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Welcome to the Jim Duncan story

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Jim Duncan works at the AB Press.
1985
Claybank Brick Plant Site

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JIM DUNCAN STORY

Jim was born in Moose Jaw, to Howard and Heather Duncan and lived in the hamlet of Claybank until he was seven years old. He took one year of schooling at the Claybank School then the family moved and he and his siblings were enrolled at Artesian School in Spring Valley. When Jim finished school he moved to Regina, got a job and tried city life. Alas, he missed his old hometown, so he returned and began working at the Brick Plant in August of 1977. He was there until it closed in 1989.

Jim began his career at the Plant working at the Brick Press with a starting wage of $5.30 an hour. It wasn't long before he was moved to the transfer track. The "transfer man" job, which was a bit of a promotion, involved taking cart loads of pressed brick from the brick press area rolling them on to waiting dollies, which ran on a system of narrow gauge railway track throughout the Plant, and delivering them to the drying tunnels. The bricks were dried in these tunnels for about a week, using recycled heat, before the "setters" rolled them out and into the kilns for stacking in preparation for firing.

The transfer track job was more physically demanding but allowed more free time to visit and joke around with other employees!! Jim was one of a group of avid "Rummy players" which included Eric Neiswandt, Walter Harlos, Dick Clarke and Elmer Ziola. Every noon hour, they would get out the cards for a game or if the weather was nice and the mood struck them they sometimes would have a round of horseshoes with Claire Bowlby.

Jim married Gail Lowden in 1985 and they now live in Briercrest. They have five beautiful daughters and a grandson. Jim works at Kalium and also farms locally. He said he enjoyed his years at the Claybank Brick Plant - he has lots of stories about his "Plant days" but he won't let us print them!!

He helps out the Historical Society, on their annual Heritage Day, by again turning out brick on the old AB Press, this machine pressed the first brick at Claybank in the early 1900's and pressed the last in 1989. But with ex-employees like Jim around to help we are still able to turn out pressed brick at the annual Heritage Day event.

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Transfer Man, Jim Duncan, pulls Transfer Cart along the Transfer Track
1985
Claybank Brick Plant Site

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Thank you