Via rail

[someone123]

I remember the little blue "CN Bedford" building. I just figured one of the red buildings was a reno. Your link also shows a photo of the tiny Armdale stop. They say about the stops circa 1990:

"By this time all RDC services but not the Atlantic stopped on signal at Armdale, Rockingham and Bedford."

Which makes me think the Ocean did stop at these small stations back then. Wikipedia claims that the Ocean from Montreal-Halifax is the longest-operating passenger train in North America. It's been running since 1904. Of course it's debatable what does or does not constitute the same train or continuous service.

[Taeolas]

Originally Posted by someone123

I was talking about the new route that was created, which was the portion that runs west of the fork near Fairview Cove. The eastern route running through the North End is the older route that existed prior to the 1910's (maybe the original ICR route?).

I saw that part, and the trench is visible on Google Maps. I followed that trench through Fairview Cove all the way out to Cobequid road where the first at grade crossing happens. The trench is impressive; that it gets that far without any real road crossings is also impressive.

[Nouvellecosse]

Yeah there are no at-grade crossings for that route anywhere in the Halifax urban/suburban area. The first one is well into the exurban/rural surroundings. That's actually the exurban community of Windsor Junction rather than the suburb of Lower Sackville.

[Urban_Sky]

Originally Posted by someone123

There used to be one. It is now a small red building near the Bedford Highway and First Ave. I think it might have been used up until the 90's or so. I think there might have been a Rockingham stop at one point too.

Originally Posted by OldDartmouthMark

I remember the old station being there in the 1990s, but can't recall when it finished being used as a passenger stop. I'm thinking probably in the 1980s or early '90s when dayliner/short run service stopped.

Bedford Station

Originally Posted by someone123

I remember the little blue "CN Bedford" building. I just figured one of the red buildings was a reno. Your link also shows a photo of the tiny Armdale stop. They say about the stops circa 1990:

"By this time all RDC services but not the Atlantic stopped on signal at Armdale, Rockingham and Bedford."

Which makes me think the Ocean did stop at these small stations back then. Wikipedia claims that the Ocean from Montreal-Halifax is the longest-operating passenger train in North America. It's been running since 1904. Of course it's debatable what does or does not constitute the same train or continuous service.

I'm afraid I won’t be able to answer all the other interesting points raised in the meanwhile before my next weekendly round-up, but this one is relatively easy to answer (at least if you have a CN/CP/VIA timetable database):

Compiled from: Historic CN and VIA timetables
Note: shown are all stations between Halifax and Truro which still had scheduled passenger stops in April 1950. Station abandonment dates only provided for those stations which survived into the VIA era, but they can be derived by comparing the various CN timetables I've linked above...

[OldDartmouthMark]

Thanks very much for that great info!

There were a lot of stops in 1950, but still quite a few right into the 1980s. I'm thinking those stops must have added a lot of time to the trip to Truro.

By the time I took my first trip on the train in the late 1990s (the blue/grey Bedford building was still there to announce that we were passing through Bedford) all those stops were gone.

Incidentally, on that first trip we were delayed a couple of hours because the train struck a car at one of those Windsor Junction level crossings discussed above. Thankfully it only caught the front end of the car, so nobody was injured, but I did see quite a bit of debris strewn about as we passed as it did tear up the front of the car badly. It was a dramatic first trip on the train, and it was only to Moncton, but I recall the scenery from the train was new and interesting as I had only traveled by roadway previous to that.

[ghYHZ]

Originally Posted by Taeolas

I saw that part, and the trench is visible on Google Maps.........

The w/b Ocean departing Halifax through the trench.

[milomilo]

Beautiful. Looks like a railway in England rather than in Canada, although the rails look like the 19th century originals.

[Nouvellecosse]

I'm still mad that they got rid of the second track in the cut. Completely unnecessary imo. Not only does it make the possibility of commuter rail more costly, but the last few times I was on the train the travel between Halifax and Bedford was very slow going with speeds reduced to walking level for about 10 minutes and it even had to stop for a couple min at one point, I assume because of other train movements. If a potential commuter rail service is like that, I can't see it being very popular.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by ghYHZ

Is it just me or does anyone else cringe when they see a large stainless steel Park Car on the end of a Renaissance train (with smaller, European cars)? Not only do the colour schemes not match, but they are also different sizes. In fact they need to add a transition car to allow them to be coupled together (notice the second last car has most of the windows filed in). Don't get me wrong, I love the Park Cars, and I am sure they are a great addition for the passengers, but pictures of the train look off IMHO.

