Canadian Rail_no539_2010 - Le musée ferroviaire canadien

NOVEMBER – DECEMBER 2010
277 CANADIAN RAIL • 539
The Joy of Winter Railroading!
The joy of winter railroading, CPR No. 50 at Portage La Prairie in the 1880s. CPR
Archives A 17610.
Les joies hivernales du ferroviaire, la CPR no 50 à Portage la Prairie dans les
années 1880. Archives CPR A 17610.
In the days of steam, conditions under which
railroaders work were far different from what they are
today. While many of the activities are similar, the
conditions, particularly in winter, are much improved.
Track maintenance forces, for example, in snowstorms
worked under difficult conditions cleaning track and
switches. Now such modern technologies as ballast
regulators and switch heaters have made the work less
arduous. Perhaps the greatest change, however, has been
that of locomotive engineers. Many of the activities
remain the same such as observing signals and other
physical objects, but the conditions under which these
activities are carried out are far better.
Consider the steam locomotive engineer who
was required to keep a lookout for block signals, whistle
posts, mile posts, flagmen, etc. failing which disastrous
consequences could, and did, ensue. In order to maintain
scheduled time, fast passenger trains
often had to operate at 80-90 mph, and
maintaining a lookout for signals, etc. at
speed with very low visibility was stressful
in the extreme. The identification of a
block signal and its colour aspect in the
second or two available required extreme
vigilance. Not only the snow, but smoke
and steam from the locomotive added to
the hardship and visibility from the front
window was impossible. The only
alternative for the engineer was to keep
his head out of the window in order to
catch a glimpse of the imperative signals.
T h e s e h a r d s h i p s w e r e
dramatically demonstrated one February
night in 1952 when pool train No. 6 from
Toronto arrived at Canadian Pacific's
Montreal West Station hauled by one of
the magnificent Canadian National
Northerns. The locomotive engineer was
Charlie Banges, the regularly assigned
engineer. The right-hand side of Charlie's
face was covered with ice and he was asked whether his
face was frozen. His reply was "Not at all”. The ice which
formed from the snow melting on the side of my face
forms a coating which protects my face from frostbite in
the wind created by the train". This was a dramatic
reminder of the difficulties encountered by engine crews
especially in the winter months.
In the days of steam whether in freight,
passenger or yard service the conditions were the same in
that the head had to be out of the window. The difference
was that the higher the speed the more difficult the
conditions became.
Although the passing of the steam locomotive
brought many regrets, the advent of other forms of motive
power made life overall much easier on those who had to
operate them.
Canadian Pacific Railway 917 a D10g ‘ten
wheeler’ built by the CPR in 1911 in
snowplow service on January 4, 1947 at
Tweed, Ontario. Al Paterson.
La locomotive D-10-g ten wheeler no 917 du
Canadien Pacifique, construite par le CPR en
1911, pousse un chasse-neige en ce
4 janvier 1947 à Tweed en Ontario. Al
Paterson.
Ron Ritchie was a CPR Official who retired in 1987
after forty years of service and is now living in Hudson,
Quebec. He has been a lifelong student of railway histories
and an avid collector of railway memorabilia. He was a
close friend and associate of Omer Lavallee and Ernest
Modler during their lifetimes and, besides his own, holds the
railway photographic collections of both.