It was like a flash-freeze last night. Accumulated slush would have been in every crevice. Just not enough fusees to thaw everything?

Interesting timing based on the Brockville tribulations. Anyway, if you've been wondering about just how serviceable VIA's Ventures are, I just published citizen-science figures for the past 11 months: https://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2025/12/via-venture-sets-serviceability-in-2025.html

December 10 - No 669 broke down near Mallorytown and had no power. (No 669's equipment arrived in Montreal as No 62 in the morning, departing Toronto 2 hours late, swapped from Set 6 to Set 14 in Toronto, then continuing back west as 669. No 48 (Set 7/25) pushed disabled 669 to Brockville. At...

In days of yore the conductor or trainman was known as a 'baby-lifter' by some. That's because he would literally lift the baby in its carrier up or down to the steps of the coach to the parent(s). Same with luggage, though most was at that time handled in a dedicated baggage car, using various...

KeithZ - First, thank you for what you've given all of us. I hope I am proven wrong. Maybe more cars will be ordered or on-board shunt enhancers. Whatever fixes the problem soonest, vote me in! I hope I'm wrong, and the government proves me wrong, but I'm sure in your line of work (I was...

CP did not have all routes liberated from them with the creation of VIA. Remember, VIA's Canadian continued to operate on CP rails until 1990. If anything, the headache of.passenger operations were removed by VIA cost-wise, yet continued on CP (and CN) rails likely with just as much opposition...

The purchase of Siemens Ventures was to secure VIA's Corridor future. Imagine the current Federal government, up to its eyeballs in issues that are important to every Canadian such as tariffs, pipelines, housing, inter-provincial trade, artificial intelligence, jobs, pensions, increasing defence...

Slowly, slowly. The removal of Rens from the Corridor, the dropping down to one HEP set, temporarily returned to two sets, sidelining of HEP cars, continued retirement of LRC cars are all part of a slow increase in the number of Corridor rotation lines covered by Ventures, now up to 16. There...

Yes, standing outside the Toronto Union train shed, you'll not see too many VIA trains arrive or leave to the TMC, though some do. 'Back in the day' nearly every train terminated there and headed to Spadina coach yard and locomotives to servicing. Now, VIA has very few tracks allocated to it...

VIA's Corridor rotation, designed for as much run-through service at Toronto, Ottawa, Montreal includes some trainsets getting 2-3 'legs' per day i.e.. 31-45-87, 84-46, 53-87 and different pairings each day for the Ventures. There are few 'legs' that are served by the same trainset throughout a...

Believe it or not, VIA's Venture saga still simmers in the Quebec Superior Court, perhaps to be held in December or January, 2026. Well over a year since CN imposed its crossing speed reductions the Venture fleet in the Corridor. The latest developments in the Quebec case in this just-published...

After a few days' disruption, Set 7/25, also known as XS-J, a.k.a. DXS a.k.a.The Leftovers is back on its rotation, shown here from five levels up through Kingston a few minutes late at 1450 today operating as VIA No 47.

More here on the LRC Fleet in Decline: https://tracksidetreasure.blogspot.com/2024/05/vias-lrc-in-decline.html Yes, an unusual way for VIA to portray the process. Here's the original text:

So far, it appears VIA is sticking to this LRC car retirement schedule. Cars must be out of service by January 31 of the year after the Retirement Year listed.

Do we have a visual on train 31? Ventures that look like one Business Class car is missing on traincar dot info are usually lighter-patronized trains with the normal six-unit length but only one Business Class car is used/staffed.

Nobody wants to be Sammy Sunshine more than me! The PSOs have caused some improvement, yes, but delays are still considerable. Based on the war over the TSA, there is no way CN and VIA are going to adjust schedules. VIA has a Red Zone in the cab wherein even if three crew are present...

If all is well, why is VIA's implementation of Ventures still not complete? Crews are trained, Sets are available, but just over half of the weekly Corridor spots are filled by Ventures. Re: delays. The numbers state otherwise, that delays have been 'reduced for the most part' but not...

Then things got weird. March 2025 emails. CN suggested some weird things that VIA should do to resolve the Venture crossing speed reductions that CN imposed. -adding an additional crew member in the cab; -adding two cars to its consist; or -reducing the speed to a point where it no longer...

Big Money! In a filing on March 31, 2025 CN's contended that it had incurred $1,393,219.50 in costs responding to VIA Rail Canada Inc.’s Application, which was found to be without any possibility of success and suffering from an obvious fatal flaw. The legal fees incurred by CN related to two...

Better late than never finding this $ amount. Seems VIA owed CN costs for launching a judicial review of CN's Crossing Supplement that concluded in Federal Court in February, 2025 and will be heard in Quebec Superior Court this December. The whole, with costs. [Decision rendered by the Court on...