Canada's Railway Magazine Since 1945 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1996
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Canada's Railway Magazine since 1945 SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 1996 PUBLISHED BY SEPTEMBER- Upper Canada Railway Society P.O. Box 122, Station A OCTOBER 1996 Toronto. Ontario M5W IA2 NUMBER SS8 ISSN 1193-7971 Features this month Research and Reviews Transcontinental VIA TESTS THE IC3 "FLEXLINER" 3 RAILWAY ARCHAEOLOGY 12 THERAPIDO 16 • The self-propelled tralnsets begin operations, • Restaurant In M&SC station closes. • Three new railways begin operations. but are withdrawn because of signal problems. • Antlcosti Island. • TSB reports on ONR and CN accidents. STREET RAILWAY JOURNALS 6 BOOKS 14 THE PANORAMA 19 • More than 100 years of history as told through • Use of radio on the railway. • Southern Ralls closes Its Killdeer line. records of the TTC and Its predecessors. INFORMATION NETWORK 14 IN TRANSIT 20 NIGHT-TIME IN ST. THOMAS I I • CGE In Toronto. MOTIVE POWER 22 • Photos from 1981 by Helmut Ostermann. • Grand Trunk Railway 140th anniversary. THE TRAIN SPOTTERS 23 Bail and Transit cover date change Correction that had settled in the Thompson Canyon of This issue and the next will have combined Two of the photos in the August Rail and British Columbia on April 8, 1994. The photo cover dates, to each span two months, but R-ansit were credited incorrectly. Both of the is by Rob Scrimgeour. this will have no effect on your subscription. pictures of CITF buses in Trois-Rivieres, on In the upper photo on the back covet The change is being made to bring the Page 7 and on the back covet were taken by TTC Class A-2 PCC car No. 4172 is shown cover date together with the date of issue. Michael Roschlau. leaving Erindale Loop, on June 29, 1965, in This September-October 1996 issue will be in a photo from the collection of Rob Pineault, Cover photos your hands early in Novembei; and then the by Kevin T. Farrell. The 1940-built car is On the front covet CP Rail 5868 and three November-December issue will be to you leaving the loop and turning south on Broad• other SD40-2S were returning empty grain early in December. From January, each issue view Avenue. Erindale Loop was built in cars eastward through the mist and gloom will be published early in the month or late 1923 and from July 1 of that year became the month before. the eastern terminus of the King streetcar All subscriptions as part of 1996 mem• route. During construction of the Bloor- berships have been extended by two months Danforth Subway a new off-street loop was to allow for this change. For instance, if your built at Broadview Station, which used the membership is due to end with the December former eastbound entrance track of the 1923 1996 issue, it will now end with the February loop, on Erindale Avenue, as the westbound 1997 issue. exit track from the new subway station loop. Erindale Loop was last used on November UCRS meetings 20, 1965, and the next day, after the new The next meeting in Toronto will be at 7:30 track had been connected, cars began using p.m. on Friday November 15, on the third Broadview Station loop, although passengers floor at Metro Hall, on King Street at John were not carried into the station until the Street, just west of St. Andrew subway sta• Bloor-Danforth line opened on February 26, tion and a short walk from Union Station. 1966. Paul Bloxham will be presenting a selection The lower photo on the back cover is by of his photographs of contemporary railway Scott Haskill, and shows one of the two operations in southern Ontario. demonstrator IC3 train-sets that VIA has The following meeting, also at Metro leased from the manufacturer; Adtranz. In Hall, will be on Friday December 20. Please this photo, train-set 7001/7201 is seen in bring your slides and videos for an evening Union Station in Toronto on September 26, of mixed entertainment. 1996, before the last of a series of demon• The Hamilton meetings will be at stration runs throughout southern Ontario. 