Chaleur Video Available!

I am pleased to announce that I have a video available, The Chaleur: Canada's Passenger Train to the Gaspé Peninsula. Here's a preview of the contents:

The video is available in two lengths:

• Full length (65 minutes), over 20 locations
• Highlights (32 minutes)

The Chaleur is/was a train that runs between Montreal and Gaspé, Quebec via Matapédia. The last train to Gaspé was on December 10, 2011 and the last train to New Carlisle was August 13, 2013. VIA Rail continued to operate bus service to Gaspé until September 17, 2013 when all VIA Rail service on the Gaspé peninsula ceased. Track conditions were the major reason for terminating service. There is hope that service will return but for now there is no rail passenger service on the Gaspé other than the l'Amiral tourist train.

Scenes include stops at Matapédia, New Richmond, New Carlisle, and Chandler as well as numerous bridge crossings and scenic locations like Pabos Beach and Douglastown. The Ocean is also featured between Causapscal, Quebec and Matapédia. The footage was shot in 2007 (see blog post series) and 2009 (see blog post series).

Follow this link to order the video. If you join my mailing list you'll get a code for a 40% discount off the price!

Thank you for your interest!

Bailout of the Gaspe

The Quebec government has come to the rescue of the Gaspésie Railway. After serious financial troubles that threatened to shut the railway down, the Quebec provincial government has purchased the rails, assumed the debt, and will pay for repairs to the track between Matapédia and Caplan, and between Anse-à-Beaufils and Gaspé. My understanding is the government will own the rails but not operate the trains.

The existing operator, le Société de chemin de fer de la Gaspésie, or the Gaspé Railway Company, will continue for at least the next 19 months. Previously the private industries along the rails were readying a proposal to privately bail out the railway to continue service.

The section between Matapédia and Caplan is currently used for freight service, with the Temrex lumber in Nouvelle-Ouést and Gaspésie Diesel in New Richmond. The section between Anse-à-Beaufils and Gaspé is used by the l'Amiral cruise train.

Note that Caplan is short of New Carlisle, where VIA's train would typically turn when not running all the way to Gaspé. This doesn't bode well for the return of the Chaleur any time soon, as there are no facilities to turn the train between Matapédia and Caplan. At one time there was a wye at Carleton (visible on Google Maps) but it doesn't exist any more, and it wouldn't be useful anyway as the Chaleur would have to back up for 34 miles to turn on it.

I see this as a positive step and will ensure freight service for a few years. However there needs to be more customers on the line to make it sustainable. A few cars from Temrex and Gaspésie Diesel are not enough. The line has many bridges and these are expensive to maintain. There is a lot of hope with the $1 billion McInnis cement plant proposed for Port Daniel, which had good support from the government (both the previous PQ and current Liberal government).

The lack of support for the middle segment is very troubling and calls to mind the controversy over the Bathurst-Miramichi segment in New Brunswick.

Links (in French):

• Government press release
• TVA report
• l'Echo de la Baie
• le Soleil
• Radio-Canada

VIA 16 (Chaleur) Cab Ride Video

André Berthelot sent me this super cab ride video he shot back in January 2011 aboard the Chaleur (VIA 16) between Matapedia and New Carlisle, Quebec. It's long but well worth a view.
He saw quite a few deer, but the highlight is at 6:50 when about five deer run down the track before finally scattering.

The train was going at a good clip for most of the video, apparently about 45 MPH.

Other highlights:

• 09:00 Passing the lumber mill at Nouvelle
• 14:00 Good footage of the engineer hitting the reset button to show he's still awake and in control
• 18:45 Crossing the bridges at Cascapedia
• 22:30 New Richmond station stop
• 25:50 Under the highway at Caplan
• 29:15 Bonaventure station stop
• 30:00 New Carlisle yard and station stop

You may remember that André posted a cab ride video before.

Chaleur Update

This LaPresse article indicates that the VIA Chaleur Montreal-Gaspé train will not be going to Gaspé at all this year. There is a new provincial government in Quebec, and although the previous Liberal government promised $17 million to repair the bridges between New Carlisle and Gaspé, it remains to be seen if the new Parti-Québécois government will honour that commitment.

You may remember that it has been since mid-December 2011 that VIA went to Gaspé, and only since May 20 2012 that VIA has been going to New Carlisle.

The article has a lovely photo by Gilles Gagné showing a flatcar with a wind turbine blade (with an RS-18 peeking out behind it) and one of the SFG passenger cars destined for a future tourist train.

Beyond VIA Rail, other customers waiting to use the line are the wind turbine manufacturer in Gaspé and the aforementioned tourist train meant to partner with cruise ships.

Currently, VIA turns on the wye at New Carlisle, as shown in this great video by J.A. Berthelot. See my photo sequence of the same maneuver from a few years ago.


