Canadian Railroads > The Canadian in 1989

In February 1989 a friend and I road the Canadian from Mission to Banff and return, with a day to chase trains in between.  In the first picture an eastbound Canadian exits what I believe is called Cathedral tunnel at MP 133, and in the second picture the same train passes Hector.

JBWX

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Nice shots !
Gary

Great way to get a snowy background. Great scenery anytime of the year.
t4p.

Great pics!  I didn't realise VIA had the grey scheme on the F40's way back in 1989. 

I also see that they had a single unit leading, which struck me as rare for a long-distance VIA train.  But then I noticed that there was a B-unit in behind.  I didn't realise that F40's could hook up to B-units - not sure I've ever seen pictures of that before!

Great set.

Magellan

That was the standard practice  until enough new units were available. I believe the B unit also still had it's steam generator needed as the car's had not undergone HEP conversion at that point. Note also the steam generator in the consist. 

andersonb109 Wrote:
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> That was the standard practice  until enough new
> units were available. I believe the B unit also
> still had it's steam generator needed as the car's
> had not undergone HEP conversion at that point.
> Note also the steam generator in the consist. 

Great photos!  The Ocean also had the same power arrangement until the HEP programme was completed.

The photos were taken during the period when the off-season Canadian did not have a full dining car. At that time VIA's meals on the Canadian were, to my taste, not as good as they were in the earlier years. VIA had turned the dome seats (except for the row by the stairs) in order to run the Skyline cars in reverse of the direction they were intended to operate. That way the dining section (which had replaced the coach seats) was facing the sleepers.

There was a significant improvement in VIA's meals when the upgraded "Silver and Blue Class" service was introduced in April of 1992 and the full diner has been operated ever since.
 
 

I particularly like photo one. Nice sense of action coming out of the tunnel.

The observation on the dome-diners is interesting. My only ride on the CP Canadian was in  April 1972. I ate dinner (spaghetti for this teenage gourmet) in the dome car. I can remember tables in one end of the dome for this meal. It allowed a convenient exit to the dome for an after-dark ride between Ottawa and Montreal. I was the only occupant of the dome - I do not remember any other passengers making the effort to intrude on my penthouse view.