Canada Calling
January 1998
by Bryce Lee
INDUSTRY NEWS
One of Northern Ontario's major tourist attractions, the Agawa Canyon Tour
Train recorded a slight decline in traffic this year. Officials blame poor
promotion particularly in the United States. 80,000 passengers paid close to $60 for the
day long train ride through the Northern Ontario wilderness. The train operates from May
to October and hits its peak in September when the forest is ablaze with colour. Bus loads
of visitors from the U.S. travel to the Soo to board the train for the 200 kilometre ride
to Agawa Canyon. The President of Algoma Central Railway, Ed Burkhardt says tourist
traffic dropped 1% this year, that's the first decline in years, but he's not worried. For
the first time this year a dome car was added. For a slightly higher fare passengers could
enjoy a panoramic view of the wilderness. Burkhardt says more dome cars will be added next
season.
Northern Ontario will soon see the establishment of a new tourist attraction that is
expected to rival the success of Sault Ste. Marie's Agawa Canyon train. The attraction, an
excursion train dubbed the Timber Train, will operate between Mattawa and
Temiscaming, Quebec. It will be operated by the Mattawa and Area Forestry Committee for
Economic Development. It is hoped the excursion-designed to be a day trip accessible
within a day's drive of much of Ontario; the train will operate year round and provide a
major boost to the economies of both Mattawa and Temiscaming. The Timber Train made a
trial run on October 5, 1997. More than 230 people were invited on the run. And by all
accounts, the trial run was a success. The Timber Train will use the existing Ottawa
Valley RaiLink line, and RaiLink will also provide the locomotives. The passenger cars
will be borrowed from the Polar Bear Express, operated by Ontario Northland. Passenger
service along the 62-kilometre track between Mattawa and Temiscaming was discontinued 25
years ago, but freight from Tembec mill in Temiscaming still travels the short line daily.
The line was sold by CP Rail to RaiLink two years ago. When running, the train will depart
Mattawa at about 9 am and arrive in Temiscaming in time for a tour of the Tembec mill and
town, followed by lunch and shopping. Passengers will arrive back in Mattawa by 4 pm. It
is hoped the train can run three or four days a week all year long. Although it will
probably begin with weekend and theme based excursions. As many as 50,000 people could
board the Timber Train annually.
Canada's Bombardier Inc. agreed on November 10 1997 in principle to
buy rail car maker Deutsche Waggonbau AG of Berlin from Advent International, a venture
capital group based in Boston. A final purchase agreement was expected to be concluded
within a few weeks, subject to due diligence and approval by German regulatory
authorities. The transaction price was not disclosed. Advent acquired Deutsche Waggonbau
in September 1995 for an undisclosed sum from the German government, which obtained
ownership of the former East German state company during the reunification of Germany.
Deutsche was one of the last and largest of the East German state enterprises to be sold
after reunification. It had been a major manufacturer of rolling stock, mainly for the
former Soviet Union. Deutsche Waggonbau was expected to have revenues of DM 1.1 billion
(C$644 million) in 1997 and has about 5,000 employees in five plants, four of which are in
Berlin.
Wage, pension and benefit improvements are part of the new contract for 1,200 unionized
employees at the TrentonWorks railcar plant, the United Steelworkers
announced November 18, 1997. The union said the improvements are worth C$6.5-million.
Workers will receive a C$1-an-hour retroactive wage increase from April 1 to October 31,
another 40-cent-an-hour increase this year, 35 cents next year and 25 cents in 1999, the
union said in a news release. Regarding pensions, the union said the contract includes
increases in the basic pension as well as an increase applicable to service back to 1988,
when the plan was started. Insurance benefits have improved in most areas, including drug
coverage, life insurance, long-term disability and dental coverage. New items include
vision care, physiotherapy and chiropractic care. Gains were also made in the area of
health and safety, the union said. Workers now have the right to refuse unsafe work in the
contract. The local will also have a paid full-time health and safety representative. The
union announced Monday that workers voted 75 per cent in favor of the contract. About 900
votes were cast.
The Federal government has hired an engineering firm..to look into the feasibility of a
rail link between downtown Toronto and Pearson Airport. The IBI group has
a contract for $25,000 to look into the most effective, and inexpensive..way to provide
the link, using an existing line that runs from Toronto to southwestern Ontario. The
company is to hand in a report by the end of this year. he government also wants to find
out if a CN Rail by-pass line could be used to link the airport with communities to the
east of Toronto, such as Oshawa and points east. With current expansion plans well in
progress, by the time construction is completed in a few years, in excess of 50-million
passengers will be handled by the terminal yearly.
The Federal Minister of Transport, David Collenette said he will soon appoint someone
to review Canada's grain transportation system. Collenette said on
November 24 he hopes to make an announcement before Christmas of 1997. The review was
held-up by a postponed hearing into problems moving grain by Canada's railways. That will
now start in March of 1998. But despite the hearing Collenette says he thinks the review
of the grain transportation system will have to be completed by the end of next year at
the latest.
