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Caption: So, I took a little trip last week and came across this nice consist along the way!!!
VIA 693 from Winnipeg to Churchill (stayed for the day) then boarded the same equipment which became VIA 690 to The Pas. Stayed in The Pas for two days then returned to Winnipeg on VIA 692 and flew home. Another great trip (8 days in total) with nothing but beautiful blue skies and sunshine, coupled with bitterly cold temperatures for my one day in Churchill, and two days in The Pas.
Having walked from my hotel to beautiful downtown The Pas (about a mile), and taking photos along the way, I was warming up in the waiting room of the VIA station when I noticed some movement trackside and watched some very familiar VIA blue roll-by! It was the Pukatawagan Mixed being assembled on the mainline in front of the station!
Two units, PRLX 2265 & PRLX 2269, KRC 9631 baggage/generator car, and KRC 5649 combination baggage/coach were stationary and boarding passengers, while another locomotive was marshalling a variety of mixed freight cars in the yard behind to tack on the rear of the train. I made my way outside and to the sunny side of the consist to grab some shots then headed back to the station platform for some pics of passengers entraining and other activity.
I asked one of the KRC guys if I could climb aboard and have a look through the coach end door, and to my surprise, he said he'd give me a tour of the two cars! He also asked if I wanted to climb up in the head-end but I could hear the engineer in my earpiece urging the crew to hurry up as they wanted to get moving, so I declined.
Lots of rare & interesting photos to share! I'll see if I can pretty up one or two of the on-board shots for posting. :-)
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A rarely photographed operation… thank you.. this is great. This is truly one of a kind and an absolute time capsule
Paul, love your idea of “a little trip” ! Just fly half way west, board a train and travel hundreds of miles north to Hudson Bay; if that’s a little trip, wonder what you consider as a “big trip”. Great picture, the old VIA blue is close to matching the blue diesels. Other than the ONR Polar Bear, trying to remember the last time an old fashioned mixed train was seen in this area. Like the order of the train, motive power + the baggage car + combine + freight cars (box cars no less). Assuming there was a FRED on the tail end. Please post more pictures of the passenger car interior, passengers boarding. How many can the combine seat ? Thanks for posting, John
Good morning Steve, John. Thanks for the kind comments. I just posted a shot of the tail end of ‘The Puk’ departing The Pas with a clear view of the end of train device (FRED) prominently displayed. I have quite a few shots from Churchill, The Pas, and places in between that I think folks will find very interesting. After this initial flurry of pics, I will slow down to one or two a week so as to not hog the front page.
Paul, I am loving your sequence as well as your inspiration for a similar trip by me someday! – Ken
Hi Ken. I truly do hope you will one day be able to experience VIA’s “The Hudson Bay” from Winnipeg to Churchill. I know I will be doing it again at some future date.