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Caption:
Christmas season Special.
Certainly a different VIA than we are experiencing today...
Early in VIA's tenure management had the railways' cooperation to experiment with services, per passenger demand...
and early VIA had sufficient equipment to add service(s) where deemed necessary....
An eclectic consist it was:
GMD FP7A 6539
GMD F9B 66xx
NSC built Baggage 96xx, CN livery.
Pullman 1941 built ONR Polar Bear Express coach #836 (ex N&W #1733)
CC&F built coach 5200 series, CN livery
CC&F 1930 built heavy weight (88.5 tons) #577 Club Lounge Buffet (club seats 27; lounge 19) series: Lake Couchiching
two Budd built 100 series coaches, in CP Rail livery, vestibules forward.
CC&F built 5500 series coach
one sleeping car, CN livery.
VIA Rail #11 'Atlantic' departing Union about noon hour on a very grey Saturday December 22, 1979 Kodak negative by S.Danko.
So sleeping car and coach through service: Toronto to Saint John and Halifax, did happen !
This scheduled Special (hence no white flags / markers) was listed in a supplemental seasonal Timetable (anyone able to confirm?) issued after Thanksgiving, operating eastbound from Union with at least 2 departures: Thursday & Saturday.
Attribute #577's (& sisters 574 - 578) longevity to the CC&F 1930 built car constructed with electro-mechanical air conditioning – a rarity for the time period.
sdfourty
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Amazing. I knew they’d run Toronto-Halifax Christmas trains in 1980, but not in 1979 from Toronto to Saint John.
Yes, I was surprised too and what’s Interesting:
The Atlantic, origination Toronto Union….stumbled upon Bruce Owen Nett’s four page article January 1982 Railfan and Railroad, “A night to remember“ describing the December 21 1980 night photography at Brownville Junction, VIA Rail trains #11 and #12, both operating with two sections.
Noteworthy: the second sections of both trains were Toronto Union departure / destination and did NOT serve Montreal’s Central Station – by passing same. While my pic here of #11 departing Union December 22, 1979 do note this train became the second section of #11 and very likely bypassed Central Station.
sdfourty