tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post5042303450752868992..comments2024-03-27T08:04:11.430-04:00Comments on THE BEACHBURG SUB: Post 100: Review of Ottawa's new O-TrainsMichaelhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/07917230984518214781noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post-85898055804260943602015-04-09T20:56:46.574-04:002015-04-09T20:56:46.574-04:00The right of way I believe is the Bytown & Pre...The right of way I believe is the Bytown & Prescott Railway, the first to reach the capital sometime before 1900. If you're driving (or walking) along Bank near Kilborn, the alignment of the houses on either side of the road give a clear idea of where the line once passed.Keithhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/08870970300548765804noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post-48928902895974927332015-03-31T12:11:45.809-04:002015-03-31T12:11:45.809-04:00Thanks for the comments, Eric and Alex. Eric -- ye...Thanks for the comments, Eric and Alex. Eric -- yep, the station photos didn't turn out all that well, but I figured it was worth a try. Alex -- thanks for the additional information on the new O-Trains. You explained the difference between the new ones and the old ones much better than I ever could.Michaelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07917230984518214781noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post-26933722308934612992015-03-30T23:02:15.018-04:002015-03-30T23:02:15.018-04:00Michael,
I'm glad you finally got out to ride...Michael,<br /><br />I'm glad you finally got out to ride the new trains, They definitely sound more like a truck than a train, as they have two diesel engines similar to a road vehicle. The seats are also a bit cramped for me.<br /><br />With regard to the size of the trains, they are noticeably taller, but are about the same width across as the Talents at the threshold of the doors. The Talents were rounded in shape however, which meant the train was wider overall, and had a noticeably wider interior aisle. The LINTs need a different platform extender because there is a large sway bar attached to the side of the train that would have interfered with the old extenders, so now half of the gap is made up by gap fillers attached to the outside of the trains.<br /><br />Capital Railway maintains all of those classic touches because it is a federally regulated railway, and the reach of Transport Canada is long (even GO Transit isn't federally regulated). Although it is called "light Rail" by the City of Ottawa, for all regulatory purposes it is a real railway, and must follow the CROR. The Ellwood moniker remains in good use as it is how the location of the trains is communicated to RTC in Dorval. Reports from Capital Railway always include a message that "Capital Railways operates using the Metric System."<br /><br />There is a small street sign that says "Gladstone" on the underside of the overpass. The larger black on white sign actually marks the signal siding, and an identical sign marks the Brookfield siding further down the track.<br /><br />The ROW you see from Heron was the CP line that extended from the Ellwood sub north parallel to the CN/VIA line, across and up what is now Vanier Parkway, ending near what is now the Sussex/King Edward intersection. geoOttawa, http://maps.ottawa.ca/geoottawa/, has excellent historical imagery, and it shows the line being removed between 1965 and 1976, as rails were pulled back across the capital. Remnants of this line remain visible from the O-Train, such as the back of the LCBO warehouse on Bank Street, which has a rail spur. geoOttawa also has excellent images of the Dow's Lake tunnel being constructed, and the bridge that existed before that.<br /><br />Another great resource is the Ontario Railway Map Collection, a KMZ file for Google Earth. It identifies the old alignment you mention.<br /><br />http://ontariomap.webs.com/<br /><br />Alexnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post-84872569564511228352015-03-30T22:30:56.401-04:002015-03-30T22:30:56.401-04:00Congratulations on this milestone, milepost, mileb...Congratulations on this milestone, milepost, mileboard what have you...<br /><br />On-train station photos are always a gamble...if only the stations could be built a little farther away from the track, eh?<br /><br />EricErichttps://www.blogger.com/profile/11822288099043790296noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3680264279342137192.post-61653203861314149512015-03-27T13:29:59.682-04:002015-03-27T13:29:59.682-04:00Congratulations on post #100! Looking forward to t...Congratulations on post #100! Looking forward to the next hundred... thousand...Canadian Train Geekhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/05525092107895665275noreply@blogger.com