LRC+LRC+LRC+LRC

Wading through 1984-1985 VIA consist notes, would you believe a train with 4 LRC locomotives? My original notes say "two LRC trains operating together". Three LRC locomotives up front, 9 cars and one LRC locomotive on the tail end. Nothing in the notes about why I didn't get a photo of this unique movement though. Then lots of consists with CN 4300-series Geeps and GM F9B's operating together on trains which often included ex-CP stainless steel cars bumped from the Canadian.

It's amazing how many parts a book contains: foreword, acknowledgements, table of contents, ISBN, catalogue data, appendix, etc. All these parts contribute to a quality publication, and will be part of this VIA Rail book.

Canadian consists on the Kingston Sub

The original 1955 Budd CPR Canadian consist was baggage-dorm, coach, Skyline, diner, Manor car, Chateau, Park car. Would you believe near-original consists were running on CN's Kingston Sub in 1983? Except for the ex-CN F's, and sometimes missing the diner, shortened winter-spring consists of VIA train 1/55 were nearly-original. In summer, up to three Budd sleepers were in the train, in winter sometimes just one. And Budd diners were also in evidence.

This is the kind of uniqueness that we're lacking today. But wait, looking forward to the 1990's, there were still some pretty cool consists being operated by VIA, blue & yellow and stainless steel, F40's and LRC's. That's seven years beyond 1983, where I'm currently data-mining. Highball.

Cookie-Cutter Consists

I find today's VIA consists somewhat the same. There's not the variety that existed in the 1980's. Standardization is the new buzzword, and no business wants to maintain product lines and service programs for multiple fleets with different requirements. The LRC consist above as VIA's attempt at standardization. A single fleet, but unlike the earlier Turbo, some flexibility in consist length and options for locomotives at each end.

I've seen some reference to 3-car LRC consists on Yahoogroups, but haven't come across any yet. Witness the single-locomotive 3-car consist above.

I'm transcribing daily Corridor Canadian consists from 1982 right now. It's interesting to see differences in consists from day to day, so I'm including them all. Eastbound consists from Torontoreturn westbound from Montreal the next day, but with an E-series sleeper substituted for a Chateau, or a 3200-series coach substituted for a 100-series. The same but different, remarkably different, and definitely not cookie-cutter. Highball.

Time for Transcription

My fingers are flyin'. OK, maybe that's a bit of an overstatement. In one hour the other night, I was able to fly through two months of 1982 consists, and get them typed into spreadsheet format. I'm making a point of proofreading each page after transcription, to make sure there are no transcription errors from my original notes. Accuracy is important.

Yahoogroups are humming with discussion of LRC-hauled VIA trains of the eighties. These unique locomotives were used in many services, especially just before the F40's arrived. I've got these consists in my notes, and I'd like to share them with potential readers. They'll help settle a lot of unanswered questions, such as did VIA ever run such-and-such equipment together, and can these be realistically modelled on a model railway layout? I call these fantasy consists, and yes they existed and thus can be modelled if desired.

I'd like to finish this book early in 2011, marking the 35th anniversary of VIA. Highball.

Printer and Pages

I met Tuesday night with Bryan, of Allan Graphics here in Kingston. Allan Graphics website.

Bryan will be doing the setup for the book. He knows his way around printing, graphics, fonts and all things book-related. That's good, because I know very little, so I'll be relying on Bryan's years of expertise. In return, he has jokingly assured me he doesn't want to proofread all my content. It seemed prudent to meet before starting the transcription of my consists.

Speaking of content, Bryan's thought on page count was...more. More pages. That means possibly increasing from my initial projection of 50 pages to 60 or 70. So those are my new projections, not promises. I'll have to see how much from each era I'll be presenting to my readers. I took a run through 1976 consists tonight, complete with business cars and open-platform Bedford. Then on to 1986, with lots of overnight Cavalier consists, the variety of which was amazing.

Highball.

F is for Format, F is for F-Unit

Before this project gets too far out of the station, it's time to invest some time thinking about readability. This book is going to be data-dense. You want consists and train detail, you're gonna get it. But it's gotta be readable. Nobody should have to break out a magnifying glass, and the book shouldn't be so big that a cart is needed to move it.

At this point, I'm getting two months worth of consists on one page. At that rate, ten years of VIA is sixty pages. More years will mean more pages. One thing is for sure, it'll be packed as full of consists as I can get it. There will be some text to break things up visually. I'll be thinking about column breaks, bullets, shading, font size, all that nuts-and-bolts stuff that separate a readable book from Excedrin headache number 37.

But oh, those 1981 Canadian consists are AWESOME! Highball.

Clear Track Ahead

Just like the Canadian crossing miles of Saskatchewan prairie, the track looks clear ahead. Offers of assistance, expressions of support, and a generally increasing level of interest appear as this project hurtles along.

One thing is clear: VIAphiles, as I'm calling those who share my interest in VIA Rail, represent all eras of VIA. This is something I'll bring to the book. It's not enough to proclaim, "These were the trains of the glory years of VIA...", because this is a question of perception. It seems fair to include all parts of VIA's sometimes tumultuous past, from its inception to the present.

Thanks to all who've expressed interest in this project, along with their unique viewpoints.

Just today I've put together my first draft page. Highball.