[smallspy]

Does anybody know if the stainless corridor refurbishment is still ongoing or if it's been canceled in expectation of the new fleet? There's multiple mixed refurbished and unrefurbished stainless trains leaving the Montreal station now.

Yes......and no.

There are still cars being done internally at MMC and by CAD. But there seems to be no movement on getting the cars done that were supposed to be rebuilt by Bombardier.

Dan

 

[Bordercollie]

Yes......and no.

There are still cars being done internally at MMC and by CAD. But there seems to be no movement on getting the cars done that were supposed to be rebuilt by Bombardier.

Dan

Does ONR's North Bay shops not have the expertise to do this kind of work?

 

[Urban Sky]

Yes......and no.

There are still cars being done internally at MMC and by CAD. But there seems to be no movement on getting the cars done that were supposed to be rebuilt by Bombardier.

Dan

I refer to this section and table in VIA's Annual Report 2018:

Of the four contracts above, only one seems to have been cancelled (the one with Bombardier, about a year ago), but I recall frequent reports of car movements from and to CAD Lachine and GD Rail in the Gaspésie, which leads me to believe that these contracts are going ahead as originally planned (no idea about the timeline, though). Unfortunately, I don't recall seeing anything on the HEP2 projects, but it is much less obvious to outsiders what happens within MMC than it is for external suppliers, as you just need to track and document the respective equipment moves...

Does ONR's North Bay shops not have the expertise to do this kind of work?

I have no reason to believe that ONR would have had a magical workaround for the severe constraints Bombardier apparently discovered when preparing the first two cars for the HEP3 rebuilt...

 

[Bordercollie]

I refer to this section and table in VIA's Annual Report 2018:

View attachment 354935
Of the four contracts above, only one seems to have been cancelled (the one with Bombardier, about a year ago), but I recall frequent reports of car movements from and to CAD Lachine and GD Rail in the Gaspésie, which leads me to believe that these contracts are going ahead as originally planned (no idea about the timeline, though). Unfortunately, I don't recall seeing anything on the HEP2 projects, but it is much less obvious to outsiders what happens within MMC than it is to track and document equipment moves from and to suppliers...



I have no reason to believe that ONR would have had a magical workaround for the severe constraints Bombardier apparently discovered when preparing the first two cars for the HEP3 rebuilt...

I guess there are delays to the projects due to COVID? A year past the tentative deliver date of the last car less than half have been completed. Considering that the LRC's where used for the majority of the pandemic they should have had more cars available to rebuild.

 

[Urban Sky]

I guess there are delays to the projects due to COVID? A year past the tentative deliver date of the last car less than half have been completed. Considering that the LRC's where used for the majority of the pandemic they should have had more cars available to rebuild.

I would guess that Covid certainly didn't help, and what you describe as a higher-than-anticipated availability of cars for projects is probably be true for any other contract they had in their books, at least where they concerned passenger rail equipment...

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

There is no requirement for the aerodynamic covering of underbody appliances by the FRA, who would be in charge of mandating that for Brightline.

No, they just wanted a sleek, aerodynamic look and are willing to pay more for it. Just like the nose cones on their locos.

Dan

I was thinking that it could be a Florida department of transportation requirement rather than an FRA one.

 

[cplchanb]

I was thinking that it could be a Florida department of transportation requirement rather than an FRA one.

Shame that via decided not to. It would've made the cars look much more attractive and it probably would've had a slight aero benefit as well

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Shame that via decided not to. It would've made the cars look much more attractive and it probably would've had a slight aero benefit as well

Maybe but as someone else pointed out snow in the winter months could be a factor in them not having them.

 

[roger1818]

I find it interesting how some people on here are more concerned about form than function and others are more concerned about function than form.

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

I find it interesting how some people on here are more concerned about form than function and others are more concerned about function than form.

That's always the case some people here seem to think that for transit of any type it has to look a certain way or else it's bad because other cities did it differently.

 

[cplchanb]

That's always the case some people here seem to think that for transit of any type it has to look a certain way or else it's bad because other cities did it differently.

Well... in this case since they are spending a billion dollars on these trainsets, at least make them look like it. While it's not a big issue for me I would think it would be good to have their new trainsets look as different and more modern as possible compared to the ancient hep cars. Hopefully when they build the hfr network they will order trains that look like it belongs in the mid 21st century

 

[EastYorkTTCFan]

Well... in this case since they are spending a billion dollars on these trainsets, at least make them look like it. While it's not a big issue for me I would think it would be good to have their new trainsets look as different and more modern as possible compared to the ancient hep cars. Hopefully when they build the hfr network they will order trains that look like it belongs in the mid 21st century

And if they get ripped off in the winter months because of snow banks along the tracks then they waisted money for something that only makes the train look nice. I don't think Via cares if people can see the underside of the train.

 

[crs1026]

And if they get ripped off in the winter months because of snow banks along the tracks then they waisted money for something that only makes the train look nice. I don't think Via cares if people can see the underside of the train.

Especially if VIA can move to more high level platforms.

And if they do get the tracks up to 110 mph, the undercarriages will just be a blur as they pass.

- Paul

 

[cplchanb]

Especially if VIA can move to more high level platforms.

And if they do get the tracks up to 110 mph, the undercarriages will just be a blur as they pass.

- Paul

How do they do it in Europe with their high speed trains in the middle of winter? When speeds are 3x that?

 

[cplchanb]

Especially if VIA can move to more high level platforms.

And if they do get the tracks up to 110 mph, the undercarriages will just be a blur as they pass.

- Paul

It's not just aesthetics. There's an aerodynamic advantage as well that can probably save fuel over the long run. Just like the aero fairings under semis these days