Canadian Railroads > Chaleur with the Fall Foliage

I think the last time I posted a picture from this location, the crossing of the St.John River near Gaspé, QC, the landscape was covered in snow.  On this, my first visit to the Gaspé on September 29, 2001, the Chaleur was heading back to Matapédia to rejoin the westbound Ocean later that night.  The leaves were a bit late turning, or perhaps we were just a bit early, but there was some colour at the higher altitudes.  The somewhat lengthy train featured two Chateau sleepers and a diner to accommodate tour business which was active at the time.

GTD



Edited 1 time(s). Last edit at 04/29/21 16:14 by cn6218.

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Nice overlook scene.

Bob

Well-crafted scene.
Bob

That's "Haldimand beach" in the back round ( other side of the bridge). There used to be "Douglastown" station is just in front of the engine but that has been gone for years.
Thank you for sharing this picture...:):):)

Dramatic view. Perfect equipment for a train making this run.

Beautiful scene.
Fred

First time I've ever seen this train, or practically any VIA Rail train, with the sleepers on the head-end! I always enjoyed the Chaleur, especially when it had a full diner in the consist!!!

jp1822 Wrote:
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> First time I've ever seen this train, or
> practically any VIA Rail train, with the sleepers
> on the head-end! I always enjoyed the Chaleur,
> especially when it had a full diner in the
> consist!!!

Indeed, sleepers on the head-end are rare on VIA. I hope someone can give a definite answer  why this train was run in reverse formation except for the baggage car. (A crew member told me it has something to do with the length of the wye at Gaspé.)  In the photo the three Chateau sleepers are facing forward as is the Skyline car. My trips to Gaspé have been on shorter trains than this but I have seen even longer consists combined with the Ocean. The longest I saw had two coaches, Skyline, diner and four sleepers.

I'm not sure what the length of the wye in Gaspé would have to do with the arrangement of the consist.  Any time I've seen the train turned there, the tail track was long enough that it could be turned in one piece.  If it has to be turned at New Carlisle, that's another story.  The tail track there can only handle an F40 and 3 cars.

I did see some pictures (not mine) today of the combined Ocean/Chaleur in October, 2002 and the Chaleur configuration is similar, with both baggage up front behind the power, four Chateaux sleepers, diner, Skyline and then all the coaches from both trains together in a block.  Perhaps this gave more flexibility for seating coach passengers who weren't going any farther than Matapédia?

My next trip (after the 2001 one in this thread) was in 2006, and although the train was large, it was marshaled conventionally (2 F40s, baggage, 2 coaches, Skyline, 2 Chateaux, diner and another Chateau).  By this time it was probably combined with a Ren Ocean at least some of the time, so keeping the baggage cars and coaches together would not have been possible.

GTD