Caption: Well it took a while for me to finally connect with these in a photogenic way. Here is VIA #24 blasting out of Ottawa on Saturday October 28, having no trouble achieving track speed. This train made it to its first stop in Alexandria 7 minutes ahead of schedule.

Connecting with this train was made possible by VIA's announcement the week before on social media of a scheduled rotation for several "New Fleet" sets. This was assisted by the departure of #24 coinciding with (what felt like) Ottawa's only hour of sunlight that weekend.

In addition to replacing the legacy fleet, these sets may also spell the end of grabbing passenger train consists on the fly, for those so interested. I usually try to record them when I can - but the numbers on these cars are smaller that the fine print on a cell phone contract, so at 100 mph there is no chance. The cab car was 2303 for those who care.