Memories of a life by the railway

THE NORTH RENFREW TIMES - APRIL 14, 2010

BY ELAINE TENNANT

Sir John A. MacDonald, the Prime Minister of Canada, had a dream, and that was to link the (Dominion)country from shore to shore. East to West, by building a railway. In the province of Ontario, as the rail lines were being laid, it became necessary to have repair shops every so many miles along the way. Originally, the Canadian Pacific Railway officials had decided to locate the maintenance shops in Ottawa, Pembroke, and Mattawa. However, they experienced difficulty erecting a shop in Pembroke,so they decided to build a maintenance shop and roundhouse to serv ice the locomotives in Chalk River. This action put Mattawa out of the running because of its approximate distance to North Bay. Chalk River and North Bay were designated as Railway Divisional Headquarters and this opened employment opportunities and required rest facilities for the engine crews travelling to and from Ottawa, Smith Falls, and North Bay. Five residential homes were built for senior management personnel. This was one of the reasons for Thomas Cuthbert's. family coming to the Chalk River area.

The Railway, or CPR, played a huge part of our life because that was where dad earned the pay-cheque to care for his brood. The rail yard was a terminal between North Bay, Ottawa, and Smith Falls. We knew many of the engineers, firemen, conductors and brakemen and they knew whose children we were. The railway tracks were close to our home and the passenger and freight trains ran day and night and to a railroader this was their time clock. The whistle and the roar of the train rumbling by made us look and perhaps wave at the engineer or the brakemen in the caboose. I can remember the odours in the passenger coaches, stale cigar smoke, oranges and, of course, the pleasant ice cold water we drank from little paper cups. The hiss of.. steam from the engine as we stood at the crossing. The clank clank of the hammers as the Carmen checked the wheels along the length of the train. These sounds , smells, and feelings were part of our fascination with the old steam engines. Then the railway changed from steam to diesel power and all we were left with was our memories. The clickety-click of the telegraphers' keys still resounds in my memories.

The Canadian Pacific a special train for an annual picnic at Chalk River for their staff and they came from many areas such as North Bay, Smith Falls, and Ottawa. This was a popular event and I can remember Mom saying she had to bake 10 to 12 pies. People were fed in large tents which were set up days prior to the picnic. A story is told of a young boy disappearing from the large crowd. Following a lengthy search, the boy was found alive, head first in an uncovered post-hole. (Gordon Schultz).We as children, on our way to and from school, instead of going to the railroad crossing, would cross any where along the rails. This often meant climbing over and under four or five rows of stationary trains. What a chance we were taking.

The Canadian Pacific Railway station had a 24-hour restaurant with living quarters for the restaurant manager's family and a number of sleeping quarters for railway officials such as the Master Mechanic, Assistant Superintendent and Superintendent when they visited the area. The other portion of the station consisted of a baggage/express room, waiting room and telegraph office where train orders and passenger travel tickets were sold. The tic-tac of the Morse code as messages were sent sounded like music. The waiting room had long oak benches shined to perfection and the floors had that clean creolene odour similar to the passenger coaches.

A well-known long-time resident of our Village, while working the night shift, was returning to the engine repair shops and when climbing through a stationary line of rail cars the train shunted, knocking the individual down between the rails and his entire leg was severed, thus he lost his life. A number of engine repair shop employees were called hostlers, these people drove the engines in and out of the repair shop and reversed the engines on a large oval shaped turn table which allowed the steam engines to hook onto trains and return to their home terminal.

The Canadian Pacific Railway owned four row houses on the crest of a hill on Kellet Road located near Highway 17. The homes were occupied by a telegraph operator, express baggage agent, section foreman, shop foreman and their families. The locomotive foreman and his family lived in a fifth house which was located at the present site of the Village water supply tower. Manually-operated hand cars and speeders were used as a mode of travel by section crews as they performed track maintenance on the stretch of track from Chalk River to Bass Lake and another section crew took over going West on the North Bay / Chalk River Subdivision.

The Canadian Pacific Railway steam engines burned soft coal which produced steam to provide continuous circulation of heat for passenger trains. The spent coal from freight and passenger engines was called "cinders" and this product was gathered, stockpiled and recycled as rail bed fill. The Village "Fathers" of the day also used the "cinders" for the Village roads. Children who fell when playing on the road would receive embedded-sharp particles in their knees and hands and it was very hard to heal. Many men who worked continuously in and around the servicing of the engines which gave off smoke, soot, heat and steam developed black heads (acne) on their face and neck. This condition was not very nice to look at.

The oil pond was an extension of the Railway maintenance system. It was an area, nestled in the woods opposite the railway tracks between two smaller hills, near Forestry Road. An underground pipeline six inches in diameter extended from the engine maintenance shop which carried used black oil and residue to this area called the oil pond. Skiing was one sporting activity that we as children enjoyed in this particular area due to the steep slope of the hills. Some of the teenagers actually had broken arms, legs and skis due to a high jump that was built at the bottom of the trail. Even to this day people enjoy this area for cross country skiing and walking the trails.