Canadian Railroads > Three Domes on the Ocean

The latest incarnation of VIA's Budd Ocean has been running with two Skyline domes and no diner.  The Budd equipment was pressed into service (again) after an unfortunate tie plate incident near Belmont, NS that damaged a locomotive and several Renaissance cars ( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4762452 ).  I would speculate that because some Budd diners are being refurbished at Gaspésie Diesel in New Richmond, QC, there wasn't one available, and the second Skyline is used as a diner.  VIA's latest mishap in New Brunswick ( https://www.trainorders.com/discussion/read.php?15,4766690 ) with the other Ren set, tore up some track,and in anticipation of short turning the next 14 at Campbellton, the second F40 was reversed, a practice seldom seen on VIA.

As it turned out, CN had the track at Coal Branch passable (with a 10 mph slow order) by Saturday morning, and 14 continued through to Halifax, arriving only about 10 minutes late.  Sunday's 13:00 departure of 15 from Halifax was on time, but soon ran afoul of two late running 120s (to be the subject of a later post).  By the time they got to the Milford-Shubenacadie town line, 15 was running about an hour late, but that did allow the sun to swing around a bit to the west, providing slightly less harsh lighting for the first shot.  I was lucky to squeeze in a going-away shot just before the F40s disappeared into the shadow of a cloud as the train accelerated up to the 75 mph speed limit here.

The Ocean had to make a station stop in Truro next, allowing me time to relocate to the East Mines Trestle and then Folly Lake for a couple video clips.  Once again the clouds dogged me, but cleared for the few seconds it took for the train to cross the causeway across a cove of Folly Lake.

GTD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/19 08:38 by cn6218.

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Nice to see the Budds back in the Maritimes and on the Ocean train, but this may well be a preview to the future too - WITH the shortages. VIA can make more money with the Budds operating on the Canadian, so the Ocean is going to get the short end of the stick, unlike before, to a degree, when it was running six days a week. Course there still should be a complete third Renaissance trainset out there from when the Ocean was running six days a week. Three Renaissance train sets, that could be expanded for sleeper and coach cars, were once the norm and regular operation of the Ocean. Now VIA barely can keep one Renaissance train set in operation. There's never been an official word that the third Renaissance trainset was retired! There is a parts supply for the Renaissance cars, as not all were built out. Shells were stored in Thunder Bay, but parts and interior kits were salvaged. VIA is tight with all equipment coming up to peak time, and especially diners. But the Skylines can make it as a makeshift diner if needed. They've done it before. If this continues, though, I wonder if they would consider pulling the full diner off the Hudson Bay train(s) and substituting with Skyline cars there, as there's certainly less demand for dining on that route. The dome would be a nice addition. 

Nice videos of an attractive train. The Skyline domes have some limited kitchen facilities, and tables to offer service on. Might be a little tight. Wonder how they've changed since the CPR did essentially the same thing. These have been supremely flexible cars for their owners.

Nice videos of a great looking train!

Andy

King_Coal Wrote:
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> Nice videos of an attractive train. The Skyline
> domes have some limited kitchen facilities, and
> tables to offer service on. Might be a little
> tight. Wonder how they've changed since the CPR
> did essentially the same thing. These have been
> supremely flexible cars for their owners.

The CPR offered “coffee shop” meal service only in the small table section at the end of the car and sometimes additionally at two tables under the dome beside the kitchen. The long end was coach seats. Occasionally the seats were removed from some cars in the summer season of The Canadian and replaced with large parlour car seats – the non-swivel type – to provide a comfortable lounge. The cars were normally operated with the vestibule end (the long coach section) first. For a while in the 1970s, flip-over seats were installed in the dome on the Atlantic Limited because that train couldn’t be turned at Saint John.
 
I don’t have the exact years, but some of the Skylines had the coach section replaced with parlour car seats for use on some Montreal-Ottawa and Montreal-Quebec trains. I travelled on several of these between c. 1968 to 1971.  On the Montreal-Quebec trains the coffee shop was upgraded to dining car service, with tablecloths and the traditional CPR silver, including the gorgeous sugar bowls.
 
VIA removed the coach seats permanently and installed six tables in order to provide dining car service in the off-peak season on The Canadian. The Skyline cars have operated in reverse since then. VIA wanted the dining section to be easily accessible by sleeping car passengers.
 



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/10/19 13:43 by DrawingroomA.

So it was VIA that reversed the operation of the cars, not CP.  Interesting.  Thanks for the detailed explanation, and thanks for the report and pictures.

Great pictures and video! What a beautiful stainless Budd car train! Wish I could be riding her!

When the Budd cars are run, is the meal service still pre-plated and heated, or are fully cooked on board meals included as the Skyline's have that capability? Going away shot looks like Tremblant Park with it's distinctive smooth rear panels. 

I haven't actually been on a Budd train in a while, but I'm told the meals are the same as served on the Renaissance equipment.  Back in Janary, when the train ran with two Skylines bracketing the diner, the Skylines were used in a similar way to how the service cars work on the Ren trains.  The meals were heated there and then served in the diner.  The extra dome space was a bonus for passengers (although strangely, I've never seen the dome full, on any of the trips I've taken over the years).

The Park car in these most recent pictures is Assiniboine.  It has the same mysterious flat panels as Tremblant Park.

GTD

When I was on a Budd Ocean last year....yes it was the same meals as served on the Rens and heated in a Convection Oven (not Microwave) in the Diner. I'm assuming the Skylines also have a Convection Oven.

Posted from Android

ghCBNS Wrote:
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> When I was on a Budd Ocean last year....yes it was
> the same meals as served on the Rens and heated in
> a Convection Oven (not Microwave) in the Diner.
> I'm assuming the Skylines also have a Convection
> Oven.
>
> Posted from Android

Yes, there is a large oven in the Skyline kitchens. VIA used a Skyline car as a diner in the off-peak season of the Canadian from about 1982 until the upgraded Silver and Blue class service was introduced in April of 1992.  For a few years around the late 1990s, before VIA was running two dining cars on the summer-season Canadian, VIA operated one and sometimes two Skyline cars as "diners" to augment the one dining car. Full Silver and Blue class dining car service was provided from the small kitchens, including the prime rib. The Skylines also provided full meal service on the Skeena before it became day trains and on the Chaleur.



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/12/19 05:00 by DrawingroomA.