Got a pair of Kato VIA P42, now what?

[bsoplinger]

I bought myself a pair of these because I rather liked how they looked. That was almost a year ago. I've basically given up on ever running these locos as there isn't a single thing out there for them to pull. Initially I thought I was in luck when I saw that Con-Cor had a whole set of VIA cars. But they're painted in the older blue scheme, which would work for a pair of Kato E8s in the blue VIA scheme but not present day. Kato makes 2 smoothside sets (a standard 6 and the supplemental 4 I'd guess) but they are in the old blue scheme also.

I did see that Con-Cor also lists their Budd cars in a VIA scheme, but I've never seen them and it seems they forgot to put a picture of the scheme on their Budd page so I don't know what they look like. For that matter, are they even close to what VIA pulls around these days?

What is there out there that these locos can pull?

If there isn't anything why did Kato make them?

And on the subject of VIA, I got a pair of the Kato F40PH with the intent of painting them up in the colorful add schemes that VIA has done like the Kool-Aid scheme or Spiderman scheme but now I'm wondering if I could get anything for these locos to pull either???

Brian

[Sokramiketes]

The ConCor Budd cars are your best bet.  As VIA is still running the transition era Budd cars on trains such as the transcon Canadian, the ConCor cars can play the part quite well.  These are stainless steel with blue letterboard.  More recently, Canadian flags and lettering have been added to the sides, along with the VIA lettering in the window band at one end.  The dome-obs is a signature feature, and ConCor's got your best option there as well.

[Puddington]

Today these loco's, actualy both the P42's and the older F40PH's pull the Budd lightweights and the European built Rennisance cars. There is a mix of both used in the Quebec-Windsor corridor. The "Canadian" is almost exclusively budd lightweight ( all are re-built HEP-2 cars, some originaly CPR and many others bought from US roads)

Con Cor's Budd lightweights could be used, as could a few Kato cars; with some modifications and the paint scheme would be the standard VIA blue band (Microscale makes decals for this)

The usefulness of the car depends on whether you are trying to create the "Ocean" or the "Canadian" where sleepers; Skyline domes; "Park" domes and dining car are involved or a basic corridor trains, which is all coaches, with the occasional baggage car at the head end.

No one I know of makes anything close to the Rennisance cars, although perhaps a European mfg might have something you could bash.

There are many good photo's of VIA passenger cars on web sites such as Fallen Flags and other; but the basic Budd coach is pretty much the standard car and I believe that the Con Cor version is very close. The Park series observation dome cars are all ex- CPR and the car that Con Cor makes is very close if you remove the roof mounted tail light and modify the skirts.


The tail light has been remove here.


Note the modification to the skirt

Hope this info helps - I'm sure some VIA fans have more detailed info for you.

[cv_acr]

Apart from the Canadian and Ocean which use mostly original CPR budd equipment, (although I think the Ocean occasionally uses Renaissance sets) VIA also uses Budd coaches from various US railroads in the Sarnia/Windsor to Montreal/Quebec City "corridor". They also of course use a lot of the "LRC" cars. The Renaissance cars are not used west of Toronto. I've never seen any evidence of a P42DC ever being used on the transcontinental Canadian. Domes, observations, dining cars, etc. are not used in regular corridor trains. Corridor trains are made up of LRC or Budd coaches.

Within VIA's Budd coach fleet there are two series of cars, the HEP-1 cars (the first series upgraded to modern Head-end Power) which include the former CPR cars and some ex-American cars, and the second round of rebuilt coaches, HEP-2, which are all ex-American cars from various sources. The HEP-1 cars have a solid blue nameboard, and the HEP-2 cars have a yellow stripe on the nameboard as well. There are only coaches in the HEP-2 series, while the diners, sleeping cars, domes and observations from the Canadian are in the first HEP-1 series. Given the wide range of backgrounds, any model of a stainless steel Budd coach should be able to at least stand in for HEP-1 or HEP-2 coaches.

Rapido Trains has a resin kit for an LRC coach and have recently announced that they will redo it in RTR plastic, as well as the matching LRC engine. Of course, that's all in HO only. Their lightweight coaches, sleepers, cafes, etc. are all based on CN prototypes and are spot-on accurate for VIA's old Blue coaches. However, as was stated these are a little out of era to run behind the new P42DC.

VIA runs mostly on CN lines only; there are only a few exceptions plus one or two places where they actually own the line themselves after CN didn't want it anymore.

[Puddington]

I'd forgotten about the LRC cars - probably because after my last trip (Dec 22nd) on an LRC coach from Toronto to Montreal we got the roughest ride ever.... they actually had to stop outside of Oshawa for 20 minutes and chop ice off the trains - still bucked like a bronco.... LRC - "Light , Rapid, Comfortable"..... ummmmmmm... not so much.

I "think" I saw a P42 at the head of a Canadian consist near Rama back in the summer but couldn't swear to it. It would be rare I think.

The Ocean does, indeed run a lot of Renaissance sets - I took it from Montreal to Truro last summer and it was a Ren set. ( I had a double bedroom - had to change cars at 4:00 am to a "deadheaded" car due to a flood from the cabin next to me - their toliet "blew".... delightful getting up to a wet floor at that hour.......) The Ocean runs both Budd and Ren sets as there are no domes for the Ren sets and I don't think; although I stand to be corrected, that they mix equipment like that. Certain Oceans have a dome car, thus the Budd equipment.

[lock4244]

As a general rule, VIA's P42's do not leave the Quebec City - Windsor/Sarnia corridor. They may get on the Canadian in a pinch, but I've never seen or heard of this happening.

The P42's have the 100MPH gearing for the fastest Toronto - Montreal trains, services that the F40's can't be used on and meet the schedules. These are the trains the P42's were bought for, and the reason a few LRC locomotives survived until the P42 deliveries.

You can get away with P42's behind short trains of Budd cars, but I think the Canadian is a bit much.

Would be awesome to get LRC cars in N scale, but I think we'll all grow old waiting for them...

[train1]

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