Montreal companies Bombardier and Power Corp. and a
Chinese partner have signed an agreement with China's Ministry of Railways to create a
joint venture to manufacture rail-passenger coaches in the Asian country.
The memorandum of understanding, which follows an accord signed in 1994, sets the terms
for the formation of the joint venture, conditions for personnel training and for the
transfer of technology, the companies said in a statement Thursday. The parties selected a
factory near Qingdao in Shandong province as a manufacturing site. The factory belongs to China
National Railway Locomotive and Rolling Stock Industry Corp., the third party in
the proposed venture. The joint venture will use Bombardier technology to manufacture
passenger coaches for the Chinese railways which are under rapid development. The factory
will have the possibility of expanding in the future to make subway cars, light rail
vehicles, commuter cars and high-speed intercity cars for both the Chinese and export
markets, the group said. Power's involvement would be as an investor. It already has
interests in China, including an industrial real estate project and a toll highway.
Bombardier's Transportation group in Europe also announced November 27, 1997 an order
worth C$54 million to supply 11 self-propelled train sets, each with two cars, for Norway.
The cars will be manufactured in Aachen, Germany. Deliveries are scheduled to start at the
end of 1999.
Railways are reaping the highest rewards from farmers' hefty investment in new
grain elevators, says the commissioner of the Canadian Wheat Board. Construction
of high-throughput grain terminals should improve the railways' overall performance
because they have fewer and fewer stations to service, said the commissioner at the
Alberta Wheat Pool delegates attending their annual meeting in Calgary November 26, 1997.
But performance of the railways is getting worse instead of better, as they have slipped
from 5,500 rail car unloads per week (at West Coast ports) in 1994-95 to 4,600 unloads for
1997-98. Between 1995 and 2000, the Alberta Pool will invest C$180 million in upgrading
grain elevators and constructing 22 new grain terminals. The railways may be the main
beneficiaries but that benefit will allow them to keep rail rates lower, thereby helping
producers. Pool officials estimate that last winter's grain transportation problems,
partly attributable to bad weather, cost them C$5-million. During the last 33 weeks, the
Canadian Pacific Railway has delivered more than enough grain cars to reach targets but
unloadings at the West Coast have only reached target three times. The railway is not
responsible for unloading, it is only responsible for delivering grain. The unloading
issue is complex, with problems that include getting the right trains to the right port
and the right time. The system doesn't work, it has to be resolved with an industry wide
review in which all the players sit down together. CN Rail agreed there needs to be a
study of the entire grain handling and transportation system. But that will be postponed
until the wheat board's complaint to the Canadian Transportation Agency about rail
performance last winter is dealt with.
A new customer accord will let trains skirt border problems making rail the fastest and
most economic means for shippers to move their goods to Canada. The Railway Association of
Canada (RAC) announced November 24, 1997 an agreement to automate the customs
clearance of goods entering Canada by rail, developed in collaboration with
Canadian Society of Customs Brokers and Revenue Canada-Customs. Besides trimming 48 hours,
on average, from delivery times, the new system will save shippers the cost of maintaining
bonded rail sidings, lower their brokerage costs and eliminate unnecessary demurrage fees.
Nearly 98 per cent of the 550,000 rail cars entering Canada each year are already cleared
without inspection. The process, until now, was entirely paper-driven, which kept goods
sitting needlessly idle in rail cars on bonded sidings. The more than a half-million car
days that will be freed up will be needed to help handle an expected shift in demand
towards the rail mode. The speedy border clearances will give the railways a significant
edge over transborder truckers, who report an average four-hour delay at the border. A
single train can carry the equivalent of 275 or more truckloads of freight which reduces
road congestion, fuel consumption and ground-level greenhouse gases. During the past year,
six member railways participated directly in the development of the new border clearance
system, under the auspices of the RAC: Canadian Pacific, Canadian National, Wisconsin
Central, Burlington Northern Santa Fe, CSX Transportation and Norfolk Southern.
The U.S. Customs service already uses a similar system, developed during the past two
years, to automate customs clearance of southbound rail traffic. They report that the
system has not only cut clearance time to 10 minutes per train, or six seconds per freight
car, but has also improved law enforcement at the border.
CANADIAN PACIFIC RAILWAY
Canadian Pacific Railway announced November 18, 1997 that it will acquire 261 new
advanced-traction locomotives by the end of 1999; the largest order of
locomotives ever by a Canadian railway. At a cost of C$670 million, it firmly establishes
CPR as Canada's leader in introducing alternating-current (AC) technology to the rail
transportation industry. The first 101 locomotives, for 1997; began arriving the week
previously from General Electric Transportation Systems in Erie, Pennsylvania. The new
locomotives will go directly into service in Western Canada moving bulk exports to the
West Coast. Another 140 locomotives will enter the fleet in 1998, followed by 20 more in
1999. Units delivered in 1998 and 1999 will also be used in fast-freight intermodal
service between Eastern Canada and Western Canada, and in cross-border mixed-freight
service between Western Canada and Chicago. With the latest order, the railway will have
344 AC locomotives, with equivalency to about 570 existing direct current units. CPR is
the only railway in Canada to adopt AC technology, which is ideally suited to hauling
freight over challenging geography and in harsh winter conditions. CPR's capital program
for locomotives and other acquisitions is being financed largely by the sale of
non-strategic assets and by cash flow from operations. Calgary-based CPR has assets of
C$7.7- billion and annual revenues of about C$3.8-billion.
