Canadian Railroads > VIA Cavalier at Toronto

Dec 80
The Cavalier under Toronto Union Station is getting ready for departure to Montreal on its overnight run.
I had a roomette and sleeping car passengers could board a couple of hours before departure. The lounge car was also open for service.

Gary

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Nice memories! Thanks for posting.

In January 2000 VIA resurrected an overnight train between Toronto and Montreal when they launched the new 'Enterprise' ...10 years after the old 'Cavalier' had been discontinued 1990. This appeared to be the perfect market for an overnight train: big cities 340 miles apart.

And the Enterprise was one train VIA really did give a good try to. It was extensively advertised but there just didn't seem to be a market for overnight train travel anymore in the corridor. With fast day trains each-way....people just wanted to be home in their own beds at night. Not in a hotel room....let alone a sleeper. It lasted about 5 years.

I received discount coupons while travelling in VIA-1 (daytime first class) for a sleeper one-way and return by fast afternoon train but for most it just didn’t work. The only times the trains were busy was on Fri and Sun evenings and this was mostly in coach. On days the Enterprise connected with the Canadian....you did have a few more in the sleepers, but not many. For awhile VIA ran a 'Park Car' on the end and the times I rode the Enterprise I always met one or two other railfans there also enjoying the nostalgia of overnight train travel.



Edited 2 time(s). Last edit at 05/07/21 08:07 by ghCBNS.

Good memories. Nice that VIA could dispatch a 20 year old MLW with no worries.

I loved the VIA "blue" period

With the Enterprise, it was nice having a morning train from Brockville and Cornwall into Montreal for a day trip, and people used it, nicely filled up the two times I took it. Once that was gone, that became impossible. Even the subsequent train from Toronto in the AM bypasses Brockville. 

Great pictures!
My niece and I took the "Enterprise"
I'm a StarTrek fan. :) and loved the name.
We had booked coach seats back to Toronto from Montreal and tried to book a bedroom that evening while killing some time at Central Station.
The upgrade was around $500 to $600 if my memory serves me correctly which I balked at those prices !!!:(:(:( Feel free to correct me...All I know the price was way to expensive for me...
The head sleeper conductor or train Manager was a 50 veteran and kindly took us back to look at the rooms which looked nice.
From what I could tell the 3 or 4 sleepers were almost empty... :(:(:(
We ended up going back to Toronto by coach and I'm 6'6" tall and what a cramped trip that was.The cars rode extremely smooth which impressed me:):):)
I think Via overpriced the sleeping car fares and scared away most people. In my opinion...
Hopefully this fall I will be able to ride in the Renaissance sleeper with my nephew and great nephew from Toronto to Halifax and return !!! :):):)
Can't wait !!! :):):)
 

I rode the Enterprise sleeper (with Renaissance equipment) from  Oshawa to Montreal when I attended the Montreal Grand Prix in 2004, returning the next day on 69.
That was a thoroughly enjoyable trip and well patronzied.

I also was a regular commuter from Oshawa to Toronto and rode in both the Renaissance and Budd incarnations of the Enterprise many times, including in the Park car dome.
The westbound Enterprise was added to the end of the Kingston-Toronto morning commuter train and we were allowed to board it in Oshawa if the commuter coaches were full.

..JR

The Cavalier was a convenient train which made connections with corridor trains at both Toronto and Montreal. We rode it many times. My favourite trips on that train were those that we used to connect to transatlantic liners in Montreal. My wife and I did that three times. By 1987 VIA had decided not to run a baggage car on the train. On the eve of an Atlantic crossing in October that year the train was crowded with other steamship passengers. There was so much luggage it was piled in the vestibules of the sleepers. I wondered how we would evacuate the sleepers in an emergency - or how would passengers board at other stops. I suppose intermediate passengers could entrain or detrain through the coaches.

The winter 1980 VIA timetable shows that the Ottawa section of the Cavalier was still running. The sleeper was always at the front of the  train, next to the baggage car. In the photo it is apparent that the first car is a sleeper. The overnight Ottawa train used to be called The Capital but VIA renamed it Cavalier.

When VIA reinstated the overnight train as the Enterprise the sleeper fares were pricey, but nowhere near the $500 to $600 referred to in a previous post. (I don't recall the fare, but it was higher than a VIA 1 fare but not outrageous.) When the equipment was changed from Budd to Renaissance  I missed the Park car. The light buffet breakfast could be taken up to the dome - a civilised way to greet the dawn. The benefit of the Renaissance was the lack of those horrid "Chateau" roomettes and the elimination of the stiff supplement for single use of a double bedroom. VIA sold the Ren. bedrooms for single occupancy at the price of a roomette. So for the same fare two people could have an upper and lower berth in one bedroom or have two bedrooms and therefore have two lowers and two toilets/showers.

From my experience the Enterprise did better on the nights it connected with the Canadian. The Canadian, which arrived at Toronto in the evening in those days,  was often late and the Enterprise would be held up to two hours for connections. This was aggravating for passengers  intending to board further down the line, such as Guildwood and Oshawa. 

Thanks DrawingroomA.  I regret that I never experienced the Enterprise.

I rode this train once, in '71.....don't recall a thing about the consist, but think it was well patronized, crowded upon loading.  I was able to obtain an upper berth, only space availale.  I boarded, went straight to bed....it was a through car, going south past Toronto, I was headed for the ferry from Michigan to Wisconsin....don't recall my train destination, but had to hitch-hike quite a ways to the ferry.
Another thing I don't recall (wouldn't I make a great witness???) was the price, but being on a budget I found the space charges affordable.

AA

Stanford White
Carmel Valley, CA

I was fortunate to ride both trains several times. As I recall the Enterprise even carried a Park Car for  a short period of time. Not sure why given the limited amount of time for not sleeping. 

Train29 Wrote:
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> As I recall the Enterprise even carried a Park Car
> for  a short period of time. Not sure why given
> the limited amount of time for not sleeping. 

Beverages were served in the Park Car upon boarding in the evening.....and the next morning a nice continental breakfast was severed in the Bullet Observation.
 

ghCBNS Wrote:
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> Train29 Wrote:
> --------------------------------------------------
> -----
> > As I recall the Enterprise even carried a Park
> Car
> > for  a short period of time. Not sure why
> given
> > the limited amount of time for not sleeping. 
>
> Beverages were served in the Park Car upon
> boarding in the evening.....and the next morning a
> nice continental breakfast was severed in the
> Bullet Observation.
>  
Revenue was earned not only from bar purchases but from the Park car's accommodation: three double bedrooms and a drawing room.

The Cavalier had one favourable advantage that the Enterprise lacked: convenient onward connections were available in Toronto and Montreal.  The Enterprise arrived in Toronto after the first train to Windsor had departed.  Similarly, the first train to Québec City had departed by the time the Enterprise arrived in Montreal.  It was a long wait for the next train.

The schedule of the Enterprise was longer than that of the Cavalier because it rested for a couple of hours during the night. At first, both eastbound and westbound trains stopped on a siding east of Kingston station. Later, the eastbound train stopped just west of Brockville. This provided a better chance of some good sleep but it meant a later arrival than what the Cavalier had.

The Quebec Remote train would also depart Montreal on time if the Enterprise was a little late. I don't know if VIA checked the manifest for connecting passengers. 

Good sized train for 1 FPA-4