Be sure to check out J.A.'s other videos featuring trains from the Gaspé.

Chaleur Running Again... Part Way

André Berthelot reported that the Chaleur is finally running again, at least to New Carlisle. That's André's shot at New Carlisle on May 14. It's been 142 days since they were last there, apparently! I reported on the closure on December 15 of last year.

Searching for reservations on VIA Rail brings up the travel advisory that buses are being used between New Carlisle and Gaspé.

Whither the Chaleur?

I'm quite concerned about the future of VIA's Chaleur train. The Chaleur has been terminating at Matapedia, Quebec for more than a month.

First the bridge over the Grand-Pabos River in Chandler was condemned on December 14, forcing the Chaleur to turn at New Carlisle. Then the bridge at St. Jules / Cascapedia was condemned on December 22. That's this bridge, by the way.


That bridge is between Matapedia and New Carlisle, so since December 22 the Chaleur has been terminating at Matapedia and passengers have been bused the rest of the way. There's a VIA press release about this.

Did you know there are 95 bridges on the route? When I was last there I would bet that at least 80% of them had a 10 MPH slow order on them. That gives you an idea of the condition of the line.

The Gaspésie Railway (Société du chemin de fer de la Gaspésie), owners of the line from Matapedia to Gaspé, have asked all levels of government for additional funding to repair the railway, to the tune of $19 million per year for the next five years (press release, news story).

This article says the bridges should be fixed by mid-February at the latest. There is an interesting photo in the article showing three Rio Tinto passenger cars led by an ex-NBEC RS-18 being brought to Gaspésie Diesel for work.

The odd thing is that VIA is booking coach and sleeper space on the Chaleur on ReserVIA. They do have a note that the train will be replaced by bus between Matapedia and Gaspé on February 2 and 3.

Special thanks to VIA Guru Tom Box for all his informative posts on CanPassRail!

From happier times, here are some photos of the Chaleur provided by Bob Liming, who had the opportunity to ride the train twice, in October and November 2011. Just in time!

Here's VIA 6457 at the station in Gaspé in October.


And from the rear...


Now this is November with VIA 6426. Note the masts behind the train from the marina.


 You may remember that some idiot tried to burn the station down back in early 2011. VIA has been using a trailer for the station since then. It's just visible on the right.


Here's Bob himself standing in front of the station. Thanks for the photos!

Reprocessing

As I continue taking photographs, I'm learning more about post-processing.

In the film age, post-processing was done in the darkroom with selective dodging and burning and other techniques. I don't know a lot about the film techniques because I've never developed my own photos.

In the digital age, post-processing begins when you open the digital file (hopefully in RAW format) in your favourite editor. For me it's either Canon's Digital Photo Professional or Paint.NET. Cropping, changing exposure, sharpening, saturation... there are so many ways you can change a photo. One could wonder at what point a photograph ceases to be a photograph and is instead a digital construct.

Here's a case in point. I started a photo theme on Google+ for bridges. I looked for a bridge photo of my own and decided on the Chaleur crossing the trestle near Gascon, Quebec. This is the original image. The only processing done to this is to resize it.


Now this is a heavily reprocessed version of the same image.



You can see I cropped it a bit. I used Paint.NET and ended up with four layers:

1. foreground and bridge and portion of engines
2. train cars
3. yellow on engines
4. sky

I then manipulated each layer separately. For the foreground I cranked up the saturation to make the green trees and the rusty bridge "pop". I dulled the shine on the baggage car. I pumped up the saturation on the yellow of the engines but not very much. I tweaked the sky significantly with brightness, contrast and saturation.

Just for comparison... I blogged about my Chaleur chase with David Morris back in 2007. At that time, I posted this photo. It's not the same image but only a few seconds later than the above image. I don't remember the processing but I'm sure I cropped a bit, maybe tweaked the brightness and/or contrast, and resized it.


What do you think? Do you prefer the original, or the heavily reprocessed version? Are the changes too much? Does it still look realistic? I'm very curious to hear what you think of this particular image, and image manipulation in general.

Gaspe Line Partial Closure

VIA 6407 leads the Chaleur over the Grand River-Pabos bridge, August 2007

A portion of the Gaspé line between Chandler and Gaspé has been closed for bridge work. The Grand River-Pabos bridge needs about $650,000 of work done. It is estimated that it may take up to six weeks to complete the work. During this time, the VIA Rail train will turn at New Carlisle and passengers will be bused the remainder of the distance.

Let's hope the work is done quickly so the Chaleur can get back to its full route.

PS - sorry for the gap in posting. I was in Tennessee again and did not have any spare time for the blog. I'm back now.

VIA Plow Train

David Morris chased the Ocean and Chaleur a few times in February and sent along these shots of the trains plowing snow.