Cleanup crews hoped to clear track between Smiths Falls and Sudbury
after a train derailed east of North Bay, dumping 27 of 44 cars. A 44-car freight train
travelling from Thunder Bay to Montreal derailed near Bonfield on November 12, 1997. No
one was injured when the train left the tracks along the Canadian Pacific Railway line,
nor were hazardous materials were involved. With 2200 feet of tracks to relay, trains were
expected to be running within three or four days. The derailment is being investigated by
The Transportation Safety Board and the Ontario Ministry of the Environment. RaiLink of
Edmonton leases the track from CPR and normally runs six to eight trains daily between
Thunder Bay and Montreal.
About 70 metres of track were ripped up the morning of November 25, 1997 when six freight
cars derailed near MacTier, south of Parry Sound. The cars were carrying potash
and there was no threat to the environment. There's no word on what caused the derailment
and officials from the federal Transportation Safety Board are investigating.
About 100 people in Thunder Bay were unable to sleep in their homes Thursday night
November 27, 1997 as CPR workers continued to clean up leaking gas from a train
derailment. Nine of 11 cars in the CPR yard derailed early that morning including
two cars containing flammable butane gas. Crews were expected to work overnight to pump
gas leaking from one car into a secure container. Residents in a two-block area around the
accident scene were evacuated by city transit buses to local hotels. The evacuated
includes people from a homeless shelter. Businesses in the area were also closed during
the day and traffic was rerouted. No cause for the accident has been determined but the
rail cars were being shunted when the accident occurred. Rail traffic through Thunder Bay
has not been disrupted as trains were moved to CN Rail.
CANADIAN NATIONAL RAILWAYS
CN Rail management will investigate allegations that the original
construction of a train trestle in Terrace was unsafe, and led to
October's accident that killed two workers and injured four others. Relatives of the
workers and two former employees claim they raised the concerns before the rail bridge
collapsed Oct. 27, 1997, killing CN crane operator William Hugh Carson, 34, of Kamloops,
and construction worker John Marti, 34, of Telkwa. Carson was in the crane on the bridge
and Marti was working underneath it when the span fell into a water-filled ravine. The
crew, made up of CN staff and employees of an Edmonton-based company contracted do the
construction work, was replacing the trestle's wooden centre spans with more sturdy steel
ones when it collapsed near the northwestern town. The victims' relatives and workers
claim the contractor ignored repeated concerns that the bridge became weaker during the
replacement process. The CN manager of public affairs said he will ask CN officials about
the accusations, and added the company is taking them seriously. The official hadn't heard
of the allegations before they were told to two Vancouver newspapers but added he didn't
work on the job site nor is he part of the investigation team. The cause of the accident
is still under investigation by Labour Canada, the Workers' Compensation Board and the
Transportation Safety Board. The report won't be finished for several weeks. A
construction company employee, Glen Hickey, lost his right leg in the accident and is in
hospital with a broken back and a crushed left leg. The process of replacing the wooden
beams with steel ones has been done successfully at most of the 12 to 15 trestles between
Kitimat and Terrace over the last six years. The bridge that collapsed was the second last
one to be reinforced along the 65-kilometre stretch of track.
Two CN workers fired after a fatal train accident near Edson, Alberta,
in 1996 have been reinstated and will be back at work before the end of
the year. The company and employees' union both confirm that conductor Mike Sherbluk and
brakeman Ed Moore will be given back their jobs after a 14-month hiatus. The men were
fired following the release of a CN-commissioned investigation into the August 1996 crash
that killed three men when a string of runaway cars collided with a westbound freight. An
arbitration hearing was scheduled to begin into the firings, however CN agreed to
reinstate the men without a hearing. The investigator cited insufficient hand brake
pressure and failure by the yard crew to perform a mandatory test of the brakes as being
the primary causes of the accident.
Canadian National announced November 7 1997 it is the first transportation company to
join the Responsible Care partnership initiative of the Canadian Chemical
Producer's Association (CCPA). CN president Tellier noted "Responsible Care"
complements CN's initiatives in health and safety, the transportation of dangerous goods
and the environment." Responsible Care was created in 1985 by the CCPA to improve the
chemical industry's management of chemicals and its safety, health and environmental
performance.