8:00 p.m. on Friday, November 22, and Fri• On Sunday September 29, the IC3s entered day December 20, both at the Hamilton regular service, but were withdrawn a day Spectator auditorium, 44 Frid Street, just off later because of signalling problems. Main Street at Highway 403. The meetings will feature recent news and members' cur• CN Train 239 seen from a switcher at CN rent and historical slides. Highbury In London, on April 4, 1994. This Issue completed on October 27, 1996 Photo by George Dutka. Editor Contributing Editors Subscriptions Directors Pat Scrimgeour John Carter, Art Clowes, Scott Haskill, Subscriptions to Rail and Trandt are available Scott Haskill, President 6(M-207I 250 Queens Quay West # 1607 Sean Robitaille, Gray Scrimgeour, with membership in the Upper Canada Paul Bloxham 905 770-6916 Toronto, Ontario M5J 2N2 Chris Spinney, Gordon Webster. Railway Society. Membership dues are Art Clowes 924-9428 E-Mail: [email protected] $29.00 per year for addresses in Canada; Calvin Henry-Cotnam 287-9396 Correspondents $35.00 (or $27.00 in U.S. funds) for Al MaitUnd 921-4023 Please send news items to the address Paul Bloxham, Tom Box, Alex Campbeli. addresses in the U.S. and overseas. Please George Meek. 532-5617 shown with each news section. Artkies and Richard Carroll, Calvin Henry-Cotnam, send inquiries and changes of address to the Pat Scrimgeour 260-5652 photos should be sent to the editor. Bill McGuire, Don McQueen, John Reay. address at the top of this page. PatSemple .WA3-9I23 Denis Taylor. Chris Spinney 281-8211 VIA tests the Adtranz IC3 Flexliner Signalling problems take the train-sets out of service after two days of operation t m 7C3 train-set 7001/7201 at Niagara Falb on September 29, 1996. Photo by Scott Haskill By John Legg and Scott Haskill Each ICS set is comprised of three articulated cars running on four powered trucks. The cars are a compos• Beginning on September 29, VIA introduced into service ite car with a kitchen, 16 first-class, and 20 second-class two demonstrator train-sets of Danish ICS diesel seats, and two second-class cars with 64 and 44 seats. multiple-unit equipment. The two train-sets are part of Each set is equipped with air-conditioning, a public- the Israel Railways' fleet, and have been brought to address system with stereo radio, at-seat catering from a North America for two years by the manufacturer, Ad• kitchen in the composite car, a telephone at each end, a tranz. Problems with the ICS train-sets not properly fax machine, and power outlets for personal computers. actuating signalling circuits led to their removal from Power is provided by four 400-horsepower KHD/ service after only two days of operation, but VIA hopes Deutz eight-cylinder diesel engines, two under each to return them to service as soon as possible. outer car. Each engine drives the adjacent truck through a ZF Ecomat gearbox. This is derived from a road- Development and technology vehicle gearbox with a five-step mechanical power shift Danish State Railways (Danske Statsbaner - DSB) or• and fluid flywheel giving a claimed top speed of 124 dered 2S three-car ICS units at the end of 1985 with m.p.h. and acceleration of 1 m/s^. delivery of the first unit scheduled for January 1988 and Each 1C3 set has 130 on-board computers which are eight units available for service in September 1988. In arranged as two central computers with microprocessor- the end, the roll-out of the first unit was not until based intelligent modules controlling functions and February 1988. By June 1988 this unit had still not run equipment distributed throughout the set. A diagnostic under its own power because of software problems. system keeps the driver informed of conditions through• Delivery to DSB of the first sets eventually started at the out the train and keeps a record of faults which can be beginning of 1989. Revenue service started in January retrieved by maintenance personnel. 1990 between Copenhagen and Jylland. The 1C3 is designed for ease of maintenance. All of Rail and Transit • September-October 1996 • 3 the under-floor modules, including the drive units, are Sales motmted using only four bolts for each module. The In addition to the those in service on DSB, ICSs have internal furnishing panels are secured with Velcro fas• been sold to regional railways in Sweden, and the tenings. national railways of Israel and Spain. In addition, two Perhaps the most striking feature of the ICS is the derivative types, the electric IR4 and the low-floor IC2, large rubber diaphragm surrounding the cab-ends. have been sold in Denmark. Looking rather like half an inner-tube in appearance, 'Denmark - Danske Statsbaner (DSBj, 89 three-car these British-made units provide an interconnection seal train-sets (class MF), Nos. 5001 to 5085, first in when the train-sets are running in multiple. This un• service in 1989. • DSB, 4S four-car 1R4 electric train- usual design is claimed to be aerodynamically efficient sets (class ER), first in service in 1994. • Six private either when running as a single unit or in multiple. Danish railways (the Odder-, LoUands-, Hillerpd-, When running in multiple, the inflated rubber is com• Odsherreds- and Toell0se- railways), IS two-car IC2 pressed as the sets couple, and bulges sideways to form low-floor train-sets, to enter service in 1997. a continuous, virtually-flush surface between the two • Israel - Rake vet Yisrael (RY), 17 three-car train-sets, adjacent car sides.