First, here's the Ocean at Nigadoo, NB.


Next, the Chaleur plowing a crossing at Escuminac in Quebec.

Hopefully he didn't get too wet after this shot!

Here's the same train at Anse a Beaufils.


They met the real plow at New Carlisle, propelled by SFG 1856, the former NBEC 1856.

Gaspé Cab Ride Photos

André Berthelot had a fantastic opportunity to take a cab ride aboard VIA's Chaleur aka the Montreal-Gaspé train. He took many pictures and lots of video. And yes, he had written permission from VIA Rail.

Thank you, André, for sharing this unique video!


Check out André's site for more great video and photos.

Chaleur Turning (Again)

The Chaleur meeting a bus at New Carlisle, a familiar sight to travelers. May 30, 2009

There is a travel advisory on VIA's web site about the Chaleur:

Train 16 – May 27, 2010 - Due to operational issues, train 16 will terminate in New Carlisle for the next 2 weeks. VIA will provide bus service between New Carlisle and Gaspé. This message will be updated once normal operations have resumed.

Train 17 - May 27, 2010 - Due to operational issues, VIA will provide bus service between Gaspé and New Carlisle for the next two weeks. Regular train service will be provided from New Carlisle to Montréal. This message will be updated once normal operations have resumed.

The CN TEST train ran up the Gaspé line recently, and likely created so many slow orders that it is impossible to get the Chaleur to Gaspé and back in time.

In other news, the diner will be back on the Chaleur starting June 6. Check the menu out.

Of course VIA is still calling the Chaleur the "Montréal-Gaspé train". Maybe they should call it the "Montréal-New Carlisle train, occasionally traveling to Gaspé".

Hot Meals Return to the Chaleur

VIA Rail announced that hot meals will be reinstated on the Chaleur (the Montréal ― Gaspé train) year-round. Snacks will be replaced by hot meals prepared by Newrest, the same company that provides meals on the Ocean. The dining car will return from June to October and over Christmas.

A joint VIA - Gaspé working group was also created to "study ways of enhancing service on the Montréal-Gaspé line and promoting tourism in the region." A great idea, I think.

One note from VIA's president and CEO, Marc Laliberté: "the financial bottom line is not optional, but mandatory." Translation: USE IT OR LOSE IT. A fair statement, I think. Hopefully VIA's customers, after blockading the line and protesting in many other ways, will step up and use the dining service they fought for.

Chaleur Videos

Here are two videos by André St-Amant from onboard the Chaleur, from February 2008. The two are a series of photos and videos... pretty nice editing.

Part 2:


David Othen posted a video from onboard the Ocean as it rolled through Matapedia. The Chaleur is shown from the Ocean's dome.


TJMfishing posted a night video of the Chaleur, led by CN 9416. This would have been from last fall when VIA leased GP40 9416 to help with traction on the leaf-covered line.

VIA Responds to Chaleur Protest

Cyberpresse article

VIA Rail responded to the recent Chaleur protest at Barachois, Quebec. VIA Rail said the dining car was withdrawn due to lack of use. I should mention that the diner is back for the holidays, but it will likely be removed again in the new year.

VIA said the Chaleur name was withdrawn because it was not recognized out of the area. They say calling it the "Montreal-Gaspé train" clearly identifies where the train is going to.

The protestors said they would like to see the train frequency go from 3/week to daily. That would require another trainset, and it would be 6/week since the Ocean doesn't run 7 days a week.

The article also provided some ridership figures: 2007: 24,000. 2008: 29,500. 2009 to date: 27,000.

Chaleur Protest

On December 14, protestors blocked the railway track at Barachois, Quebec and delayed VIA 16, the Chaleur. They were protesting several things: the removal of the on-board cook, VIA's refusal to add extra cars for the holidays, and the removal of the Chaleur name from the train. They put tables and chairs on the track, then had lunch. The track was blocked from 11:40 to 13:15.

Canoe article, Le Soleil article.

The protest was organized by Rural Dignity of Canada, a grassroots organization that fights for smaller communities' rights. The federal MP, provincial MNA, and the mayors of Gaspé and Percé were present, as well as the Roman Catholic Bishop of Gaspé and the Anglican Bishop of Quebec City.

Thanks to Tom Box for most of the information.

CN 9416 on the Chaleur

You may recall that CN 9416 has been leased by VIA Rail for about a month to give the Chaleur some more traction over the fallen leaves. The Chaleur typically has a lot of problems slipping on the rails in the fall due to the leaves covering the tracks, especially since there are no regular freights to help keep the rails clear. In previous years the Chaleur has had to abandon trips due to slippery rails. CN 9416 is a GP40-2.

tjmfishing shot CN 9416 leading the Chaleur into New Carlisle, Quebec on Saturday October 10.