Canadian National filed November 14, 1997 a preliminary prospectus
with the Quebec Securities Commission in Canada and the Securities and Exchange Commission
in the United States for the issuance and sale of pass-through certificates to finance the
acquisition of 115 new high-horsepower locomotives. The principal amount of the financing
will be approximately US$129.6 million. The certificates will be sold in the United
States. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter will act as lead manager of the underwriting group,
with Goldman, Sachs and Co. as co-manager. This financing was expected to be completed by
the end of November 1997.
The first of 80 new General Electric Dash 9 locomotives arrived in
Winnipeg November 14, 1997 as CN added a third Locomotive Reliability Centre in Symington
yard to the two already in place in Edmonton and Toronto. Earlier in 1997, CN and GE
signed an agreement that called for GE to manage the maintenance and repair of 118 of CN's
GE Dash 8 and Dash 9 locomotives. All of this work is being done by CN employees under GE
supervision at CN's Symington Locomotive Reliability Centre in Winnipeg, Manitoba.
Elgin, Joliet and Eastern Railway Company (EJandE) has agreed to grant non-exclusive
overhead trackage rights to Grand Trunk Western Railroad Incorporated
(GTW) over 60.1 miles of EJandE's main line track between the EJandE/GTW connection at
Griffith, Indiana (milepost 36.1 on EJandE's Eastern Subdivision), and a point 7,500 feet
west of the west switch of Eola Yard, at Eola, Illinois (milepost 24.0 on EJandE's Western
Subdivision). The transaction was scheduled to be consummated on or after November 10,
1997, the effective date of the exemption. The purpose of the trackage rights is to enable
GTW to improve service and transit times between Griffith and Eola.
Canadian National Railway work crews were expected to have replaced about 450 metres of
damaged rail near Beaverton, east of Orillia, Ontario by the evening of
November 17, 1997. The company's main north-south line was disrupted November 15 when 60
southbound cars derailed. No one was injured when two cars rolled down towards Lake Simcoe
and sank partially into the water. The cars were loaded with food, lumber and paper
products. None carried any hazardous materials.
Canadian National unveiled on November 27, 1997 a comprehensive, customer-driven winter
operations plan that will help the company maintain its service commitments
throughout the winter months ahead. The key, is to assemble the most effective combination
of people, track, locomotives, and technology." Key elements of the winter plan are:
- CN has hired 300 new permanent operating employees to run trains and 93
temporary mechanical employees to perform minor locomotive repairs;
- CN has boosted the horsepower and reliability of its locomotive fleet
by acquiring 35 new General Motors SD75 and 80 General Electric Dash 9 locomotives;
acquiring an additional 85 locomotives through short-term leases; holding 50 serviceable
locomotives in reserve, ready for use as required (see motive power notes);
remanufacturing 50 locomotives to improve their reliability and to upgrade them (GCFX
6030-6079); upgrading 167 locomotives to improve their winter reliability;
- acquiring 1,425 additional box cars for pulp and paper products; 150 centerbeam
bulkheads are being added;
- 32 additional wayside detectors have been installed as part of CN's
three-year plan to augment the number of detectors on its transcontinental route;
- CN's inventory of freight wheels will be 30% higher than it was last
winter;
- 86 additional pieces of snow clearing equipment, including high-powered
snow blowers and snow melters;
- centralized its three Operation Management Centres in Edmonton. This
ensures that all system-wide operations can be easily monitored for potential trouble
spots.
SHORTLINES
CP Rail has completed the sale of one of its remaining sections of track, a
590-kilometre section linking Quebec City, Montreal and Hull, adjacent to Ottawa. The Quebec-Gatineau
Railway took over the marginal line on November 11, 1997 from the St. Lawrence
and Hudson Railway, CPR's eastern division, for an undisclosed price. The agreement was
reached in August 1997. The sold railway includes lines to Joliette and to Grand-Mere. It
has about 70 customers providing more than 35,000 carloads a year of paper and forest
products, chemicals, and bulk commodities including grain. Quebec-Gatineau is a shortline
railway company based in Montreal. It belongs to Genesee Rail-One, owned by Genesee and
Wyoming Inc., a short-line operator in the United States, as well as local investors.
Genesee Rail-One has been operating the former CPR line between Sudbury and Sault
Ste-Marie in Northern Ontario since last July.
RaiLink Ltd. is poised to double its regional railway track mileage to
2,000 kilometres. The Edmonton-based company announced it has reached an agreement in
principle to buy CN's rail network in northwestern Alberta and the Northwest Territories.
The network consists of 1,025 kilometres (640 miles) of track running north from Smith,
Alberta (located about 210 kilometres north of Edmonton) to Hay River, NWT. The
transaction is expected to close by year-end with RaiLink's operations of the network
scheduled to commence no later than March 1, 1998. RaiLink previously announced that its
24.6 per cent owned affiliate, Quebec Railway Corporation Inc. (QRC), had reached an
agreement in principle for the acquisition of a 485 kilometres (301 miles) rail line
between Moncton, New Brunswick and Mont Joli, Quebec. RaiLink's acquisition of the
northern Alberta network, together with the recent QRC acquisition will double total track
mileage operated by RaiLink and its affiliate to just over 3,200 kilometre (2,000 miles).
