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That's nice of VIA to lend them the train set. I guess it's so that they can tweak the design during the manufacturing process.
Bunch of "Do not Exceed 25 mph" TSOs scattered across the whole subdivision.
That's not going to do much good for on time performance
My hope is it is upgraded, but if not, my next hope is that they account for it.
I wouldn't be surprised if VIA was also interested to see how it would go, given it can almost get as cold in Quebec City as up there. This winter might be the first year in a while that We'll see temperatures well into the minus thirties in Quebec City.
It also tells me that if Via ever does HSR, these trains could be used elsewhere to expand their network if it was ever decided. I can imagine replacing these northern Quebec routes, and the 185 with these trains. I can also see the Skeena also using these. So, this real world cold and snowy weather testing is a good sight to see.
I'm not sure why it matters, other than for making a nice photo op.
I think they sent one of Ottawa's LRT vehicles to those same cold chambers (or something similar) for testing very early on, when the confederation line was still under construction. But when they entered final testing and revenue service, there was an issue with electricity arcing from where the overhead line joined the vehicle, due to snow, ice and dirt mixing. There wasn't any dirt in the cold chamber testing, from what I read. They still have an issue with it I believe. I think winter weather was also one of the issues with the doors failing.
I agree. It can't hurt for the Northlander to test actual conditions.
My first thought was perhaps factors such as swirling snow, undercarriage accumulation, etc. might be different than static cold temperatures, but if the same equipment is in the use in the upper mid-west then one would think that would be sufficient. In a very Canadian-military type of way where we somehow think everything must be 'Canadianized', perhaps they think our cold is different than their cold.
Our cold is different than their cold. But it isn't. For example, when the 11 was closed for 16 hours south of North Bay, 11 north of it was open.There are micro climates needed to be considered. Also,-60 static vs -60 running is much different. Another consideration we may not be thinking of, and someone can confirm them is that it could be that Via wants to free up more equipment to seal with the slow orders on CN tracks. Yes, they are still on the CN tracks, but this could be a case of seeing what happens up there and having more older stuff along the corridor.
Where are they using the coaches currently in the USA? And where do they park them overnight?
