Material Type

Recording

Date Range

1995

Physical Condition

Excellent

Acquisition Source

Sir Alexander Galt Museum

Scope and Content

1 cassette tape. Length: 70 minutes.interviewee: john allen grant.interviewer: lori jarokosky, museum program leader.date: 17 January 1995. Side A - Originally from New Brunswick. He served as a nursing orderly at the Prisoner of War camps during WWII and started at the Lethbridge camp, 4 July 1944. Following his discharge that same year, he went to work in #8 Mine. - Talks about the training he received to be a nursing orderly. - Talks about the pay scale in the army. He helped escort the ex-POWs to Halifax following the war. He states that each trip had approximately 21 passenger cars and 3 dining room cars. - Talks about working in the coal mines. He was there for about one year before getting a job with the CP Rail, 12 May 1948. - Talks about CP training and promotions. - His first run was to Picture Butte on Engine 860. He names the crew members. His second run was to Crowsnest. - Talks about the work spare board and how he missed a call to the Crowsnest in the summer of 1948. On that run a bridge was washed out and the train plunged down a gully and the entire crew was killed. In 1970 he missed another call out where the train was involved in an accident at Carmangay and a crew member killed. - He names the different positions of a crew and describes some of the duties of each. - He describes the differences between hand fired, stoker, and oil engines. Talks about steam engines - some of which were converted to oil. Hand fired engines were still in use until 1956 because many of the bridges in southern Alberta were not strong enough to support the new diesels. Talks about the 1200s which were used to pull passenger trains. Talks about other models and dayliners. - Talks about the oil engines used prior to 1959. - Although different engine types are operated much the same way, whenever engine types changed crew members were required to take a mechanics test. - Talks about the horsepower of various engines. - Talks about the conductor's job and responsibilities. Talks about why cabooses and conductors were eliminated and how a train now operate*with a crew of 3 instead of 5. - Talks about an engineer's training. SideB - Talks about MBS - dispatchers dealing directly with the engineer. - Talks about how runs are assigned and distributed to the engineers. - Talks about the CP Rail pension plan. - Talks about maximum speeds. Freight trains could go 40 miles per hour. - Talks about the engine black boxes that allows CP officials to monitor the mileage and speed of the trains. If an engineer was speeding he lost demerits, and could be fired after losing 60 demerits. The black box is always examined after any accident. - Tells how he lost 45 demerits in one shot. It took 3 years to clear the demerits from his record. - Talks about another incident where an engineer lost demerits.

Access Restrictions

Public Access

Accession No.

19971068002

Collection

Archive

Less detail