This will be a temporary issue as the Renaissance cars are reaching their end of life and their soft carbon steel construction make them not worth refurbishing (they are rusting badly). I read somewhere that Amtrak are considering replacing their original Superliner trains (built between 1975–1981). If they do, it could be a good opportunity for VIA to piggyback on an order for some replacement long distance cars.

Here is the above picture cropped for a better look at what I mean.

[Ottawaresident]

That is ugly! If only VIA Rail was operated like Amtrak, with subsidies but trying to get more passengers. Read: I'm American.

[esquire]

The Renaissance cars demonstrate the Canadian mentality regarding passenger rail in a nutshell. "What's that, your fleet is falling apart? Here's some money so you can go and get some slightly used clearance cars built to someone else's specs for a million bucks a pop. They will be a constant headache and you won't get twenty years out of them, but hey, at least they have wheels?"

And yes, not that aesthetics are a priority for VIA, but the Park Car tagged on to a Renaissance train looks like crap.

[OldDartmouthMark]

The switchover to the smaller cars was a huge downgrade for space and comfort when it happened. Hopefully they will upgrade again once the Renaissance cars are done. I wonder if they held onto the old Budd cars, and if it would be possible to refurbish them?

[OldDartmouthMark]

Regarding the Halifax rail cut, here's an excellent blog post by skycraper member Ziobrop:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/builthalifax/2015/03/south-end-rail-cut/

Related is a post about the Hotel Nova Scotia and CN rail station:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/builthalifax/...el-nova-scotia-and-the-cn-train-station/

...and a tie-in to the Ocean Terminals:
https://halifaxbloggers.ca/builthalifax/2015/03/the-halifax-ocean-terminals/

[ghYHZ]

Say what you will about the Rens….but for the comfort and smooth riding qualities….. I’ll take a Ren anyday over that old Budd stuff. Solid partitions and doors that don’t vibrate and rattle compared to the paper thin walls and partitions of the Budds.

Also the Rens have an annex with toilet (including a private shower in some rooms) The Double Bedrooms on the Budds do have a toilet annex but the shower is down the hall…...and if you’re in a Single Bedroom….that toilet is in the same room with you (surrounded by all that carpet!!)

Just a much more enjoyable trip on the Rens….and I’ve been riding trains between Montreal and Halifax for 40+ years.

[someone123]

Originally Posted by Nouvellecosse

I'm still mad that they got rid of the second track in the cut. Completely unnecessary imo. Not only does it make the possibility of commuter rail more costly, but the last few times I was on the train the travel between Halifax and Bedford was very slow going with speeds reduced to walking level for about 10 minutes and it even had to stop for a couple min at one point, I assume because of other train movements. If a potential commuter rail service is like that, I can't see it being very popular.

Maybe the second track will be restored if commuter rail happens.

I heard a rumour the track removal happened because CN is taxed according to how much track it owns. Sounds plausible since they physically tore the track up instead of letting it slowly deteriorate.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by someone123

Maybe the second track will be restored if commuter rail happens.

I heard a rumour the track removal happened because CN is taxed according to how much track it owns. Sounds plausible since they physically tore the track up instead of letting it slowly deteriorate.

Yes and yes.

Commuter rail absolutely will require double tracking.

[esquire]

Considering the ROWs are in place, restoring another set of tracks probably won't be a significant obstacle to commuter rail.

[MonctonRad]

Originally Posted by esquire

The Renaissance cars demonstrate the Canadian mentality regarding passenger rail in a nutshell. "What's that, your fleet is falling apart? Here's some money so you can go and get some slightly used clearance cars built to someone else's specs for a million bucks a pop. They will be a constant headache and you won't get twenty years out of them, but hey, at least they have wheels?"

It’s Canadian government procurement mentality in general - <cough> Australian fighter jets <cough>. Hey, they got wings and they can fly right? We might be able to get 10-15 years out of them.............

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by MonctonRad

It’s Canadian government procurement mentality in general - <cough> Australian fighter jets <cough>. Hey, they got wings and they can fly right? We might be able to get 10-15 years out of them.............

And don't forget those used British Submarines we bought. They sink, so they should work for us.

The good news is VIA is finally getting nice new trains for corridor use.

[roger1818]

Originally Posted by someone123

I heard a rumour the track removal happened because CN is taxed according to how much track it owns. Sounds plausible since they physically tore the track up instead of letting it slowly deteriorate.

If we want to preserve our rail right of ways, we need to stop applying property tax to them. Do our municipalities tax the Province for the highways?

The other reason for removing the track is so that they can sell/reuse the rail. The price has dropped more recently (though it is recovering), but about 5 years ago steal was very expensive and you could get good money for it.