Nostalgia & History > BCRail RDC Run By on the Peace River Bridge

On May 23, 1992 during the week-long excursion on BC Rail a runby was staged on the Peace River Bridge south of Fort St. John, BC.

1. They dropped us off at the north end of the bridge and backed across to the south end.

2, 3, and 4. The run by.

5. Snaking out of the Peace River Valley a shot looking back at the bridge from the RDCs.


Enjoy,
Marty Bernard



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/17 22:07 by MartyBernard.

---

---

---

.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/15/17 22:07 by MartyBernard.

---

---

I’m just curious: what does it sound like riding in an RDC? Is it noisy?

When I worked as an operator on the cn north line in 1964 they brought out four RDCs to vover the run from Prince George to Prince Rupert : They rode well on the 100 lb steel .They were not too noisy but they were not made to plow snow.On the skeena sub if there was 10 inches of snow they would run a plow extra ahead of no 695.They were only used for a short time and conventional equipment soon replaced them.

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m just curious: what does it sound like
> riding in an RDC? Is it noisy?

I've ridden several RDCs over the years and found them not noisy at all.


Marty

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m just curious: what does it sound like
> riding in an RDC? Is it noisy?

Ever ride a bus?

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m just curious: what does it sound like
> riding in an RDC? Is it noisy?

Not too noisy. The early ones (CN-CP) had a higher pitched whine because of being powered by Detroit Diesels (2 cycle). I found the VIA repowered RDCs(Cummins 4 cycle engines) quieter... or perhaps because I was older and my hearing was starting to lessen.

Gerry Gaugl
Ottawa ON



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 10/16/17 22:26 by moonliter.

Thanks all for letting me know how they sound.

Streamliner,
P Hall hit the nail on the head!
Like a stinking bus!
Gonut

RDC's had a distinct sound. They did not have traction motors, instead they had drive shafts and a hydraulic transmission.

The controls were very simple, forward, reverse and neutral. The throttle was sprung to return to neutral. It worked like the accelerator pedal on a car. Like a car, bursts of power were used to accelerate and much of the time, the car was coasting.

When stopped, the drive shaft would disengage from the transmission, with a clunk audible in the passenger compartment.

The bell was underfloor mounted, and also clearly audible in the passenger compartment.

Streamliner Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I’m just curious: what does it sound like
> riding in an RDC? Is it noisy?

I don't know where you live or how far you can travel, but the Reading & Northern runs their 2 RDCs on multiple public trips each year at decent speeds. Probably the last place to experience an RDC on a regular basis.

Does VIA still use them on the White River - Sudbury run?

Tim