VIA Jasper, Prince George and Prince Rupert Service

[Willbridge]

Yes, an interesting post. Thanks. I keep hoping for an Edmonton to Calgary train to allow a loop from Vancouver-Kamloops-Edmonton-Calgary-Kamloops-Vancouver. A chance to ride both the VIA and Rocky Mountaineer on the same trip.

As some of the Edmonton <> Calgary story overlapped (or underlay?) the Skeena story, it was hard to keep it out. Northwestern is exactly right and the Edmonton<>Calgary trains also provided a number of Prairie links, like Regina<>Edmonton or Saskatoon<>Calgary. Or Calgary<>Smithers, for that matter! Sometime in the future I might remain healthy enough to follow up with a thread on Canada's "Other Corridor."

A few months after the 1985 return of the Skeena and restoration of the west part of the Super and the Edmonton <> Calgary train-off hearings and a bad turn of events in Edmonton city government, I moved to sleepy, quiet, Energy Crash depressed .... Denver (the Calgary of the U.S.), so for all those narratives, 1985 is a good stopping point.

 

[Northwestern]

Here is a proposal for new and connecting routes in Alberta.

https://canada.constructconnect.com...il-network-could-create-links-across-province
On the map, I don't see Calgary to Banff, only Calgary to Lake Louise, I assume there would be a stop in Banff. There is also a plan for a new train link between the Calgary airport and Banff, but I don't know how far that idea has progressed.

 

[jiml]

As some of the Edmonton <> Calgary story overlapped (or underlay?) the Skeena story, it was hard to keep it out. Northwestern is exactly right and the Edmonton<>Calgary trains also provided a number of Prairie links, like Regina<>Edmonton or Saskatoon<>Calgary. Or Calgary<>Smithers, for that matter! Sometime in the future I might remain healthy enough to follow up with a thread on Canada's "Other Corridor."

A few months after the 1985 return of the Skeena and restoration of the west part of the Super and the Edmonton <> Calgary train-off hearings and a bad turn of events in Edmonton city government, I moved to sleepy, quiet, Energy Crash depressed .... Denver (the Calgary of the U.S.), so for all those narratives, 1985 is a good stopping point.

Also lost in the equation is the withdrawal of BC Rail's connecting services (although North Vancouver hurt the process).

 

[jiml]

Here is a proposal for new and connecting routes in Alberta.

https://canada.constructconnect.com...il-network-could-create-links-across-province
On the map, I don't see Calgary to Banff, only Calgary to Lake Louise, I assume there would be a stop in Banff. There is also a plan for a new train link between the Calgary airport and Banff, but I don't know how far that idea has progressed.

It's important to remember that Alberta is the Texas of Canada, with a lot of the same biases towards passenger rail and taxpayer investment in it. Just copy every story about the recent struggles of rail and HSR in Texas and apply them to Alberta. Not everything planned or reported will be built.

 

[Willbridge]

Fighting with landowners for ROW would probably follow the Texas pattern. Some Alberta terrain is easy to build in.


And some not so easy to build in.

 

[west point]

What would make the Alberta rail network even more viable would be === Operate the Canadian 3 times a week as is now. Add the Super Continental on the other CP route on different 3 times a week. Every 4 months switch the days between the Canadian and SC. The 7th day? Leave it to others. That could really provide service both inside Alberta and connections to outside.

Of course, both these proposals would mean a much larger amount of rolling stock to be purchased.

 

[jiml]

Thought participants in this discussion might appreciate this animation from VIA's latest ad campaign:

 

[Willbridge]

Well, to finish up the story of the Skeena and associated trains, the happy ending in 1985 was supposed to include progress on new equipment.





Check the last paragraph in the Rail Canada section.


Nick Vincent had gone to work on the VIA Action Force and this letter from his successor is a good place to stop.



The second page was about other projects. One other tag end that links the fight over the 1981 cutbacks to the 1990 cutbacks: Edmonton M.P. David Kilgour who had been seen as a rising star in the Conservative party tried to discretely warn his leadership that they were at risk of losing seats in the West if they took it for granted and neglected it. Not making any progress, he eventually went public with it and was in effect forced out of the party. His Wikipedia page focuses on his important human rights work.

 

[jiml]

Well, to finish up the story of the Skeena and associated trains, the happy ending in 1985 was supposed to include progress on new equipment.
View attachment 35539

View attachment 35540
View attachment 35541

Check the last paragraph in the Rail Canada section.
View attachment 35542

Nick Vincent had gone to work on the VIA Action Force and this letter from his successor is a good place to stop.

View attachment 35543

Several other nuggets buried in those pages beyond the topic at hand, including Montreal's preference for a TGV to New York, the beginning of the end for the RDCs and the announcement of VIA's Superliner order.

 

[Willbridge]

Several other nuggets buried in those pages beyond the topic at hand, including Montreal's preference for a TGV to New York, the beginning of the end for the RDCs and the announcement of VIA's Superliner order.

The TGV will be delayed until a customs facility is built.