The northern Alberta network now handles 30,000 carloads of traffic annually, serving
major shippers in the agriculture and forest products industries. The railway is also part
of the northern re-supply system. RaiLink expects to generate approximately C$18- million
in annual revenues from the lines. RaiLink will hire approximately 80 employees to operate
this line, with local management based in Peace River, Alberta.
RaiLink Ltd. announced November 17, 1997 its financial results for the
nine months ended September 30, 1997. For the three months ended September 30, 1997,
operating revenue increased to C$5,759,000 from C$592,000 for the corresponding period in
1996. Net income for the quarter was C$1,477,000 ($0.23 per share) compared to C$126,000
($0.16 per share) for the quarter ended September 30, 1996.
For the nine months ended September 30, 1997, operating revenue increased to
C$16,756,000 from C$1,902,000 for the corresponding period in 1996. Net income for the
nine months was C$2,820,000 ($0.72 per share) compared to net income of C$74,000 ($0.09
per share) for the nine months ended September 30, 1996. RaiLink's operating ratio is on
target at 97.9% for the three months ended September 30, 1997 and 84.1% for the nine
months ended September 30, 1997. The higher operating ratio for the 3rd quarter reflects
the increased level of track maintenance incurred during the period. The year over year
increase in operating revenue and operating income is primarily a result of the impact of
RaiLink's new Ottawa Valley railway that commenced operations on October 29, 1996. The
increase in net income for the nine months ended September 30, 1997 of C$2,746,000
includes a gain on sale on capital assets of C$2,378,000 before income taxes (C$1,070,000
after income taxes) primarily from the abandonment and sale of 94.5 miles of track in
central Alberta in August 1997.
For those interested in those ex-Burlington Northern GP50's that were
sent to the Maritimes and latterly the Cape Breton and Central Nova Scotia where in turn
they would have gone to a new former CN line to be sold to Railtex, some news. The former
Intercolonial line went to Quebec Railway Corporation, partly owned by RaiLink and the
balance by a consortium of Quebec bunsinessmen. The locomotives suddenly became homeless.
The three units, GP-38-3s 3800, 3801, 3806 were seen westbound through Southern Ontario
the last week of November 1997 enroute for the Railtex-owned Indiana and Ohio Railway (ex
DTandI). IandO will in turn send CBandCNSR 4 GP-50s that they have been using, to
supplement the MLW-built Alcos CBCNS uses. The 3800,3801 and 3806 are painted in the new
red and grey Railtex corporate colors.
At 12:01, Tuesday, November 11, 1997, ownership of all the "North Shore" (of
the Ottawa and St Lawrence Rivers) CP lines between Montreal's Outremont yard and Ottawa,
and between Montreal's St. Martin Jct and Quebec City was transferred from the CPR to Genessee
Rail-One. Initially, GRO is leasing CPR MLWs (what else?); as well, a dead
Conrail 1500 series was seen at St. Luc.
Canadian National transferred its northeastern Alberta rail network to RaiLink
Ltd., in a ceremony at Fort McMurray, Alberta. The network extends 324.9
kilometres (201.9 miles) north from Boyle to Lynton, located approximately 15 km south of
Fort McMurray. The agreement was reached on September 2, 1997 and operations commenced on
September 4, 1997, with formal takeovers happening on November 24, 1997.
PASSENGER NEWS
Taxpayers are still paying a subsidy of C$15.00 every time a rider
climbs on board the West Coast Express, two years after the commuter train system began
operating. That's nearly double the amount projected when the service began and it's on
top of a $30-million increase in startup costs. But even though the Mission-Vancouver line
has never met the rosy ridership expectations used to justify it, West Coast officials say
they are considering buying another train, expanding service to Abbotsford and running
more trains daily. The five trains that now run once each way on the 65-kilometre route
every weekday are near capacity. The service's detractors, however, say the last two years
have shown it is a costly service that has robbed more needy areas of transit
improvements. When the government announced in 1993 it would go ahead with the line, it
projected the service would carry as many as 11,000 people daily and require subsidies of
about $8 a rider. The line was also expected to cost C$100 million to build and C$20
million annually to run, including debt costs. The annual cost of the service is now more
than C$30 million, including debt service costs of more than C$10 million. Ticket revenues
this year are projected to be just over C$5 million. In the first five months of
operation, the service carried as few as 4,536 riders daily. Since then, ridership has
grown to more than 7,000 a day, still far short of the projections used to justify the
service in the first place. The service was based on ridership projections later found to
be unrealistic. Part of the problem is that more riders than expected are taking the train
all the way into Vancouver. Inter-suburban ridership accounts for only seven per cent of
the users but original projections called for three times that number. The result is that
actual capacity on the system has declined to 8,000 riders daily from 11,000. West Coast
Express is anticipating growth of nine per cent next year.
