|
Caption: The second railroad in Canada owned by a First Nations group is the Keewatin Railroad Company of Northern Manitoba (first was Tshiuetin in N. Quebec). They received over $6M for start up from the governments (as well, the First Nations kicked in $500,000). The line is operated from The Pas MB to Pukatawagan, a small village in the interior, which is not accessible by road. Formerly this was operated by the Hudson Bay Railway, but severe flooding resulted in the HBRY wanting out of the operation, and since the remote communities along the line needed this vital link, the Keewatin was formed to take it over in 2006.
The passenger service is operated by a pair of former GATX geeps and VIA equipment. The twice weekly train operates as a mixed, with goods for the communities along the line tacked on the end. It stops at Cranberry Portage as well as many flagstops along the way.
With a need for their own equipment, the federal government came up with another $3.2 million to purchase two former AMTK units and a couple of Long Island double coaches.
I showed up expecting to see this set in operation. Nope. Its mothballed, for the time being. I was told the KRC was waited for a couple more coaches.
Why? In this photo, check the positioning of the coach doors in comparison to the ground level. Now draw your own conclusions.
|
What a great capture Arnold! I did not get to see this new KRC equipment on my recent trip to Churchill.
I don’t think a standard step box is gonna do much good for entraining and detraining passengers with the coach doors being four feet above top of rail!!!
LIRR has high level boarding platforms. No offense, but I don’t know where the conventional wisdom was in purchasing ex LIRR cars came from.
Agreed! I don’t see KRC modifying any portion of the platform at The Pas or in Pukatawagan to accommodate the high doors on these ex-Saratoga & North Creek, nee Long Island C1 bi-levels built by Toyku.
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=51908
http://www.railpictures.ca/?attachment_id=53017
I’ll be looking for these new cars next year when I head back to Churchill on a mid-summer trip.
Nice photo. Although the consist looks sharp, I’d say both the buyer and the seller got this one wrong. Not much accessibility happening with those coaches. Time to rewrite and/or reread specs again.
How did this get off the ground like this….
could they just get a replacement set of coaches though? what are the head end power requirement differences? Would the P42 been modified for LIRR coach?
Sounds like a bureaucratic purchase where all the T’s were crossed but they forgot to dot the i’s…
So high level platforms for the Keewatin then? Good to see shots of this stuff on the property, even if not in service.