainly on its Goderich Subdivision between its namesake town and its junction with the Guelph Sub in Stratford, Ontario. It also retained its Exeter Subdivision, which diverges off the Goderich Sub at Clinton and goes to Centralia. Stratford continues to act as the home base for this railway, which now shares the rail yard with Canadian National. GEXR's main customer base is agricultural, as well as the salt mine at the Goderich port on Lake Huron. 

GEXR has had three owners in its history. RailTex was its first owner when it began operations in 1992, followed by RailAmerica, which purchased the railway in 2000. Genesee & Wyoming, the shortline holding company with operations across North America, took over the railway in 2012 when it bought out RailAmerica. GEXR was initially known for its green GP9s that were named after Shakespearean characters, a nod to its base of operations in the Festival City.

Earlier in July, I paid a visit to family in Stratford and caught a few glimpses of the GEXR in its hometown, although the yard was largely quiet when I initially visited. Still, you can pretty much always find a few orange G&W painted units parked up against a bumper in the middle of the yard.

On July 20, after two days of watching really interesting CN action in the yard, I made my way back to the station, but it was quiet. There was a train coming from the east on the main line, but my time ran out waiting for it. I made my way across from the station to get shots from an adjacent street. In this shot, three G&W units, all GP38-2s, were sitting in the yard. The three roads represented were Goderich Exeter, Huron & Eastern (Michigan road) and the old Southern Ontario Railway. The SOR is another former G&W shortline in the Hamilton-Norfolk area whose trackage was brought back into the CN fold. Although all the units look alike, there is some interesting shortline heritage here in this shot.

Here's a shot that gives you some clues as to how it is for GEXR these days. On the final afternoon when I visited, the yard was largely empty. The hopper cars are the most common sight on the Goderich Sub these days, given the various crops and fertilizers that make up its freight services. Besides the hoppers, which are also used to serve the Godrich salt mine, the railway uses tank cars for servicing the salt mine as well. The coil cars are for CN customers on the Guelph Sub.

Which brings me to an interesting shot my brother took when he was in Goderich in June. He likes to snag images for me when he can, which is greatly appreciated. Take a close look at these tank cars.

You can see a box atop tank car TILX 220285. The key to understanding what is in that car is the material placard in the bottom right corner, which reads 3257. The placard tells us that this tank car is carrying an elevated temperature material, which would explain the box atop the car, which is used to maintain higher temperatures, I'm guessing. Since this car was parked in the Goderich yard, just up the hill from the salt mine, it's a safe bet that this car was carrying molten salt, which is listed as one of the common products carried in these special tank cars. 

Molten salt, unlike salt at room temperature, is a liquid and can be used in the industrial production of magnesium and aluminum. It can also be used in nuclear power generation. There are a number of other applications. I'm not sure what this car's contents would be used for in this instance, since I wasn't sure if it was an inbound or outbound car. Someone with a better knowledge of the salt mine might be able to shed further light on this.

My brother also caught the GP9 Goderich yard switcher 4001, which has been up in Goderich for years, which would explain why it has never been repainted in the G&W colours. At one point, this engine had its former road name painted on the side, but that has since been patched over.

Back to Stratford in July. When my family was staying in the city, we rented an AirBnB home just down Birmingham Street from the GEXR Goderich Sub trackage leading to the yard. My first day in the city, I caught a glimpse of a southbound train heading into the yard, although I was too late to catch it with any photo. Later during my visit, on my way back from the yard, I caught another southbound train on my way back to our AirBnB and managed to snag a quick photo through the front windshield. That's the old Southern Ontario Railway geep in the lead, pulling a long string of covered hoppers back to the yard.

And below is the Huron & Eastern geep trailing with the first covered hopper in tow. I moved a bit closer for this shot, but the sun was peaking out from behind the trees, which caused some windshield glare. I should have stayed put!

I took a quick shot of CAEX 471400 covered hopper, which had its Agri Industries lettering patched over at some point, but the patch was clearly fading amid the elements. This is another clue as to what the train was carrying, as GEXR is still very much involved in the movement of crops, seed, fertilizers and grains from the farming economy in this part of the province.

All in all, I was happy to be able to cobble together enough shots of the GEXR to put together a post about this fascinating operation in a picturesque part of Ontario. Here's one final shot of the GEXR right-of-way from the Birmingham crossing, which I took on a walk through the neighbourhood. This is facing northeast in the direction of Goderich.

