No other comment needed.

http://www.newwestnewsleader.com/news/226385461.html

Would someone kindly open a Canadian Trackside Guide and tell us what all is involved in this collection, and why this is the first I've heard of it in all this time?

Had not heard of the collection previously.

found this webpage: http://sidengo.com/nrhs_bc#about-us
Pictures, but no collection listing.

Wow, a mostly restored collection under cover and safe. Let's hope they can figure something out.

Something thats been said a few hundred times on here already: OWN your own place.

From the sound of it these guys had enough cash at some point that they could have invested in a few less toys and into a place for storage that was all their own. Of course with Canada's sudden booming economy it's going to be hard to find somewhere to put something that takes up this much space.

They could move the whole outfit to America, we on the other hand have a new batch of shutdown factories and warehouses nearly everyday.

Wow, that is an amazing collection, and some of it in beautiful condition.

Incidently, if you took a look at their page and their comments about dealing with both a railroad and the city, it's yet another example of how we are "red-headed stepchildren" in the business and preservation world, in spite of the work we do (and this group has certainly done that, although perhaps dropping the ball on public relations).

As to the boom in Western Canada, don't look for that to last too long. A lot of that is energy-related, and who knows how long that will last (think of the abandoned gold mines and ghost towns of our West, think of the abandoned coal towns of Pennsylvania and Appalachia).

In the news article, it refers to F-unit 6300 as "infamous". Anyone know why that is?

In viewing their website, they do have a really great-looking and well-cared for assortment of rolling stock, and I agree it would be a shame to lose this after all the years they've managed to keep it in good shape.

OK, here it is... I'll condense it a bit since it fills a page and a half with the full history of each item included:

#301 ex CN #7196, Combine, Pullman 1919
#302 ex CN #7169, Combine, NSC 1928
#481, ex CN #1337, Diner, PS 1954
#601, ex SP Observation- Lounge #2914, Pullman 1930
#741, ex CPR Official Car #35, NSC/ CPR 1928
#801, ex CPR Coach #1319, NSC/CPR 1930
#802, ex CPR Coach #1854, NSC/CPR 1930
#803, ex CPR Colonist Car #2806, NSC/CPR 1924
#805, ex CPR coach #1335, CC&F/CPR 1931
#1347, ex CN Diner #1347, PS 1954
#1349, ex CN Diner #1347, PS 1959
#1387, ex CPR Buffet Parlour #6667, CC&F/CPR 1926
#1453, ex NAR RPO #1453, CC&F 1930
#6300, ex VIA 6300, nee CNR 6524, FP-9, GMD 1957
#15429, ex CNR Steam Gennie #15429, CC&F 1956
#15448, ex CNR Steam Gennie #15448, CC&F 1956
#59131, ex CN Baggage #9022, NSC 1950
"Avante Garde", ex CN Sleeper-Buffet-Observation "Fort Howe"
"Grand View", ex CP Sleeper "Grande Pointe", CC&F/CPR 1928
"Micmac", ex CPR Coach #1803, NSC 1929 (formerly CSTM)
"NewYork", Diner, ex GN "New York", Pullman 1929
"Resolution Island", ex CN Sleeper "Woodstock", CC&F 1923
"River Clare", ex CPR Buffet-Solarium-Lounge "River Clare", NSC/CPR 1929
"Riverton", ex CPR Sleeper "Riverton", CC&F/CPR 1929
"Temiscouata", ex CN Parlour Buffet "Temiscouata", CC&F 1929
#(no number), Box Car, ex CPR #242507, CC&F 1929

So there you have it, a collection of great national significance, with several items of significance to the USA.

I hope these guys can either find a new home of their own, or at least a nearby museum or industry that can provide them with sufficient, and secure, track space until they can find a new home.

Steve Hunter

Paul, #6300 served as Via's Vancouver shop switcher well past retirement. Unless there are other stories, that alone should be grounds for infamy.

Steve Hunter

Yeah, Canada is not that large of a country, pretty crowded and compact. Not a lot of places where one could store a collection.

From the article: "the group's work to acquire and restore rail cars has pretty much ground to a halt since last September when they rolled out their restoration of the diesel-electric locomotive that was infamously at the head of the VIA Rail passenger train that collided with a freight train outside Hinton, Alberta in 1986, killing 23 people."

Join the second largest Canadian collection of equipment?. . . .Scranton

(ducks for cover)

Steve

(full disclosure, have owned a half dozen ex VIA cars in the past)

Several of these cars, including the following (not sure about the 805) were restored at the Mount Rainier Scenic RR during our early years of operation.

#301 ex CN #7196, Combine, Pullman 1919
#601, ex SP Observation- Lounge #2914, Pullman 1930
#801, ex CPR Coach #1319, NSC/CPR 1930
#802, ex CPR Coach #1854, NSC/CPR 1930
#805, ex CPR coach #1335, CC&F/CPR 1931

There is a rather long and complicated backstory on this stuff both in the US and Canada, and that NRHS Chapter is pretty dang exclusive and secretive, or at least was.

When I was in Victoria BC setting up the PWRR we tried to deal with these folks rather than have to move equipment from Ohio to BC .

Let me say it politely. We found them to be substantially removed from reality as concerned their ideas of fair commercial terms for the use of their cars and for the fair value of the equipment. To the best of my knowledge the cars never leave that barn and have had next to no use in a long, long time. A shame, as most of the cars ( in 1999/2000) were in great shape.

We ended up moving everything we needed ( diesels,cars and equipment) from Ohio as we found dealing with this outfit impossible.

It would certainly be a shame if their detachment from reality causes the equipment to be cut up. Let's hope a West Coast white knight appears.

Ross Rowland

Was any of this stuff used on British Columbia Railway's 2860 excursions? It seems to me that this is a pretty nice "trainset," and the only sense I can make out of this accumulation is that this is a set left over from that service, much like NRGHS Chapters in the East have/had "trainsets" used by Southern/NS/Chessie System's mainline excursions....