Park dome car returns to Churchill train
VIA Rail Canada has added a Park-series dome-lounge-observation to its Winnipeg-
Churchill, Manitoba, train, as part of its seasonal redeployment of equipment (see
“VIA’s Summer Shuffle,” “Passenger,” July 2019). Still to come: more Chateau sleeping
cars, for whale- and polar bear-watching season in midsummer and fall. On June 23,
2019, train No. 693 to Churchill rounds a curve at Dutton, Man. David Maierstrainsets to operate (see page 42). “Com-
puter simulations of the Series 6 carbodies
performed decades before this rule was
even proposed seem to show they would
comply with it,” says Coran, adding, “a
consultant is currently using up-to-date
methodology to re-run these simulations
to verify this conclusion.”
NO REPLACEMENTS
Meanwhile, in declining to provide re-
sponses to 11 questions Trains emailed to
Washington’s rail division, spokeswoman
Janet Matkin issued a statement saying,
“The Point Defiance Bypass has all its PTC
trackside equipment installed and tested
and is ready for operation.”
Why hasn’t service resumed? In an
email, Matkin said Amtrak, Sound Transit,
the FRA, and WSDOT are working to
address the NTSB recommendations, and
will jointly decide on “timing for the return
to the Point Defiance Bypass.”
FRA spokesman Warren Flatau tells
Trains his agency is waiting for Amtrak to
furnish a risk assessment for Talgo Series 6
operation over the bypass. “We are imposing
no other conditions on their use,” says
Flatau. Amtrak spokeswoman Olivia Irvin
says the assessment is complete, that the
passenger railroad is working “with state
and local partners to implement mitigations
before initiating service,” and that Amtrak
does not “intend to request a revision to the
special approval to operate the Talgo Series
6 on the Point Defiance Bypass.” Asked if
that meant Amtrak would not operate the
Series 6 on the bypass, Irvin replied, “We are
working with our state partners on equip-
ment plans ... along the Cascades route.”
Talgo’s Friend says the company has of-
fered available Series 8 equipment at Beech
Grove “that can be made into two or three
trainsets and can easily [be modified] to
match the current service requirements, at a
cost that is less than one equivalent trainset
... at a price lower than insurance has pro-
vided for replacement.”
Jennifer Sellers, Oregon’s Northwest
Corridor Rail Program Manager, con-
firmed to Trains that her state has a sepa-
rate contract with Talgo and will continue
to maintain its Series 8 trainsets.
“We’ve never been told by anyone why
there’s a resistance to having [the idle Series
8 trainsets] in service here; we’ve been given
no reasons,” says Sellers. “I know there are
differences, but those aren’t insurmount-
able.” She said Oregon was open to that
equipment if it is “available and it makes
sense. We know we need seven trainsets toget us back on the Point Defiance Bypass
and have the two additional round trips.
The early morning departure out of Seattle
[train 501] was going to be our connection,
so our ridership is really suffering.”
Sellers says Washington will use insur-
ance proceeds to match a federal grant for
equipment from a planned Amtrak order,
but notes, “The earliest optimistic date that
would happen is five years from now, right?”
With Washington’s decision to rely on
NTSB recommendations rather than the
lack of FRA concerns or 20 years of previ-
ous experience, it is actively avoiding near-
term equipment replacement while Series 6
trainsets continue to use the old route. By
doing so, it has, for now, stunted the Cas-
cades’ potentially transformative growth for
the foreseeable future. — Bob JohnstonTrainsMag.com 19A northbound Cascades with Series 8 Talgo equipment passes the south end of the Point
Defiance Bypass (at right) at Nisqually, Wash., in 2018. Use of the bypass remains on hold.