Christmas Consists!

'Tis the season...to travel! Here are some selected early VIA-era consists from my books on VIA Rail, from a post on my Canadian railway blog, Trackside Treasure. Christmas Consists 1976-1985

Highball!
Merry Christmas and Happy 2014!
Eric

(VIA 1413 Brian Schuff photo at Winnipeg)

500th Copy Celebration!

Thanks for celebrating 500 copies of Trackside with VIA - The First 35 Years with me! I'm happy to report that several VIA fans will be receiving copies of my books for Christmas. I've sent out orders this week to western, central and eastern Canada. Only Santa knows the details! 

As I mentioned in the previous post, two lucky orders for all three books would receive one free. All to celebrate the unbelievable 500th copy of my first book going to VIA fans around the world.

Brian Trafford of Ottawa was the first to contact me, and he has received a complimentary copy of Trackside with VIA - The First 35 Years with his order. Richard Brown of Dartmouth was next, and he will be receiving a complimentary copy of Trackside with VIA - Cross-Canada Compendium Consist Companion with his order. 

Thanks to Brian, Richard and all of you for making this an amazing couple of years!

Highball!

Eric

Free Copy, Anyone?

To celebrate the impending sale of the 500th copy of my first book, Trackside with VIA - The First 35 Years I'm giving away two free copies of my books. It's close - we're at 498! Frankly, as I've stated here before, I wondered if I'd sell more than 10 copies. There are more VIAphiles that I'd imagined, and the reach of the internet has proven to be incredible and international. It's been two and-a-half years, two books followed the first, and it all seems like just yesterday! 

Once this is posted, be the first to order a copy of all three of my books. You will receive your copy of Trackside with VIA - The First 35 Years absolutely free - that's a $25 value! The second to order a copy of all three of my books will receive Trackside with VIA - Cross-Canada Compenium Consist Companion absolutely free - that's a $10 value!

Operators are standing by. You'll need to e-mail me at mile179kingstonATyahooDOTca with your impending order intentions; then I'll make sure your copy is free.

This is one small way I can say 'thank you' to all those who have supported my books. 

(First big shipment going out on May 30, 2011 - photo below).

Here's another - Thank you!

Highball,

Eric

One Year On

One year ago, I excitedly published drafts of my second and third books on VIA Rail on this blog. Re-reading those posts, I can easily recall the feeling of anticipation. A few days later, I had boxes of books here to send to fans of VIA Rail all over the world. It was great to be able to share information and photos with those who were as interested in Canadian rail passenger history as I was!

One year on, I'm taking stock of this New VIA Rail Book Blog, and what the future holds for it. It has served a vital purpose, allowing me to share what I was doing as well as preserving it for my own use and recollection. Whether it was creating the books, preparing them for publication and publicizing them afterwards, I was very fortunate to be able to share the process with anyone who was interested in this little corner of cyberspace.

And one year on, I still enjoy looking through these books, hoping to learn something new and using them for reference, as I trust you are too!

Highball,

Eric

VIA 6566 comes out of the setting sun at Portage la Prairie, MB in 1984.

Here Comes The Sun

I can't believe it's happened...another new book on VIA Rail! This one is from Morning Sun Books, and is written by Kevin J. Holland. Entitled VIA in Color - The First 25 Years 1976-2001, this profusely illustrated volume covers VIA's history in photos up to the advent of this millennium. This shows that there is still huge interest in all of VIA's eras, including books (clockwise from top left above) by Messrs. Gagnon, Shron, Holland and Nelligan.

In his Canadian Railway Observations review of my second book, reviewer Michael Berry presaged this in the following comment:

"If you are mostly just interested in full colour photo books a la Morning Sun Books, this is not for you." 

That's exactly it! The fact that there is the breadth and depth of interest in VIA Rail makes room for both types of books. Or, as book contributor (to Kevin's and my books) Jakob Mueller appraised Kevin's book:

"If you have any of Eric Gagnon's books, get this book. Conversely, if you get this book and want to learn more about the equipment you are seeing, get Eric's books."

I picked a copy today from Dave Cool of Brighton's Canadian Express Line. It is a beautifully-illustrated book. We all need more VIA Rail, and I'm glad that Kevin has devoted his book to covering the early, most diverse era of VIA's history. My books go into the detail I'll find pictured inside his book...rosters, unbelievably varied consists, history, photos, data, motive power rebuilds, equipment disposition, and first-hand observations of what it was like to ride VIA and watch it from trackside, throughout its interesting history.

Kevin's book is available now retailing for $59.95. My Compendium including delivery is $30, with ordering information for my books on this blog, and a printable order form at upper right.

Highball, Kevin!

Eric

Splitsville!

I was trackside in Brockville at the end of August. Not a big city. Not even a major VIA destination. But remarkable for another reason. Throughout VIA's history, Brockville has been an important operational point for the splitting of VIA trains heading east to both Montreal and Ottawa. When 6459 led VIA No 50 out of Brockville, it had just split from 6417's VIA No 52, just east of Brockville station.

Book contributor Gary Hadfield supplied an excellent, detailed account for Trackside with VIA: Cross-Canada Compendium of Brockville operations. Trains also combined here from Montreal and Ottawa. I then wrote an entire section entitled Switching En Route, in which I discussed VIA's operational changes as it moved from CN and CP performing switching at Brockville, Winnipeg, Sudbury and other locations from splitting and combining its own trains. It's this kind of operational detail that is of value for those of us interested in modelling VIA and its history.

Just for fun, above are two images of train splitting operations in Brockville: 1980's and 2013.

Highball!
Eric

VIAvalidation

In January I posted 85 Uses. In 85 days post-publication, I listed ways in which my books had served modellers and rail enthusiasts. Here's another one: in an online discussion about weird and wacky VIA consists (of which there were many, and still are!) this week, my Compendium's triVIA mention of VIA HEP EGU (ex-baggage cars) came up. These cars were used to provide heat to LRC cars between the Toronto Maintenance Centre and Union Station.

Another gratifying example of the usefulness of these books! Now the modeller involved in the online discussion can haul LRC cars without an HEP-equipped locomotive. This kind of validation is always nice to see!

Highball!

Eric

(VIA EGU 15301 brings up the markers on Amtrak Superliner test consist in 1984 - Brian Schuff photo)