Reading up on the Nightstar project, it's claimed the carriages were designed around the BR MK4, yet were much heavier. Was this to reach a European/Channel Tunnel Safety Regulation?
From the outside, the Nightstars (now called Renaissance carriages with VIA Rail) look more like mk. 3 than mk. 4 coaches. I believe they were derived from that basic standard because as they were expected to require extensive clearance throughout the UK on routes towards the tunnel, there wasn't a suitable European design of sleeper that could suit or fit our clearances... although that's just a vague recollection of something I remember reading.
In the end, they were so over-specified in terms of passenger comforts that they would have required a disproportionate amount of electric power and weighed too much for many lines. The requisite upgrading work was also identified just as Easyjet and Ryanair were (ahem) taking off. No-one thought the service had a chance in hell of appealing against direct low cost flights... if only it had been considered 10 or 15 years later.
I've used the Renaissance cars quite a few times, once for a round trip from Montréal to Halifax and a couple of other times on the 'Corridor', which is VIA's most densely served and basically linear route between southern Ontario, Toronto, Ottawa, Montréal and Québec City. I believe all Québec City / Montréal trains are Renaissance day coaches, whereas the other routes see a mix of the LRC stock and even some stainless steel heritage coaches. The corridor is the only part of the VIA network where those older coaches have been upgraded to provide business class seating as well as standard. There was, for a short while, an attempt to run a sleeper between Montréal and Toronto but the costs were too high, especially compared to extensive daytime trains, buses and flights on the same route.
I can't embed them here, but I have some photographs of the Renaissance coaches in service in Canada (taken during a month-long 20,000km roundtrip of the States and Canada that I did in 2005).
http://jamesbrownontherails.blogspot.com/ (beware, it's a blog, so it reads backwards!)
The Renaissance stock has been a pain in the arse for VIA Rail, because they required all kinds of modifications to cope with the extremely cold winters (they have operated in winters as cold as -40º C) and for mostly low level platforms. Although you can board at regular platform level in Montréal, every carriage needed expensive folding steps to be installed (a basic mechanical feature of every North American passenger car) to allow access from low level platforms. Amusingly, despite being designed for level platform access, they don't meet Canadian disability access requirements... a news report from 2003:
http://www.cbc.ca/news/story/2003/03/28/Viadisability_030328.html
Day coach interior:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3191/127/1600/DSCN6200.jpg
2+1 seating throughout (when in business class on daytime trains you get more perks, like a hot meal and booze). With the exception of one or two facing seats at one end of the coach, all the seats face the same way (conveniently a preference in North America, where train passengers generally don't like facing backwards). However the seats can't be turned (unlike most current Amtrak stock in the states) and sit on top of a rather expressive podium shape, with a matching overhead rack. You step up onto your seat, with that luggage rack open towards you. The seat reclines by sliding down and forwards, and isn't particularly comfortable for overnight journeys (I managed a few hours kip during my two overnight journeys).
Another view:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3191/127/1600/DSCN6218.0.jpg
The service car:
http://photos1.blogger.com/blogger/3191/127/1600/DSCN6200.jpg
This is a real bodge-job. I believe the Nightstars had this as a walk up counter space (the shutter is visible pulled down in the centre of the photo) but VIA wanted more room for seated passengers to sit down. A wall in the foreground was removed, IIRC for some kind of table or counter space there and a flatscreen TV was added for movies etc. I don't know if Amtrak still does this, but in their lounge cars a crappy PG family movie was played each night on overnight journeys, and this may have been such a perk.
Amusingly, I ordered something from the counter one night, and what did I see staring me in the face behind the counter... but an original British Rail spec microwave, complete with the crossing arrow motif on the door
I know that when they showed up in Canada they were still fitted out as ready for European service, with dual-currency cash registers in the cafés, etc.
There was also a dining car, which I used once for breakfast (meals included for sleeper customers, not for seated passengers) and which may have also been a Canadian customisation of a day coach.
I never experienced the sleeper cabins. There's plenty of info on the VIA Rail pages for the Montréal - Halifax 'Ocean' train:
http://www.viarail.ca/en/trains/atlantic-canada/montreal-halifax-ocean/train-cars ... just note the distinction between Renaissance and stainless steel cars. I thought the Ocean was all-Renaissance stock now, but apparently not. The 'Chaleur' that's hooked up with the 'Ocean' as far as Matapédia before travelling around the southern shore of the Gaspé peninsula is always (IIRC) stainless steel.
PS: just found more pics of the trip in my archive: will upload them as a set to Flickr.
PPS: Here is the set:
http://www.flickr.com/photos/jamesbrownontheroad/sets/72157622117074168/
. Much appreciated.
