'Twas A Year Ago

It happened one year ago.  Email from printer.  Boxes arriving at door. Eagerly unpacked.  Blog background turning from red to green. Emails and orders coming in, by morning from as far away as South Australia.  Wow - there are more VIA fans out there than I thought! A couple of mornings later, this was the scene as copies were going in the mail:

While I have a few copies left for sale, I'm working hard on the next volume.  I've rounded a bend, but I'm still on the same track. There's a lot more VIA information I want to share, and I'm convinced a year from now (or less) I'll be repeating the above paragraph.  Meanwhile, I can't thank customers enough, as well as those who have offered support for my next book.  Thanks to all!

Oh, and did I mention photos to share too?  Lots and lots of photos.

Highball!

Eric

Living La Vida Loco

VIA's locomotive fleet has got my full attention right now.  What hauled which cars when and where?  As usual, I do believe that a properly-sourced consist is worth 'a thousand words' because it gives the date, location, direction, and a concise representation of an entire VIA train.

It's really difficult to answer questions like the one recently posed...could a VIA unrebuilt F-unit still be operating in the Corridor in 1995? Well, could it?  Probably not, but can I say so definitively?  Generalizations can lead to one observer bringing forward one instance that quickly devalues that information.  I've done it myself, and felt pretty clever at the time.  So it's important to provide credible information that still leaves room for individual sightings.  Consists allow just that.

VIA did have a varied fleet, its own plus leased, begged or borrowed units from CN and CP, especially in the earlier decades of its existence, and it's exactly what I'm working on for my second book right now.  

Thanks to everyone who's asking how the book's coming along. Not fast enough for my caffeinated-squirrel attention span, but a week on vacation allowed me to recharge my batteries and consider the direction the book is taking.  I'm convinced it's the right one, and I trust you will too.  Soon, transcription!

Highball!
Eric