I have allways considered that 1965 was the year Canadian Pacific decided to
throw in the towell on passenger service. The desission was made to dump the
Domnion , The dinning car service went down several notches on the Canadian
. and they decided to quit Great Lakes service the Assinaboia and Keewatin
were finished The formation of the Chateau Champlain and Royal York trains
was the last ditch effort by Canadian Pacific to stay in the game with the
traditional Panache they had been noted for regards DAVID HILL
----- Original Message -----
From: "John" <sutherail@xxxxxxxx>
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Tuesday, November 30, 2010 2:40 PM
Subject: [cpsig] Gyralights (was Re: Domes and icicle breaker cars)
Yes I am guessing, as is everybody else on this group including yourself. But guessing does not mean throwing logic out the window.
Everybody else posting has agreed that the gyralites were not effective for any operating purpose, whether east OR west of Lake Louise. If there had been any actual need they would have been used on other trains, especially the Dominion. (To be ridiculous, perhaps they issued the steward in the Dominion's Skyline a flashlight so he could run up to the dome to watch for the icicles!)
And as to why take it off - so it was available for whatever FP happened to lead the next outgoing trip of The Canadian. Perhaps if the power was turned it would be left on the lead unit, and maybe this was normal practice in Vancouver. In eastern Canada, as likely as not the FP would next be assigned to some other train.
I think the most surprising thing about the lights is that a practice introduced in the mid-50s to promote a new train continued as long as it did, years after corporate CP wished to exit the passenger business. CPR, and particularly its employees, to their credit, continued to keep the pride in the former flagship. The mostly long service employees had no trouble continuing the service traditions from the glory years of passenger trains.
John
--- In cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx, "Doug Cummings" <DougCummings@...> wrote:
May I ask why you come to that conclusion? The gryolight was not effective
in the day time and east of Lake Louise anyway so it served no purpose as an
advertising gimmick. And why take it off when you would only have to put it
back on a few hours later anyway? If they would move it as required then it
obviously served some purpose or it would not have been there in the first
place. They may have taken it off and moved it to the locomotive at the
other end of the consist at turn around points, but I never saw them do
this. The fact I never saw them do this does not mean they didn't do it. If
they had a B unit or a Geep at the other end I would see them run the
consist around the wye as they always wanted a cab unit to lead on the
Canadian. So when you say "reasonable conclusion" you are in effect
guessing.
Doug
The use of the gyralight on the Toronto-Sudbury section of The Canadian
definitely had nothing to do with icicles hanging from tunnels. Because
their regular use was restricted to The Canadian, the only reasonable
conclusion is that they were an advertising gimmick.
------------------------------------
Yahoo! Groups Links
