Canadian Railroads > More From the Boxing Day Road Trip

The real purpose of leaving a warm home behind in Halifax on Boxing Day (see posts on Dec. 28 and 29) was to get into position for the next Budd Ocean, which had left Montreal on the evening of the 26th.

Campbellton, NB is the logical place to start, since if the train is on time, it will start getting light there, and if it's late, we would have time to venture up the Matapedia Valley to meet it.  When the alarm went off that morning, and I checked the VIA app,, 14 was only running about 20 minutes late, so it looked like we would be starting in Campbellton after all.  The station stop went smoothly, with a new crew on board, brake test completed, and passengers' nicotine habits satiated.  At 08:17 the sun was just peeking over the hills to the east as an 18-car train 14 crossed the bridge east of town and left Campbellton's cautionary limits.  In the going-away shot, the Ocean is stretched out and picking up speed as they head towards Richardsville, NB.

The train seemed to roll right through the small flag stops of Charlo, Jacquet River and Petit Rocher, but took quite a long time at Bathurst, and then Miramichi (formerly Newcastle), where they are shown departing in the third scene.  In my experience, those stations are always well patronized, and unlike Amherst, NS and Sackville, NB still have station staff and checked baggage service.

GTD

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Impressive train - great shots.
Gary

The consist was unusual in having two Skyline domes bracketing the diner.  I don't think that has been done before on the Ocean, at least not in my memory.

Power was 6414, 6457, 6459, all F40PH-3s, and former CP baggage 8608.
Coaches were 8103, 8140, 8138, 8119, 8137, 8138 (8103 and 8119 are former CP).
Skyline 8516, diner Frontenac (8410) and Skyline 8501.
Sleepers were Chateau Marquette (8218), Chateau Bienville (8203), Chateau Dollier (8208), Brock Manor (8310), Dunsmuir Manor (8324, Chateau Brulé (8203), Chateau Rigaud (8223) with Assiniboine Park (8702) on the end.

The Manor sleepers would have been unusual a few years ago, but VIA seems to have been using them for regular revenue service as well as crew accommodation recently, even on the otherwise Renaissance trains. 

GTD
 

You got some good light on those first two photos. Always good to see a Budd streamliner.

Your first photo has IOTD written all over it . . nice catch and thanks for getting up early . .

Craig
mcmrailvideos.com

So what is the purpose of the third headlight? I'm talking about the one with the red ring around it.

The "third" headlight is a Xenon lamp with a very narrow beam.  I'm not sure if it's for the benefit of the crew or lineside drivers/pedestrians.  Its use seems to be optional, although it is turned on in other photos from the trip.

These lamps first showed up about 10 years ago on a pair of F40 (6420 and ?) as an experiment, and I guess they felt they were worthwhile.  The P42s and even the VIA RDCs are outfitted with them now.

All the VIA F40s also have 5-chime horns in addition to the 3-chimes that came with them when they were built.  The 5-chime has to be used when operating at higher speeds (above 70 mph?).  Below that, it's OK to just use the 3-chime.

GTD

Great shots ! That trainset is a thing of beauty. Aren't most of the Budd  fleet over 60 years old? I know these cars have been refurbished over the years, but damn, Budd sure made a fine product !