Caption: Twelve years ago today, the westbound mid-day VIA – VIA 85 was captured passing through Breslau, ON, just east of Kitchener. Although the VIA looks different, the weather that year was very similar: lacklustre in terms of snow and above-seasonal temperatures most of the time. This was the train that replaced the Toronto – Chicago Amtrak “International”. Obviously, the Amtrak was much more exciting than a 2-car VIA train. Nonetheless, it is a record of the time. I’m not sure how much longer we will be able to see F40PHs and stainless-steel coaches on the Quebec City-Windsor corridor with the new Siemens trainsets coming online.