Canadian Railroads > VIA Prestige Class Makeover

We arrived in Toronto today after taking No 2 across from Vancouver.

This was the first trip for the second completed Prestige Class Park car, Prince Albert Park.

I thought folks here might be interested in seeing what these cars look like inside. The remodelling of the lounge areas is quite striking, although I always loved those old CP style chairs in the rear end.

The bedrooms were occupied, so I didn't get a chance to look inside these, other than one quick peek in one door.

There was some well-known TV travel collumnist doing a shoot on board, so I expect we will see these on TV before long.

- Paul

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Thank you form posting the photos. They show the lounges better than the publicity shots that VIA has. It's unfortunate the murals are gone from the Mural Lounge and also the etched glass partition from the corridor side. It looks like there is seating for only 10 passengers in the rear lounge. I note the fruit and flowers are at the rear. Is there still a table where "goodies" are offered at various times of day?

It looks like one of those fancy coach conversions that Prevost does to their busses. Sorry, I would have to see the rooms for a final opinion.

Any one know how many of the Park cars are going to get the hatchet job.....I mean upgrade/refurbishment? Also, I am interested to find out how many Park cars are needed for their current VIA Rail assignments, and how many are then held as spares or in storage?

VIA Rail usually does nice work on their refurbishments. But, how can one improve on the perfection of the Budd Company/CP Rail "Canadian" equipment circa 1954? This man's opinion says you can't. I'd sure prefer if VIA Rail left the interior of the former CP cars alone.

I like it! When I last traveled on the Canadian I found the Park lounge to be very dated. Yes the murals were nice, but the lounge was walled off and small, the new look is very open and modern with a touch of history. The new lounge chairs look a lot more comfortable than the old ones! When I was on the train the tail section of the Park car was empty for the majority of the journey, since most of the passengers were crowded into the dome!

-Trevor

There was a coffee/tea/juice station in the little nook on the right side to the rear of the stairs, where the writing desk used to be. And you'll note the big bowl of muffins below the countertop in the lower lounge.

We found that croissants, muffins, fruit, and drinks were available 24-7 in the Skyline cars, and presumably in the Park car also. Canapes were offered in late afternoon, right after the wine tasting. There was a beer tasting session also.

I would give VIA top marks for the on-board service....the crews were consistently friendly, responsive, and knocked themselves out for their customers. The meals were excellent. There were lots of activities, including movies, and on-board musicians, who also were excellent. It's night and day from the "old days" when one could encounter a whole range of termperaments and mental states among the train crew and sleeping/dining staff. And I found our sleeper to be in better shape than in years....only one minor rattle which was easily solved with a facecloth.

The photo of No 1 and No 2 meeting is at Biggar SK....at 09:45. No 1 is about 9:45 late at this point, and No 2 is 3 hours late. We didn't care about the late running, but there were lots of passengers who had connections to make.There is no cellular coverage north of Parry Sound - as the train neared Toronto, the Service Manager did a great job sorting everything out, but that was very late in the game from the passengers' viewpoint. With the exception of timekeeping, the whole experience was superb.

- Paul



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 15:41 by crs1026.

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Sort of a modern spin on Denver Zephyr sub dome lunch counter for coach passengers in 1956. I agree with the comment about bus style furnishings.

Sadly, modern furnishings do not hold up well like the original heavy duty furniture and wall and table materials used by Budd, ACF and Pullman Standard. What will these cars look like in three years under heavy use? Time to refurbish, again?

I think it looks good. Were all sleeping car passengers given access to the Park Car at all times? The only negative I see is that without individual seating in the rear lounge, singles might be discouraged from sitting next to strangers on the sofas. Individual seats were better. The attached photos were posted before but since someone asked, here they are again of a bedroom.

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The interior bedroom shots look like many private cars. And like many private cars where the owner ran a bulldozer thru the interior, you'd never know you were on board a railroad car, much less a classic 1950's streamliner.

Two weeks ago today I climbed aboard #2 in Vancouver and was treated to champagne in the first completed car, Laurentide Park. As it was only on its second trip the crew was quite proud of it, and during the welcome aboard announcements the host referred to it as the James Bond car, inviting everyone to come back and have a look.

On the second day out I found the door of the rear bedroom open and stuck my head inside. As it turned out the VIA attendant inside turned out to be the occupant. Oops! She graciously invited me in for a look and my jaw dropped as I entered. On the left was an enclosed bathroom and beside that was a glass shower stall. On the right was an L-shaped leather couch and chair in an area that would comfortably accommodate six people. The double bed pulls out of the wall and covers the couch. There was also a large flat-screen TV. Needless to say I spent a fair amount of time in this car.

