CN LINES V12N3 - Canadian National Railways Historical Association

occasion, if memory serves, of an RDC-4
and an RDC-1. There were typically twoand
three-car sets assigned to this run at this
time. The view from the front of that
RDC-4 will always stay with me. It was
night, and in those days there was not the
proliferation of farm lights you see now. It
was pitch black and snowing. The image of
the snowflakes seeming to form a funnel of
white pinpoints of light, through which we
raced with the two silver rails streaming
back under our feet was an incredibly powerful
experience. “
Alberta and British Columbia
(Runs 72 to 78)
Edmonton and Calgary were the largest
Canadian cities to receive Railiner service
when the original Phase One units were
delivered by 1955. CN RDCs operated
out of Edmonton until the VIA takeover
in 1978. The first route was south to
Drumheller and Calgary in 1955 so as to
provide some competition for the CPR.
Service northward was added in the late
1950s to St. Paul and Grand Centre. In
November 1958, cars D-201, D-203 and
D-401 were assigned to Calder and ran
14,790, 10,161, and 9,400 miles, respectively,
north out of Edmonton on Runs 72
and 73.
Of all the provinces in which they operated,
CN Railiners were the least successful
in British Columbia. We have been able to
gain some understanding of the short-lived
CN RDC service in B.C. from the files of
the late Mr. C. C. Collins, former CN
Passenger Service Manager in Vancouver.
The Railiners came to two B.C. runs in the
early 1960s because of a plan to introduce
RDCs on all secondary routes in the
Mountain Region. However, Run 77 from
Kelowna to Kamloops Jct. had seen falling
patronage using conventional equipment
on account of improved highways and the
very inconvenient roundabout route to
Vancouver via Kamloops. The two-year
Railiner service mainly forestalled the loss
of complete rail passenger service.
On the B.C. North Line, the conventional
trains were not being well utilized
between Prince Rupert and Jasper. There
was an overnight run and heavy head-end
loads between Prince George and Jasper so
this portion remained with a conventional
train. The connecting service from Prince
George to Prince Rupert was certainly
more economical for CN to run with
RDC cars, but they had considerable
above: CN 6114 (ex-B&M) is waiting at Saskatoon for connecting passengers on July 28,
1969. Note the black pilot, white letterboard, new headlight housing and frame for
diaphragm (which has been removed to improve visibility for the engineer.)—Al Lill photo
below: No. D-102 from Calgary and No. D-350 from Drumheller were at Edmonton in
August 1959. The cars were coupled together Camrose–Edmonton.—F. D. Shaw photo
bottom: CNR D-354 heads north out of Vernon, B.C., on July 30, 1963. It had been
reassigned from Run 8 in New Brunswick and later went to Saskatchewan and Ontario before
being rebuilt into an RDC-1m. Note the removable ditchlights used in B.C.—Roger Burrows photo
Volume 12, Number 2 39