Decline of Passenger Trains
By the 1960s, Canadian passenger trains were in serious decline, largely thanks to increased competition from automobiles travelling the then-new Trans-Canada Highway and from airlines. However, the CN aggressively marketed its services, even while CPR was losing interest in operating The Canadian. To help combat the perception that the CPR route through the Rocky Mountains was more scenic, CN in 1964 acquired a set of six ex-Milwaukee Road "Super Dome" cars (rechristened "Sceneramics" by CN) that had formerly seen service on the Olympian Hiawatha. These were placed into service between Winnipeg and Vancouver. But despite CNR's best efforts, ridership continued to decline throughout the 1970s, and the train operated at a loss.
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Famous quotes containing the words decline of, decline, passenger and/or trains:
“We can recognize the dawn and the decline of love by the uneasiness we feel when alone together.”
—Jean De La Bruyère (1645–1696)
“Considered physiologically, everything ugly weakens and saddens man. It reminds him of decay, danger, impotence; it actually reduces his strength. The effect of ugliness can be measured with a dynamometer. Whenever anyone feels depressed, he senses the proximity of something “ugly.” His feeling of power, his will to power, his courage, his pride—they decline with ugliness, they rise with beauty.”
—Friedrich Nietzsche (1844–1900)
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—Willa Cather (1876–1947)
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—E.B. (Elwyn Brooks)