Something big is brewing; a new deal engineered between The Second Cup Ltd. and VIA
Rail Canada will bring the world's finest coffee to Canadians travelling
on Via. The Second Cup Ltd., Canada's leading specialty coffee company, announced November
17, 1997 that it will become the official coffee supplier for VIA. Under the exclusive,
three-year agreement, service of Second Cup's popular Royal Blend coffee will begin on VIA
trains on November 17, 1997. Second Cup's Royal Blend is a blend of the finest
mountain-grown arabia coffee from around the world.
The federal transport minister is calling for a plan to sell off Via Rail
within a year. David Collenette says Via will need hundreds of millions of dollars worth
of new equipment by the turn of the century. He says he would have a tough time asking
taxpayers to foot the bill. The minister told a public-private partnership conference in
Toronto that he would like to follow the example of the privatization of British Rail. He
suggests franchises could be sold for specific sections of Via; like the Atlantic region,
commuter service in southern Ontario, or tourist trains. The minister says passenger
trains are symbolic of Canadian unity, and he would want Via to continue as a seamless,
national network; even if different private operators run its various routes. He also
insists the federal government is committed to subsidizing some money-losing passenger
routes.
The debate over privatizing Via Rail has some interesting implications
for Northwestern Ontario. The Federal Transport minister David Collenette wants to have a
plan for selling off portions of the service within a year. He says Via Rail needs
hundreds of millions of dollars of upgrading work, and Ottawa simply doesn't have the
money. Harry Gow is vice-president of Transport 2000 Canada. He says privatization would
bring much needed new equipment; but it may also mean a new direction for the rail service
through Northern Ontario; and that direction may not fit the needs of the north. Gow says
privatization also provides incentive for people who are lobbying to have passenger
services restored, to start lobbying the federal government.
Federal investigators have joined railway police and local officials in examining the
site of a slow-speed accident. A GO Transit train that was loading was
rear-ended by an inbound empty train at Toronto's Union Station. on Tuesday November 18,
1997. 54 people suffered neck and back injuries serious enough that they were taken to
hospital. Up to 50 others didn't bother with treatment. The train which was loading for
Georgetown was hit by an empty train arriving from the Bathurst Street Yard to go to
Richmond Hill. The empty train exited the Bathurst GO storage yards, ran through the
station on an outer track, then reversed direction and backed into Track 1, hitting the
standing Georgetown train 831 which was to be pushed to Georgetown by F59PH 561 class
GCE-430k, sn A4927 built 10/90. Control cab car 227 ran into the stationary 561. Front
Street outside Union Station was cordoned off to allow for a fleet of emergency vehicles
which sent a steady stream of stretchers into Union Station to evacuate the injured. The
impact of the crash derailed two cars and the Track 1 was shut down. The other four tracks
remained in service, shuttling passengers who live in the areas surrounding Toronto. GO
Transit's manager estimates the moving train was travelling at eight to 16 kilometres per
hour. It's the first accident to injure passengers in the 30-year history of GO trains.
Toronto Union Station houses the suburban GO Transit line as well as the national Via Rail
lines well as a Toronto Transit Commission subway station. GO Transit, officials said it
was the first major accident in the 30-year history of GO Transit, the commuter train
service that connects Toronto to its suburbs. The system carries 91,000 passengers a day.
Unfortunately several passengers who were hurt in the GO train crash have begun a class
action suit. It names GO Transit, the Ontario government and other agencies involved in
operating the commuter trains. They are claiming negligence in operation of the trains;
and are seeking monetary compensation for their injuries.
CLN Industries of Capreol has won the contract to fuel, repair,
service and maintain VIA Rail's Budd Car in Northern Ontario. CLN
president Jay Nusca says the contract will allow his shop to create three new full-time
positions, bringing to 53 the number of employees at the shop. The Budd Car is VIA's self
propelled diesel cars operating between Sudbury and White River, Ontario. The contract is
good for C$500,000, renewable every two years.
GEC ALSTHOM\AMF Transport (GECA-AMFT)
The former Canadian National Railways Point St. Charles Shops in Montreal continues
to be a centre for transportation equipment rebuildings and paintings. For
example former VIA RDC cars were built for DART, (Dallas Area Rapid Transit) and shipped
during 1997 as completed. The former VIA numbers followed by the DART numbers: 6131-2001,
6142-2002, 6145-2003, 6100-2004, 6112-2005, 6123-2006, 6127-2007, 6129-2008, 6139-2009,
6126-2010, 6106-2011, 6104-2012, 6141-2013. This order is still complete. In addition the
conversion of former CN GP40-2L(W) class locomotives to Massachusetts Bay Transit
Authority class GP40LH-2 locomotives is continuing. The locomotives are sent for final
assembly and painting at the former Amerail (actually nee Erie, ex Erie- Lackawanna shops,
exx Morrison Knudson shops) at Hornell New York. These shops are now owned by GEC Alsthom
Transportation. Incidentally MBTA 1131 has since been returned to GEC-AMFT for various
unspecified warranty repairs.
