This Month in Rail and Transit
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THIS MONTH IN RAIL AND TRANSIT 3 VIA TRAINS IN NORTHERN MANITOBA Come and ramble with David Hales, on VIA's threatened trains to Churchill. 4 THE YORK-DURHAM HERITAGE RAILV7AY S.I. Westland gives the details of Southern NUMBER 536 - AUGUST 1994 Ontario's newest tourist railway. PUBLISHED BY 6 WORLD SPEED REVIEW '94 Upper Canada Railway Society Richard Carroll updates our annual survey of RO. Box 122, Station A fast trains around the world. Toronto, Ontario M5W IA2 8 MERGERS, NAMES, IDENTITIES DIRECTORY OF RAILWAYS It is again a time of mergers, consolidations, and new corporate identities in the railway EDITOR IN CANADA, 1994 Pat Scrlmgeour A complete listing of railways in Canada industry. America's largest railroad, Burling• ton Northern, plans to merge with perhaps 250 Queens Quay West #1607 10 the best-known, the Atchison, Topeka and Toronto, Ontario M5J 2N2 RESEARCH AND REVIEWS Santa Fe Railway. Further combinations may E-Mail: 731 [email protected] RAILWAY ARCHAEOLOGY . happen - Conrail and Norfolk Southern, ... The "Valley Railway" Union Pacific and Chicago & North Western, CONTRIBUTING EDITORS INFORMATION NETWORK . even (don't hold your breath) selected parts John Carter, Art Clowes, . CN's Panorama vs. VIA's Canadian of CP and CN. Scott Haskill, Don McQueen, 13 New railways need new names, and here, Sean Robltaille, Gray Scrimgeour, TRANSCONTINENTAL extracted from the many helpful, even frivol• Chris Spinney, Gordon Webster THE RAPIDO ... The W&H begins operations ous, suggestions from a railfan electronic . HH-US strike update forum, are possible identities for the com• . CN derailments Please send news and short contributions to bined BN and ATSF: THE PANORAMA Rail passengers in B.C. the addresses shown with each news section. American Rail — Colours: Red, White, and Blue IN TRANSIT .... The Commonwealth Games Articles and photos should be sent to the . TTC service to the ONE AmRail — Too similar to those fictitious railvifays editor at one of the above addresses. If you MOTIVE POWER .... CP lease fleet changes! in movie crash scenes? are using a computer, please use electronic ROLLING STOCK Bi-levels for San Diego Burlington, Utah, Spokane and Tacoma — the mail or send a WordPerfect or text file on an BUST; suggested by a merger opponent? 'A") Chicago and Everything Western - C&EW IBM-compatible (5'/<" or 3 disk, along with ON THE CALENDAR reporting marks, just to confuse with Chicago a printed copy. Friday, September 23 - UCRS Toronto & North Western. meeting, 7:30 p.m., at the Metro Archives Chicago, Hutchinson and Everywhere West — theatre, Spadina Road at MacPherson, just CHEW is cute, but ATSF's Hutchinson, Kansas Subscriptions to Pad and Transit are available north of Dupont subway station. Please is perhaps too obscure. with membership in the Upper Canada Rail• bring your slides and videos. Chicago, Hutchinson, Omaha and Oklahoma — way Society. Membership dues are $29.00 per Friday, September 23 - UCRS Hamilton this one features even better CHOO initials. year (12 issues) for addresses in Canada, and meeting, 8:00 p.m., at the Hamilton Spec• Great Northern, Northern Pacific, Spokane, $32.00 for addresses in the U.S. and overseas. tator auditorium, 44 Frid Street, just off Portland & Seattle, Chicago, Burlington & Student memberships, for those 17 years or Quincy, Frisco, and Atchison, Topeka & Main Street at Highway 403. The prog• younger, are $19.00. Please send inquiries and Santa Fe - Historical, inclusive, and how ramme will be recent news and members' changes of address to the address at the top about those GNNPSP&SCB&QF&AT&SF current and historical slides. of the page. reporting marks! - UCRS Toronto Friday, October 21 Mississippi River and Western — Describes the monthly meeting, 7:30 p.m. territory, although a bit vague. UPPER CANADA RAILWAY SOCIETY Friday, October 28 - UCRS Hamilton Santa Fe & Burlington Northern - The smaller DIRECTORS monthly meeting, 8:00 p.m. SF is, after all, the dominant partner. Rick Eastman, President 416 494-3412 Santa Northern - Combines geography and John Carter, VP-Services 416 690-6651 history, and great for special Christmas units. Pat Semple, VP-Administration 416 923-9123 COVER PHOTO Could sport a red and green paint scheme. Scott Haskill, Secretary 416 604-2071 On Sunday, May 10, 1959, CN E-lOa Mogul US Rail — It would be the largest in the country, Art Clowes 514 934-5549 90 and an N-4a Consolidation were the star by far. A! Maitland 416 921-4023 attractions on a fantrip sponsored by the Alas, the merger announcement included the George Meek 416 532-5617 UCRS and the CRHA, seen here south• already-selected name: The Burlington