Canadian Railroads > British Army in the Snow (BATUS)

March 6 2011 and the BATUS (British Army Training Unit Suffield) (Suffield AB is a large miliary training area) was passing thru Smiths Falls ON on the way west. Currently the track that the BATUS used is not longer there, so it is doubtful we will ever see another BATUS in Smiths Falls.

There will be approximately 6 attachments to this posting. Theres more....
 

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Thats the Tioga Pass with Norm on board.. first winter trip for that California guy..

BTB

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Which one of these photos is not like the others? VERY cool....in many ways....

Bob;  I presume this equipment was shipped from the U.K. to participate in winter training conditions?  Neat photos.
jb

The owner of the Tioga Pass has always been very discrete about who the military client is that charters his PV. 

However it is hard to keep secrets in the rail enthisast world:-)

WP17

WP17 Wrote:
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> The owner of the Tioga Pass has always been very
> discrete about who the military client is that
> charters his PV. 
>
> However it is hard to keep secrets in the rail
> enthisast world:-)

Hard to keep a secret when it's out in the open in a railway yard. It's obvious that this is British military equipment -- some of it even has British licence plates for operating on public roads.

railsmith Wrote:
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> WP17 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > The owner of the Tioga Pass has always been
> very
> > discrete about who the military client is that
> > charters his PV. 
> >
> > However it is hard to keep secrets in the rail
> > enthisast world:-)
>
> Hard to keep a secret when it's out in the open in
> a railway yard. It's obvious that this is British
> military equipment -- some of it even has British
> licence plates for operating on public roads.

He has made the request and many of us honor it.

PHall Wrote:
> He has made the request and many of us honor it.

There's nothing secret about the British Army Training Unit Suffield - a Google search on 'BATUS' gets 2.3 million hits.

Ray

Ray_Murphy Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> PHall Wrote:
> > He has made the request and many of us honor
> it.
>
> There's nothing secret about the British Army
> Training Unit Suffield - a Google search on
> 'BATUS' gets 2.3 million hits.
>
> Ray

Didn't say it was secret, classified or even magical. Norm said he would perfer if we didn't post about his car's involvement and many of us have honored that request.
 

I'm guessing the status of forces agreement covers highway operation of foreign equipment on Canadian roads.

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Lackawanna484 Wrote:
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> I'm guessing the status of forces agreement covers
> highway operation of foreign equipment on Canadian
> roads.
>
> Posted from Android

Most likely. Should be the standard NATO agreement.

railsmith Wrote:
>-- some of it even has British
> licence plates for operating on public roads.

And right hand drive too!

GTD

After unloading the equipment at the Port of Montreal, I was standing by the major in charge watching the tanks drive down and aboard the ship on the stern ramp.  I raised my camera to take a photo but it wouldn't work.  The major looked toward me as I grumbled about the D#*%^ camera.  He replied in a perfect but heavy British accent " Norm do not ever underestimate the power of MI-5!.  Yes, some of the equipment has secret components which I know very little about..  The attached photo is from a 2017 trip, while we waited for the loading date at Medicine Hat, Alberta.  The high for the day was 9 degrees F.  Brrr!!

Norm 

Norman Orfall
Helendale, CA
TIOGA PASS, a private railcar



Edited 3 time(s). Last edit at 12/15/18 13:19 by aronco.

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Way to go Norm!!! All the best to you on this trip !!! Hope you are all  warm and comfy ! Take care and be safe!!! :):):)

In all of these years, Norm has never divulged any information regarding the military in these trips to Canada. He merely told me that he was touring Canada in the dead in winter at 40 below while trying to keep the toilets working.

Cardo

cardo72 Wrote:
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> In all of these years, Norm has never divulged any
> information regarding the military in these trips
> to Canada. He merely told me that he was touring
> Canada in the dead in winter at 40 below while
> trying to keep the toilets working.

But most Canadians reading the posts quickly came to realize what was going on. It wasn't difficult to figure out!

 

Will MacKenzie
Dundas, ON

I'm sure some members of the British army would prefer to be holding December or January military exercises in Jamaica, Antigua, etc.

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