VIA Rail Canada was founded in 1977 to operate intercity passenger rail service, first for Canadian National and then Canadian Pacific. Like its American counterpart south of the border (Amtrak), VIA took in a diverse fleet of equipment from its predecessors, with everything from vintage EMD F-units to the unique United Aircraft TurboTrain.
While Railfan & Railroad Founding Editor Jim Boyd didn’t live in Canada, he spent his fair share of time north of the border railfanning. What follows is a look at VIA Rail in the 1970s and 1980s.
It’s Turbo Time!
Perhaps no piece of equipment on the VIA roster was more unique than United Aircraft’s TurboTrain. The high-speed, gas turbine train was built for CN and operated between 1968 and 1982. It was one of the first trains in North America to feature tilting technology to help get around curves. The unique train was replaced by Bombardier LRC trainsets in the early 1980s. Here a TurboTrain is seen passing through Brockville, Ont., in 1978.
Brockville
Located on VIA’s busy Toronto-Ottawa-Montreal corridor, Brockville, Ont., was a great spot for railfanning and Boyd spent plenty of time there in the 1970s and 1980s. On a September day in 1978, we see a VIA train passing through town. Boyd often worked hard to incorporate the surrounding communities in his photos.
Vancouver
Some 2.900 miles west of Brockville is Vancouver, B.C., where we see a number of long-distance VIA Rail trains on a sunny day in 1986. At the time, VIA was still using many FP9s that it had inherited from its predecessors, mostly CN. The 6302 seen on the right continues to operate today at the Texas State Railroad.
Old and New at McAdam
In the late 1980s, VIA began to replace its FP9s with new F40 locomotives. One of those units is seen leading the Atlantic Limited in June 1989 at McAdam, New Brunswick. On the right is Canadian Pacific 4-6-2 1201, which was visiting Eastern Canada to mark the 100th anniversary of the completion of CP’s International of Maine Division.
Back to Brockville
After years of using second-hand equipment, VIA Rail finally had motive power and cars it could call its own. Here we see a new F40 and two LRC cars at Brockville, Ont., in December 1990.