North• Pat Scrimgeour 416 260-5652 bound near Bancroft. This line was removed ern and Santa Fe Railway Company. At least Chris Spinney 416 281-821! in the early 1980s. that sounds like a railway, a lesson that Can- —Photo by Alan Oompton trak could take to heart. Completed August 31, 1994 2 • Rail and Transit • August 1994 Ride 'em befor^they're gone! VIA TRAINS IN NORTHERN MANITOBA By David Hales This nm is very scenic and apparently well worth taking. CN also operates a number of freights out of The Pas to Is the southern terminus (or is it western?) of VIA trains Flin Flon and Regina. The Trackside Guide lists grain 294 and 295 really Wabowden? The following is based trains for Churchill originating from places as far away on our trip to Churchill last fall. as Saskatoon and Winnipeg. Going through Wabowden in both directions, 1 As one travels west and north from Winnipeg, the noticed that the yard was empty. No doubt during the change in geography is quite apparent: the flat prairie grain season cars may be held there. There is a wye with landscape changes to lakes and forest, with spruce and a short tail just west of the station, which for the most hemlock - no pines! - north of The Pas. The farther part is boarded-up. The small village was named for north one goes, the shorter the trees. Upon awakening W. A. Bowden, Chief Engineer of the Department of in the morning of arrival'in Churchill, the trees are short Railways and Canals; its former name was Setting Lake. and sparse. In October, the ground is snow-covered. Basically, there are three trains or classes or groups This way one mixes with life along the line by seeing of trains on the Churchill line, north of The Pas. First is people get on at places hke Thicket Portage and the Hudson Bay (VIA Nos. 692 and 693, formerly Pikwitonei and go to Thompson for shopping and numbered 92 and 93) on its thrice-weekly rim to visiting. The remaining telegraph poles are the tripod Churchill from Winnipeg. There are the weekly mixed type due to the nature of the soil. One of the attractions trains between Wabowden and Churchill, Nos. 294 and at Churchill in the fall is the polar bears, and bears we 295, travelhng during dayhght hours only; this is no did see! By taking a day-long Tundra Buggy Tour, one doubt helpful during those long cold dark winter goes out onto the tundra along the shores of Hudson Bay months. Lastly, there are the grain trains for the five- to see plant life, animals (such as Arctic fox), birds, and milhon-bushel elevator at Chinchill. the bears. 1 found out that there is very httle freight traffic on Two great rivers are crossed along the route. At The the Thompson branch. The Hudson Bay is the only Pas, the Saskatchewan River (from its headwaters at the regular train to Thompson, and northbound it picks up Columbia Icefields), is crossed, and at Mile 240.9 of CN's two or three piggyback flats there for Churchill. The Hudson Bay Railway, the Nelson River is crossed, and train is wyed prior to arrival at the station by a back-up again at Mile 331.5. The waters of the Nelson have come operation, and thus the locos do not have to venture too not only from the icefields but also from the Red and far down the tail. 1 guess in this way the whole wye does Assiniboine river systems. Here, the railway leaves the not have to be maintained to support the weight of two Laurentian Plateau of the great Canadian Shield and locos. Interestingly, the locos operate "elephant-style." enters the Hudson. Bay Lowlands. There are two locos to handle a steam generator, Enquiring at the hotel in Churchill as to how well the baggage car, two coaches, cafe-lormge, and up to four tour business was doing following the cancellation of "E" series sleepers. •VIA tours, I was told that business was slowly picking up Now, getting back to Trains 294 and 295. As after a severe drop. For a community of 1200, there are mentioned, there is no other freight on the Une, so how some fine stores, restaurants, and hotels, plus an Inuit do the cars for the weekly mixed get to and from museum, a hbrary, and the Parks Canada interpretive Wabowden and The Pas? The whole train must run on centre. through to and from The Pas with no passengers being This is a great way to see the varied Canadian carried .. as CN freights Nos. 543 and 544? Wabowden landscape while keeping one's feet on terra firma. is accessible by road. Interestingly, the Canadian Trackside Guide 1994 edition also indicates CN freight Equipment Data: trains Nos. 428 and 429 operating between The Pas and Train number Train 92 Train 93 Thompson but does not indicate the frequency, even though employees said there was very little freight Date October 7 October 3 traffic in and out of Thompson.