Earlier that week (October 5), Errol Robertson shot CN 9416 and VIA 6419 at Gaspe in the pouring rain!


David Morris caught what I think was the inaugural run of 9416 on the Chaleur, on October 3. Here is CN 9416 at St. Simeon on the way toward Gaspe.


On that day the Chaleur had to turn at New Carlisle. David shot the train in the midst of the turning exercise at New Carlisle.


EDIT: Removed the comment about the GP40-2's gearing, as it is obviously not a bonus for the slow speeds that the Chaleur travels at on the Gaspe. The GP40-2 is added and removed at Matapedia so it never travels the Corridor with the Chaleur. Thanks Peter for the comment.

CN Unit on the Chaleur

CN 9416 has been leased to head up the Chaleur, VIA 16/17, on the Gaspe coast. Historically the Chaleur has had traction problems in the fall with leaves on the track. The addition of the GP40 on the head end will hopefully permit the Chaleur to make the entire trip without having to turn back. The CN unit is being added at Matapedia and removed there on the return trip. Word is that it has been rented for a month.

Death of the Chaleur?

I read in Canadian Railway Observations that VIA Rail has dropped the names of the Chaleur, the Hudson Bay and the Skeena. Instead, they will refer to them by their origin and destination. In the Chaleur's case, it is referred to as the Montréal-Gaspé train. Depressing. I greatly prefer the named trains. Hopefully VIA Rail will reverse this decision.

Incidentally, VIA's recent strike is over and service is resuming. VIA's web site is very slow today, no doubt due to many stranded passengers checking trains and reserving online.

VIA Over The Weekend

The Chaleur at Matapedia on August 11, 2007.

David Morris sent along the consists of most of the VIA Ocean trains this weekend. David was chasing the Chaleur so he was up bright and early to get the train at Matapedia.

2009-07-11 VIA #14 at Matapedia
6408-6428-6412
8620-8123-8124-8500-DOLLIER-BIENVILLE
7011-7228-7230-7227
7316-7402-7308-7518-7517
7509-7501-7525-7512-7601
EVANGELINE
(This implies the Chaleur was 6412 with the six stainless cars right after 6412)

2009-07-11 VIA #15 at Matapedia
6440-6432-6412
8620-8123-8124-8500-DOLLIER-BIENVILLE
7009-7220-7108-7231
7208-7309-7400-7313-7508
7522-7521-7526-7519-7524
7600-KOOTENAY

2009-07-12 VIA #14 at Matapedia
6425-6400
7003-7223-7226-7222-7217
7315-7401-7314-7500-7520
7507-7502-7513-7504-7602
REVELSTOKE

The Chaleur Chase, Part Three - Wye Not?

(part 1, part 2)

When we last left the Chaleur, it was arriving at New Carlisle, at 12:16.


New Carlisle is a major center on the railway. It is the division point between the Cascapedia Subdivision (to Matapedia) and the Chandler Subdivision (to Gaspe). As such, it features a largish yard, a wye, and even a little engine house.

Since the Chaleur was so late (over 3 hours), the plan was to bus the passengers from here up the road all the way to Gaspe, then bus the westbound passengers back to New Carlisle. In the meantime, the Chaleur would be turned on the wye to be ready to head west at its scheduled time of 18:13. There was plenty of time to turn it.


At New Carlisle, the crew that brought the train from Matapedia books off for rest. Another crew takes over for the trip to Gaspe and back. On this day, they had a very short day, as all they had to do was turn the train and they would be done.

After watering the train, they set to work. The wye can only hold two engines and three cars, so they had to turn the train in two parts. Here is the sequence:

1. Pull entire train forward to just short of the east wye switch.
2. Pull three cars through the switch.

3. Push three cars to the tail of the wye.

4. Pull three cars down the other leg through the west wye switch.
5. Push three cars onto main line.
6. Return light engine through both legs of the wye to east wye switch.

7. Couple onto two remaining cars, and push to the tail of the wye.

8. Pull two cars down the other leg and leave them on the leg.

9. Run light engine through the west wye switch, couple on to first three cars.

10. Bring three cars through west wye switch, back onto wye leg and couple onto other cars.

11. Pull entire train through west wye switch.
12. Push entire train on main line up to station.


Quite an operation. Most of these shots were taken by David Morris. I took video of most of the operation, but I will save that for the upcoming Chaleur DVD.

We decided that the westbound Chaleur was probably going to be late, and given the poor weather there was no point in chasing it. We had a late lunch at the local restaurant, then headed back toward New Brunswick. On the way we shot ex-NBEC 1819 at Nouvelle, a topic for another post.

Next... the Napadogan subdivision!

EDIT: Danny pointed out I had my east and west confused. Glad he was reading carefully!