In addition on-going refurbishment and upgrades are continuing for
various GO Transit bi-level coaches in the 2000 number series. Also,
former GO Transit single level coaches in the 1000 number series as well as two
single-level cab coaches in the former 9800 number series (now numbered 102 and 107) are
being repaired prior to a return to service for Agence Metropolitaine de transport in
Montreal.
Canadian National Railways has sold to GECA-AMFT certain older SD40s.
These in turn are being upgraded with dynamic brakes (as a retrofit if required), and
CLC-Woodward micro-processor equipment. as well as wheel-slip control systems. GECA-AMFT
calls them an SD40-3, whereas CN refers to them as an SD40u. These units are then leased
through Connell Leasing, back to CN; although for some strange reason CN prefers not to
have the name "Connell" associated with these locomotives; in any event these
locomotives are in a paint scheme similar to the old Quebec North Shore and Labrador gray
colour with a splash of orange mid-section. Underneath the cab number "GCFX" is
applied; the numbers of the eventual 50 locomotives will be 6030-6079. Former CN numbers,
followed by the GCFX numbers: 5200-6030, 5176-6031, 5173-6032, 5120-6033, 5202-6034,
5156-6035, 5115-6036, 5122-6037, 5198-6038, 5177-6039, 5153-6040, 5125-6041, 5189-6042,
5135-6043, 5143-6044, 5212-6045, 5194-6046, 5219-6047, 5206-6048, 5098-6049, 5190-6050,
5195-6051, 5236-6052, 5192-6053, 5211-6054, 6055- balance not assigned. Units released so
far are seen mostly in Western Canada coal service, hence the low-speed control.
Former Helm/SP 917 & 921 SD45s for the Huron Central Railway are
in for various repairs, upgrades and repainting into the Buffalo & Pittsburgh scheme
as 459 and 451 respectively. Other locomotives in for repairs included CN
HR616 2118, 2107, M-420(W) 3538, 3558, 3563, 3518 as well CN booster unit 509 and GP38-2m
7507 for wreck repairs.
MOTIVE POWER
Canadian National:
All of GM SD75Is, all are delivered including 5762, with 5763, 5764,
and 5765 expected painted before the end of November 1997 from GEC Alsthom in Montreal.
General Electric-built Dash 9-44CWLs 2523-2533, 2535-2544 on the property
as of November 29, 1997. General Electric has modified their delivery schedule so the
second CN order may start mid-December 1997 with the 2563.
Retired motive power: GMD1 1911 October 22; M-420W 3528 October 24;
SD40 5192 October 22; 5193 retired November 11; 5206 retired October 22; 5211 retired
October 22; 5216 retired November 11; 5236 retired October 22; 5238 retired November 11.
GEC Alsthom is repairing the last M636 2338 for return (again) to service! The following
units have been recently scrapped: HR616 2102, 2104, 2109, 2110, 2116, 2119; M-636 2313,
2323, 2335; M-420(W) 3503, 3506, 3507, 3513, 3520, 3521, 3523, 3525, 3527, 3529, 3561,
3564; HR412(W) 3581, 3584, 3589.
The following units have been sold to CANAC for new operator Quebec
Railway Corporation's takeover of the Intercolonial which will be named the Matapedia
railway in Quebec and New Brunswick East Coast in New Brunswick. This is the former
Intercolonial Railway Line from Mont-Joli in Quebec to Campbelton New Brunswick, and south
to Catamount near Moncton. M-420(W) 3500, 3501, 3504, 3515, 3518, 3563, 3571, 3576,
HR412(W) 3580. The following units 3538, 3546, 3558 are not owned but leased by CN so they
are being sub-leased to Canac for further leasing to the new roads. All will go to
GECA-AMFT in Montreal for work before going to the new railway in New Brunswick. Quebec
law demands that at least two of the locomotives be registered in Quebec.
Following an announcement regarding preparatory work to cope with winter from CN head
office, the following M-420(W)s have been tied up serviceable (TUS) at
MacMillan Yard in Toronto and Taschereau Yard in Montreal: 3509, 3510, 3516, 3539, 3548,
3550, 3562, 3566, 3574, 3578, HR412(W) 3585.
CN Leased Power:
Conrail\LMSX C40-8W assigned Symington Yard in Winnipeg: 715, 716, 717, 718, 719, 721,
724, 726, 728-735, 737, 738; all are equipped to lead once Canadian leader equipment is
reinstalled in Winnipeg.
From Conrail SD40-2s assigned to Symington yard in Winnipeg, all trail: 6425, 6426,
6429, 6430, 6433, 6434, 6435, 6438-6441, 6443, 6444, 6448, 6450, 6452, 6453, 6461, 6466,
6470, 6479, 6482, 6484, 6492, 6499, 6513 with 27 on site with 33 total to arrive.
