Canadian Railroads > First Trip of the Bras d'Or

VIA made a couple test runs of the Bras d'Or in 1999 and then made a commitment to run a "full" schedule for the 2000 and 2001 seasons ("Bras d'Or" is french for "Arms of Gold" and is the name of the large inland saltwater lake in the interior of Cape Breton Island.) The plan was to use equipment from the Ocean on its layover in Halifax, so the Bras d'Or would leave Halifax at 07:30 Tuesday morning, arriving in Sydney at 18:15 the same day. On Wednesday, the train returned to Halifax arriving at 18:15, and the equipment was assembled back into the Ocean for the next day's departure at 12:30 or so. The consist for the pocket streamliner was the second F40 from the Ocean, the baggage car, up to three coaches, the Skyline dome, and Park Observation. This kept the switching relatively simple, since it often just meant that the diner and Chateau sleepers were cut out and set off at the station, and the lead F40 was set over as well.

It's probably fair to say that demand for the train didn't meet expectations, because the coaches were cut back to two and then just one for much of that season and subsequent ones. VIA did promote the train, but the intended customer base was cruise ship passengers, and these typically need an 18 month lead time to set up tours. The fact that the train left Halifax at 07:30 in the morning was also a disadvantage, since most cruise ships wouldn't have completed docking and getting passengers through customs until at least 08:00.

Anyway, the first eastbound trip (technically westbound leaving Halifax) was on May 9, 2000, in typical dreary Nova Scotia spring weather. I didn't even try to use slide film for this one, sticking with the Portra 400VC for the first shot in Bedford (mile 10.5), about 07:55. Normally, there would be no way to catch this train before Truro, but they got stabbed by 148 at Windsor Jct., so I decided I could be a little bit late for work, and caught them passing the signals at Enfield, mile 29 of the Bedford Sub. On the return trip the next day, the weather was a bit more agreeable, and I shot the train at the mile 59 signals near Hilden.

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Rita MacNeil can say what she likes. Is the weather ever sunny on Cape Breton Island?

KG

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> Rita MacNeil can say what she likes. Is the
> weather ever sunny on Cape Breton Island?
>
> KG


Last time I was there, they said they just had a lovely summer. Sorry I missed it, I was in the bathroom.

eminence_grise Wrote:
> Last time I was there, they said they just had a
> lovely summer. Sorry I missed it, I was in the
> bathroom.

It sounds like a challenge has been issued :-)

I'll have to see what I can do to find some sunny Bras d'Or pictures for future postings. In the interest of full disclosure, it's probably fair to say that I didn't make too many expeditions to Cape Breton unless there was a reasonable chance of good weather, so my results are likely biased towards sunshine rather than fog.

GTD

kgmontreal Wrote:
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> Rita MacNeil can say what she likes. Is the
> weather ever sunny on Cape Breton Island?
>
> KG


'Course it's sunny in CB! Photo taken last summer.

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Here's a shot taken in the height of summer, July 19th, 1970 at Sydney NS (Cape Breton Island).

The image shows the southbound CN "Cabot" passenger train boarding passengers at the old Intercolonial Railway station in Sydney NS.

Amazing are the changes the years have bought to this location. The steel mills in the background are gone, so is the station replaced shortly after 1970 by a modern building. The passenger train is long gone, as are the locomotives and cars on it.

Finally, the CN has been gone for a decade, replaced by the shortline CB&CNS (Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia).

Sadly, many of the people who once lived in Sydney have moved away after the steel mill went into a long decline and finally closed.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 01/07/22 14:45 by eminence_grise.

eminence_grise Wrote:
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> Here's a shot taken in the height of summer, July
> 19th, 1970 at Sydney NS (Cape Breton Island).
>
> The image shows the southbound CN "Cabot"
> passenger train boarding passengers at the old
> Intercolonial Railway station in Sydney NS.

Here's the Cabot at the *new* Sydney station in October 1978.

Also the Bras d'Or at Port Hawkesbury on a sunny Sept 10, 2002.

And CBNS at Havre Boucher on July 6, 2008. (That's Cape Breton across the bay)

Right now in Cape Breton the sun is just coming up and it +5 (40F)

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I've been to Cape Breton twice and both times it was beautiful sunny weather. I even took some photos of the CN RDC service at Sydney but the results were poor at best, they were shot from the hotel window. I've been to Halifax/Dartmouth area several times and the weather was beautiful there as well. I didn't take any photos there and sure wish I had!

Gonut

Friends that rode the "Bras D'or" were impressed by the fact that musician(s) and a young woman in Celtic dress as an on board tour guide were supplied, as well as a working bar on this train. Cape Breton hospitality can't be beat.

CN employees who worked this line claimed the best lobster dinners to be had were from Havre Boucher ("Have A Bushy").

I was just reading about the CN RS18s, and was surprised to find, according to the book, that none of them were built with steam generators. Seems amazing, as so many of the Maritime trains had RS18s on them. I rode behind one on my Ocean connection from Truro to Sydney in 1977 (need to go look at the slide to see if we had steam generator car behind the RS18), and one was in my mixed consist on the Scotian with FPA4s and FP9s.

Also, I know that the freight RS18s were 3600s. Were the 3100s geared differently for passenger service and have pass through steam lines? Or were steam generators added?

Oh to take that 1977 trip again. Deeply regret not riding the DAR to Yarmouth.

Lee Hower
Sacramento, CA