The food was par excellance, the staff worked very hard to make the trip enjoyable, and the whole experience was outstanding. VIA really goes the extra mile to make this a first class operation. I really didn't care how late we were, it just meant more time to enjoy the ride.

James Adeney
Toronto



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 17:15 by chatnoir.

Will all first class people in sleeping cars be welcome or will entrance be only for certain people?

Topfuel Wrote:
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> Any one know how many of the Park cars are going
> to get the hatchet job.....I mean
> upgrade/refurbishment? Also, I am interested to
> find out how many Park cars are needed for their
> current VIA Rail assignments, and how many are
> then held as spares or in storage?
> ...

The four Park cars which are converted or being converted for the Prestige Class programme are: Laurentide, Prince Albert, Glacier and Kootenay. There are eight Château sleepers being converted. When the Canadian is on its current tri-weekly operation it requires four consists. With the twice-weekly service - which starts just after Thanksgiving - it will need only three consists. There are two Park cars used for the "Ocean" and two for the Jasper - Prince Rupert train (formerly known as the Skeena) although a Skyline car is sometimes operated on the latter. So eight Park cars are needed at any given time.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 09/30/14 17:48 by DrawingroomA.

DrawingroomA Wrote:
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>
> The four Park cars which are converted or being
> converted for the Prestige Class programme are:
> Laurentide, Prince Albert, Glacier and Kootenay.
> There are eight Château sleepers being converted.
> When the Canadian is on its current tri-weekly
> operation it requires four consists. With the
> twice-weekly service - which starts just after
> Thanksgiving - it will need only three consists.
> There are two Park cars used for the "Ocean" and
> two for the Jasper - Prince Rupert train (formerly
> known as the Skeena) although a Skyline car is
> sometimes operated on the latter. So eight Park
> cars are needed at any given time.

Thanks, DrawingroomA for that info. Since there were 18 Parks built, 1 was wrecked, and 3 were sold off having not been converted to HEP, it sounds like there would be roughly 6 Parks sitting around not being assigned.

I was on the late #1 that passed you! Nice to see one of the Prestige cars in service.

Evangeline Park was our car and not remodeled as noted above. We had several large tour groups (German and European) aboard our 23 car consist. The domes, Panorama car and round end were 95%+ full the whole time to Jasper. Once past Jasper there was a lot more free space. We were just a few minutes of 11 hours late into Vancouver yesterday. When we passed #2 on Monday, it also had an unrebuilt car on it.

Laurentide Park was parked in Vancouver so it appears there is only one in service at the present time. None of the sleepers appear to be in service yet (and confirmed as per talking to the crews as well).

BTW, we were 8 hours late leaving Toronto due to a late #1 coming in. The crews treated us well and made up lunch and dinner for us -- each with two selections-- due to our tardiness into Vancouver. The crews (as well as myself) enjoyed the tardiness due to being able to see a lot of the stuff that you normally miss during the overnight travels. Jasper at 2 am... well...luckily I've been there a couple of times so it wasn't so bad.

Roy

In looking at VIA's web site, one car in service now seems right. The first departure I looked at for Dec. 30 shows the new service. I looked at doing it in the opposite direction early Jan. and it shows the "cabin for 3" (ex drawing room) as "sold out." So obviously that's not a re-done car.

Getting the Prestige domes in service gives VIA a little breathing space in its Park Car utilisation...they have been out of the rotation for a couple years or longer.

Prince Albert Park deadheaded to Vancouver on the same trainset as Laurentide. On arrival in Vancouver, it swapped out Laurentide, which in turn swapped out Kokanee Park as the Vancouver "spare". Kokanee Park deadheaded east on our train and was set off at Jasper.

I don't know if the other two rebuilds are due to arrive soon.

- Paul

Topfuel Wrote:
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>
> Thanks, DrawingroomA for that info. Since there
> were 18 Parks built, 1 was wrecked, and 3 were
> sold off having not been converted to HEP, it
> sounds like there would be roughly 6 Parks sitting
> around not being assigned.

For a few years the availability of Park cars was very tight. With the four being rebuilt that left only 10 in service. With four for the Canadian, two for the Skeena and three (at that time) for the Ocean that left only one spare for the whole system. Two years ago I rode the Ocean twice with a Skyline at the end because one of the Park cars was getting a refurbishment.

Notice no moveable chairs anywhere.
Amtrak ought to lease 2 in the fall for the Adirondack, and sell the rooms; leave the Great Dome on the Cardinal.

The Murals weren't original. No loss. Some were downright ugly.