This is one of my favourite railways. I was lucky enough to capture quite a bit more action from Stratford in my time there in July, which will be shared in several upcoming posts. Stay tuned.

The way it should be

Without getting into too many details, the last year has been tough for me. As a mental health public speaker, I have resolved to be honest about my mental health challenges, in an effort to encourage people to not be ashamed of their illness. As I began writing this, the sale of my former house was about to close and my family had already settled safely into our new home. We have peace. I have a feeling of immense gratitude these days for the smallest things in life. For example, I remember telling my wife how weird it felt to step outside my new home and not have to worry about being monitored by a neighbour's surveillance camera pointed at my property. It was a strangely wonderful feeling to just live my life in that moment without any concern. That's just one small example.

In the past year, much of my life has been turned upside down by the continual harassment we have endured at the hands of a neighbour, which was allowed to escalate through the inaction of the local police. Now that we have finished the process and broken all physical ties with our former life, I am beginning to pick up where I left off in my own personal pursuits. I am thinking about my creative writing again. I am thinking of new subjects to explore in this blog. I am thinking about reviving my mental health podcast. And I am getting out there again and enjoying myself trackside.

Last Wednesday, after dropping my daughters off at dance class, I did a little shopping and headed to the West Hunt Club Road overpass over the Smiths Falls Subdivision to catch westbound Via Train 59, which passes by this spot every evening at about 6 p.m. I haven't been trackside to catch this train in months, mostly due to the situation I have already noted above.

This was the surprise that awaited me. The flavour-du-jour Via Venture train set they are calling Lumi. It's the train that railfans are trying to catch, as it is the only new Siemens train that has been painted in this predominantly yellow scheme. I have seen some comments online that this train is a subtle tribute to Via's long-gone turbo train, which sported a yellow-and-blue scheme.

I have been waiting for a while to see when Train 59 was going to sport a Venture set, since all the photos I have of this train in the last several years are the usual consist of either P42s and HEP cars or F40s and LRC cars. I was quite shocked and happy to see that my first meet with Train 59 as a Venture set was none other than the yellow comet. It's nice to have good train karma, especially when you're an Ottawa railfan. 

The wires couldn't be avoided in this second shot and the sun was shining brightly, so there was a bit of glare to deal with, post shot. As you can see, the train was westbound with the power car leading the way and the locomotive in push mode in the back. No longer will we be seeing many of the old double-enders, where two locomotives bookended a string of LRC or silver streamlined cars. This is the new look of Via Rail, whether you're ready for it or not. Many of the railway's ordered Venture sets have arrived and are now actively plying the rails in the Windsor-Quebec City corridor, although they are more heavily used between Toronto, Ottawa and Montreal, by the looks of it and what I've read online.

One last shot before Train 59 passed under the bridge. I like that I caught the full Via Rail Canada script on the coach, along with the locomotive, which was my real objective. I don't think the asymmetrical application of the Via logo is a winning concept, but it seems to be the way of marketing right now, along with the superfluous use of the letter Q replacing c and k and the maddening use of unnecessary accents in misspelled corporate names. Can you tell I'm an editor?  

One Week Later

Daylight is quickly running out to get a decent shot of Via Rail trains on Wednesday evenings, which is why I tried to get out this past Wednesday night to shoot Train 59 again. I went to the same spot on the West Hunt Club Road overpass, as I was not feeling terribly creative to get a different shot. I set up in the same spot, wondering what Via was using for its equipment. Once again, it was a Venture set heading west toward Fallowfield Station. 

It wasn't Lumi, but it was the first time I saw Train 59 using a conventional Venture set. I'm sure this conversion from older equipment happened a while ago, but this is the first time I have seen this change in person. I guess I'm making up for lost time, as I have not been making a lot of observations in Ottawa lately. The lights on the power car were a bit blinding as it rounded the curve, so many of my photos did not turn out from where I was perched on the overpass.

Next time I shoot this train, I will find a new spot where the headlights won't be such an obstacle. But for last night, I was reasonably happy with this shot. I suppose the novelty of shooting Venture sets will wear off soon. For the moment, it was enough for me to be trackside, without any worries. 

I was just enjoying life. That's the way it should be.