Can someone tell me what the train formation is for the VIA Rail ‘Canadian’ as it is today and can it be reasonably made up with currently available H.O. Coach stock.?? Any information would be gratefully received. Thankyou in advance. CPPedler[:)][?]
Is this the train that does the cross country trip across canada? If so it looked much corragated sided budd cars much like those used on California zepher. They had four F-40PH up front with all noses facing forward. the last car was a observation dome.
CPPedler,
Via Rail’s Canadian ran with two or three F40PH locomotives with their Cab’s Forward and ended with an ex-CPR Park series observation / dome. The train was around The Park series were 3-1 / Lounge / Obeservation domes and included names such as Banff Park and Jasper Park. The Canadian also ran with three skyline dome cars. These were, too, ex-CPR skyline series dome / cafe / lounge cars. The Canadian also ran with a variety of Chair cars, Manor and Chateau sleeper cars as well as few 10 double bedroom cars. The Canadian was also equiped with a Renaissance Service Car which was a lounge / special accomidation sleeper for handicaped riders. I do not know the exact consist of the current Canadian, however if I were to guess, I would assume that the baggage car would be followed by the service car, two chair cars, then by a 10 double bedroom sleeper. A Skyline Dome car would follow with the another 10 double bedroom, 2 Manor and 2 Chateau sleepers. Following these cars was a second Skyline Dome with 3 more Manor or Chateau sleepers following. A third Dome car would seperate another group of 5 or 6 Manor or Chateau sleepers. Bringing up the rear would be a Park Series observation. I would assume that the 10 double bedroom cars where used mainly in peak turist times and that Via rail would cut extra sleepers if they were not needed.
I compiled this info using a PDF found on the VIA rail Canada website and a variety of photos of the Canadian also found their.
http://www.viarail.ca/pdf/factsheets/en_acco.pdf shows the layouts of the cars found on the Canadian
http://www.viarail.ca/pdf/guides/en_canadian.pdf includes an photgraph of the entire train which I based my consist on.
Ghonz
Thankyou Ghonz,
That is exactly the information that I was looking for, this is great . All I need to do is find out if most of those cars are available in H.O. scale. This must be quite a lengthy train, as I guess they are 85’ cars.
I’m not sure if I could model all of this train it might have be condensed a little. Once again many thanks. CPPedler
CPPedlar: the Bytown Railway Society magazine Branchline publishes train consists every month. The Canadian varies quite a bit for no visible reason.
November 4, 2005 - one of the shortest I’ve seen.
F40PH 6426,6442. Baggage 8616. Coach 8104. Skyline dome 8510. Dining car 8407. Sleepers 8335 Mackenzie Manor, 8332 Laird Manor, 8303 Amherst Manor. Dome-Observation 8703 Banff Park.
A month before the train had 18 cars behind 2 locos. They usually have a second coach and add a unit of 3 sleepers and a dome and diner and maybe another 3 sleepers.
12 May 2006 the train had 27 cars behind 3 units, but 4 of the cars were being transported . Unusually, this train included some Chateau series sleepers. I have another one showing 30 cars, but my cat has eaten the top of the listing.
The current cars are pretty uniform, despite VIA’s having bought some second-hand American ones. All are Budd cars, with a corrugated roof and two raised bars along it. As far as I know, none of the plastic RTR cars are right for it, but some are close. Brass sides have been available, but I think are out of production. Most model dome-observation cars are based on the California Zephyr and have a large light behind the dome. Duplex roomette sleepers, with the up and down window arrangement (Chateau cars), usually have the windows the wrong way round.
Canadian Railway Modeller had a series of articles on modelling The Candian – I can check my collection if you want.
I recently checked the Walthers website and they do have models of Via Rail baggage cars, Chair cars (46 seat coachs) dinners and 10-6 sleepers. They also have models of the Skyline (Vista) Dome cars in the CPR paint schemes along with a variety of other cars. However, you would ahve to kitbash the Park series cars from a Walthers Budd Tavern / Observation and a Vista Dome. A cheaper alternative to the Walthers cars would be IHC models of the CPR or Undecorated Curogated Side Lightweights, but a lot more kitbashing is needed to make these cars look even close to the current Via Rail cars. Put it this way; the Walthers cars are around $45 a piece, 
but the IHC models can be bought for $10 a piece. 
More pics can be found on their respective websites, www.walthers.com and www.ihc-hobby.com
CP;
A lot of the cars are/were available at Walthers a few years ago. I have a bunch of these & I love them
The IHC cars, while not as nice as the Walthers cars, are decent for the money but will require some work to get them to roll properly. I bought a pair of coaches & these will run in a separate train away from the Walthers cars
I ended up using IHC’s metal axles & then adding some weight right over top the trucks inside the body.
I have pic’s of this available if you like.
Gordon
Not sure if Via is still using the CP cars, but if they are, CP used a vista-dome observation car…which I think only Con-Cor makes a model of ??
For some reason, this forum doesn’t allow me to post working links now, but the address is:
http://www.all-railroads.com/instock/ho85pass.htm
The top car is a CP vista-dome obs car.
The majority of VIA’s cars are from CPR’s fleet.
Gordon
I know Con-Cor makes the Budd cars (including the Park domes) in N-scale (I have several of them myself).
I am pretty sure that Con-Cor also does HO-scale.
While not of the best quality, they run fairly well with proper weights, couplers and wheels.
Thanks Guys,
All of your input is of great help. I shall be in the states in January for the Springfield Show so I shall check out these different coaches then and see where I go from there. I prefer to see what I’m buying rather than just order up and not know what I’m getting. It’s a bit costly sending kit back when you’re on the other side of the pond. Thanks again and god bless. CPPedler