Caption: An LRC set in Ottawa? Leaving in daylight, and the sun is actually out?

Unlike some equipment... there was no question whether this veteran consist would have any difficulty with the -11°C air temperature this morning. At exactly 0935, the spooled-up prime mover in P42DC 919 was audible from my snowbank perch, as VIA #43 departed right on time. A moment later it had completed the "hard left" leaving Ottawa station westbound, with LRC clubs 3473 and 3471, and coaches 3361, 3324, and 3353. This bridge carries the Beachburg Subdivision over a connection to the bus-only Transitway, used by OC Transpo buses accessing Hurdman station.

Normal can become boring until it suddenly isn't normal anymore. A view just like this could be anytime in the last decade or so. Change the paint (or wraps) and this could be anytime in the last 25 years. With a different locomotive (and yes, searchlight signals), this could be 40 years ago. Today, Ottawa sees one LRC consist per day, maybe. It is usually a late evening arrival from Toronto, turned and sent back early the next morning. (This one was #54 the evening before.) With few decent accessible locations in the city, and awkward light angles for most of the day, it's getting very hard to catch these.

The LRC fleet is dropping off fast. If you are near the corridor, go shoot these while you can. P42s too - they may not be popular now, but the sentiment will change later. When F40s first proliferated across North America, we begrudged them for what they replaced. Thanks to VIA's rebuilds, we still have their familiar presence up here, but Amtrak fans now wax nostalgic for them. The GE Genesis line subsequently became ubiquitous passenger power, and soon they will be gone too. Don't take them for granted. I may have a few more chances to try this, but pretty soon it will be unrepeatable.