Wednesday, April 11, 2012

Is this train special?

What makes a special train special? The range of non-scheduled passenger trains throughout VIA's history is surprisingly wide.  These include:
-VIA display trains for publicity purposes
-VIA equipment with special paint schemes i.e. Home Hardware, Budweiser
-VIA trains chartered by commercial enterprises or individuals
-VIA equipment rented by railways for special events including steam excursions
-railways using their own remaining passenger equipment for special events
-shared equipment and services, short and long term i.e. CN/VIA/ONR, CN/VIA/GO
-VIA equipment leased by commuter agencies i.e. VIA/AMT
-derailments and equipment failures resulting in the operation of rescue, makeup and hospital trains
The mind boggles.  There are so many special trains combinations and permutations.  Then there are 'Easter eggs'.  Fun stuff just slightly non-VIA in nature, but operating in VIA's operational milieu. And when you find one or many of these trains, as I have while researching my second book, passenger train operations become much more interesting and unpredictable.  
Highball!
Eric

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