From Conrail SD45-2s assigned Symington yard in Winnipeg, all trail: 6654, 6655, 6657,
6659, 6661 all derated to 3000 horsepower; 6656, 6662, 6663, 6664, 6665, 6666 still at
3500 horsepower. Unit 6660 died last year and was subsequently sold earlier this year
after a stay at Juniata Shops in Altoona to the Blue Mountain & Reading. Again all
leased until early spring of 1998. The following Wisconsin Central units are wandering the
system paying off horsepower hours owed, with return to home rail hopefully before the
middle of December 1997: 6502, 6603, 6611, 6630, 7496, 7554, 9511. It is not known if
other Wisconsin Central units will be leased during the winter of 1997-1998.
The following locomotives are assigned to Battle Creek Michigan: all used in trailing
position: 8 ex-CNW SD-40s marked NREX 869, 870, 872, 882, 886, 889, 892; C30-7s 5509
(ex-BN) & 8147 (ex- SF); 6 SF30-C (rebuilt by SF from U30Cs) 9525, 9531, 9538, 9541,
9553, 9561 all yellow and blue; EMDX ex-KATY 182, 187, 190, ex-MILW/SOO 193, 195, 196 all
in EMDX blue and gray; HATX ex-CSX GP-40s 425-429; HLCX 5001-5006 ex-Detroit Edison; HLCX
GP40-2 4290 nee CN 9640; all Battle Creek assigned and leased motive power is basically
out of the USA and back again with 24 hours.
Canadian Pacific Railway:
New arrivals, October 23: AC4400CW 9583, 9586, 9587, 9588, 9589, 9590,
9592, 9595, 9596; October 24: 9593, 9594, 9597, 9598, 9599, 9600, 9601, 9602, 9603;
October 28: 9584, 9591, 9604, 9605, 9608, 9609; November 5: 9606, 9607, 9610, 9611, 9612,
9613, November 10: 9614, 9615, 9616, 9617 9618, 9621; November 27: 9630, 9631, 9628, 9626,
9629.
Sold to Quebec Gatineau (Genessee Rail-One) on November 10, 1997:
RS-18u 1801, 1816, 1846, 1847, 1848, 1848; C-424 4212, 4214, 4222, 4223, 4228, 4241, 4242.
No idea if these will be repainted in to the Buffalo & Pittsburg corporate scheme. CP
GP7u 1502 to STLH 1502 October 30; CP RS-18u 1800 donated to Town of Moriah (Port Kent,
NY) for its Railroad and Mining Museum.
The following locomotives have been recently scrapped: SW1200RSu 1211;
RS-18u 1804, 1805, 1806, 1808, 1820, 1823, 1832, 1833, 1843, 1844, 1852, 1862; C-424 4202,
4203, 4207, 4208, 4215, 4217, 4220, 4224, 4225, 4232, 4244, 4245, 4246, 4247; RS23 8025,
8028, 8035, 8030. Most had been gutted and were basically hulks on wheels; note how many
are of the MLW-built ALCO-powered family.
VIA:
FP9Au 6313 released from GEC\AMF with HEP generator installed in placed of steam
generator. It joins 6300, 6307, at Montreal and 6302, 6304, 6308, 6311, 6313 at Winnipeg.
RaiLink:
GP38 2000, 2001 transferred from Ottawa Valley RaiLink to RaiLink Southern Ontario at
Brantford, Ontario; SW1200RS 1335 renumbered 1201 (presently in Ontario Northland shops
for work); Chicago Central & Pacific GP18 1806 acquired to be used on the Central
Western Railway in Alberta.
Genesee Rail-One:
Buffalo & Pittsburgh GP9 204 to Huron Central Railway, HCRY has purchased HATX
SD45E 916, 917, 920, 921, 922, 924 which will become HCRY 458-463 in the Buffalo &
Pittsburgh master numbering scheme; B&P GP9 886 nee N&W 886), and SW1500 1500 and
1501 delivered to Quebec Gatineau. Southern Railway of BC (formerly BC Hydro) SD38-2s 383
and 384 transferred to I&M Rail Link. Preserved: Louisiana Pacific (Perry, BC) donated
their GE 25-ton to museum in Prince George; the York-Durham Heritage Railway Association's
former Domtar RS-3 68 (nee RDG 485) has been moved from Stouffville to MacMillan Yard and
then to Reading Company Technical & Historical Society, Leesport, Pennsylvania, and
got its original number back, 485.
Thank you to the following individuals for contributions to Canada
Calling for December 1997: Bruce Acheson, Gerry Burridge, Bruce Chapman, Paul Cordingly,
Steve Gerbacht, C. Bruce Hollet, Ken Jones, Joseph F. Kazmar, Andrew Kirk, Doug Page, Carl
Perleman, Wayne Regaudie, John Read, Earl Roberts for updates and corrections, Pat
Scrimgeour, Mike Swick, Tom Trencansky and Steve Waller.
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