- Did you ride any non Amtrak trains after May 1, 1971 such as Southern Cresent and the Zepher?
- Does CN and CP control Via Rail and when was Via created and what does Via mean???
- Do you think that Amtrak should go through with NOV. 1 Cancellations such as the Three Rivers? I DO NOT.
- Will BC rail or anyone else run passenger service again there?
- Are all of or how many of the Amfleet cars that are on most NEC trains date from the Pennsylvania Railroad or BUDD.
I rode the Southern Crescent in 1978.I had the best diner meal of all time.I also rode the Rio Grande Zephyr in 1979.
CN joined Via around 74-75. CP joined a few years later.
The Amfleet cars were built beginning in 1974. The PRR was long gone by this time.CN,owner of BC Rail,has been in negotiations with several operators of high end tour trains.I have not heard any results yet.
The latest news in regards to passenger service on the old BC Rail right-of-way is that The Rockey Mountaineer people have won the contract with CN.
Rockey Mountaineer is planning to go full-on with the passenger service, though it will not be communter type service - it will be the tourist type service.
http://www.whistlermountaineer.com/
This site here will let you in on all the info, and I HIGHLY recommend anyone that can afford to take the trips, to do so when they come about. The scenery on the old BC Rail right-of-way from North Vancouver to Prince George is absolutely amazing.
CN and CP don’t control VIA; while the details of the relationship are very different from Amtrak, the overall effect is the same. As far as I know (hopefully someone can confirm or correct!) ‘VIA’ is not initials, but a word – it means ‘way’ or ‘road’ – and has the lovely advantage (at least in Canada) of being language neutral – it’s neither French nor English (actually, Latin) and thus is acceptable to all concerned… we have to worry about that a lot!
In answer to number 3… well… naturally I’d be ecstatic if Amtrak didn’t go through with the 1 November cancellations. However, at the risk of kicking the hornet’s nest, may I respectfully point out that no one has offered to put up the money to keep things going as they are? For that matter, there is some uncertainty – as usual – that anyone will put up the money to keep things going at all…
Via is owned by the federal government like Amtrak is in the U.S.
I rode the Rio Grande Zephyr in October of ‘77. It was great. The dining service for all 3 meals was top-notch. I was a conductor on the Milwaukee Road at the time, and I was with my girlfriend who was a brakeman on the Milwaukee. We were having dinner, and the train crew, an old-head conductor, the baggageman, and a smart-guy new-hire brakeman were seated across the aisle from us. The brakeman overheard our conversations on railroading and looked up at my girlfriend. With a big grin he sat up straight and asked, “So.Would you like to work for a railroad?” We both broke out laughing and I replied, "Hell, she’s taking the conductors’ exam next week." The brakeman just looked down and went back to his trout.
Mitch
With respect to the Amfleet cars, the answer is easy, but not as direct as you might have hoped:
Zero Amfleet cars date from the PRR years – the first ones were built in the mid-1970s, long after PRR became part of PC. AFAIK, the early ones (and perhaps all) were built by the Budd Company – I was able to tour the first prototypes at the Red Lion plant in Philadelphia.
What you’re almost certainly thinking of are the Metroliner cars, which were very similar in construction to the Amfleet cars (and, of course, also built by Budd). These of course were PRR era.
I suspect there are some historical ‘links’ between the construction methods used for the Tubular Train (Keystone) carbodies and the Metroliner carbodies, but very different operating principles were involved in the actual design of these trains. Hopefully someone with direct knowledge of this era of construction at the Budd Company can provide references or knowledge.