Travel Posters

A small collection of CP and CN posters, most of them from the era of steam. Colorful, aren't they?

Gone But Not Forgotten....

Since the very thought of a steam locomotive being scrapped is not something an enthusiast would care to witness I have not come across very many photographs on the internet. The passage of time has not made it any easier to view but it is a record that is nonetheless fascinating - especially the speed at which the act of cutting up the large numbers of locomotives lined up awaiting their turn to be reduced to a pile of rusted metal was performed.No doubt the railways could not phase operations over to diesel power fast enough once the decision was made. Hindsight always makes one wonder why a few more examples were not saved. Many more images are to follow but here are three. The Kodachrome slides are dated between April 1959 to March 1960 and were taken in the Fort Rouge yard.

CPR 2860 and Preserved Friends

Although my opportunities to photograph any steam engines is limited by the fact that few are left the following pictures (starting from the bottom ) show Royal Hudson 2860 heading down the coast from Squamish to North Vancouver. Next is CNR 6060 at Expo 86 along with CPR 1201 ( second photo from top ). The CPR Selkirk # 5934 is on display in Calgary. Alberta and was photographed in 1978. It was moved to Heritage Park and repainted, the number changed to 5931. CNR 6015 is in Jasper, Alberta - picture is dated July, 1973.

Rail Jargon

What was called Rail Language back in the days of steam were terms generally used to identify or describe a trade, a Tradesman, or a piece of equipment. They could either be lovingly or hatefully derogatory. Usually the latter. Around the coal docks, water tanks, roundhouses, car repair shops,stations, bunkhouses, switching yards.... and of course, where all the fast runs were .... in the bars. Anywhere the Rail's congregated you could pick up these strange terms:

B.O. Not the usual kind, Bad Order card placed on boxcars when defects were found ( e.g. switch out to the Rip Track ).

Ballast Scorcher: A very fast Engineer, as in "Casey Jones".

Banjo: The locomotive coal shovel, the firecat's friend....ugh!

Beanery: A 24 hour restaurant for train crews and passengers ( Located in the Station at terminals ).

Beanery Queen: The Station restaurant waitresses we all loved.

Bearer: Hostlers helper or roundhouse labourer.

Big Hook: The railroad wrecking crane.

Brass Button Con: Passenger train conductor.

Bull Cook: Cooks helper on a work train or gang.

Cab Hop: A locomotive and caboose alone.

Car Knockers or Car Toads: Boxcar and Coach inspectors/repairmen.

Con: Freight train conductor.

Crum-Bums: The crew who rode (lived) in Crummys.

Crummy or Crumbox/ Shack or Van: Caboose at the end of a freight train.

Drag: Long, heavy, slow freight train.

Drummer: The yard switching foreman.

Firecat: Locomotive fireman.

Flimsies: Train orders typed or handwritten on transparent paper by the operator or station agent, then delivered to train and engine crews.

Footboards: The wooden platform on the front and rear of moving switch engines that switch men stood on to relay signals, pull the pin or make couplings.

Freight Hogs: Heavy, slow freight locomotive.

Gandy Dancer: A Section man who maintained and repaired track.

Goat: A yard switching locomotive that kicked and shunted box cars.

Graveyard Stew: Porridge served in the 24 hr. beaneries.

Hand Bommer: A hand fired locomotive... with Banjo.

Head-End or Tail End Shack: Brakemen.

High Iron: The Main Line track.

High Pockets: Any young guy just hired on. Usually had outgrown his trousers.

High Wheeler: Very fast locomotive designed for fast freight or passenger.

Hogger or Hoghead: Locomotive engineer. The stubborn ones got "pighead".

Hostler: Hostlers herded locomotives around shop tracks and in/out of roundhouses.

Lightning Slinger/ Sparks or Sparkies: Train order Operator using Morse Code.

Mile Hogs: Greedy Rails who would steal a blind man for more miles.

Nut Splitter: Locomotive Machinist.

Pig: Same as Hog, but it wouldn't be Steam.

Rail: Anyone who worked on the railroad.

Rat Hole: The low deck on hand fired locomotives where the Firecat laboured long and hard.

Rip Track: Car repair track area.

Roundhouse: Semi circular building housing locomotives to be serviced.

Snakes: Snakes pulled the pin, uncoupled boxcars or engines, also Switch Foreman's helpers in terminal yards.

Tallow Pot: Slang for fireman or oiler.

The Hat: Yardmaster in charge of a switching yard.

The Hole: The side of a passing track - " Take the hole for a meet".

The Table: Steel turntable that locomotives were run onto when being housed in or moved out of roundhouses.

The Varnish: Fast passenger train.

Turkey Trail: Slow track, usually a meandering branch line on the prairies.

Wipe The Clock or Dynamite Her: Place the brake valve in the emergency position.

Work Train: Just as it sounds - As long as you could stand it.


The above was taken from a list sent to my father while corresponding to a fellow ex CNR employee - Robert M. Weafer. Times certainly have changed!

A Snippet Of Dieselization - or is it A Sniff Of Diesel?

An interesting colorized B&W photograph which mentions the first diesel engine test run to Brandon, Manitoba August 1949. It was also the first use of a Diesel unit in Western Canada. As much as I like steam, some early diesel shots will show up from time to time as even they have served their usefulness and are no longer.

Kodachrome Images

Back in the 1950's the slide film of choice by most knowledgeable photographers was Kodachrome - either 25 or 64 as well as Ektachrome. My father used both. Photos number 2 and 3 (from the top ) show 6043, preserved outdoors on display at Assiniboine Park in Winnipeg. It was the last regularly scheduled passenger steam engine in Canada from The Pas to Winnipeg on April 25, 1960.

Off To Slow Start

With a lot of the photographs I will be posting there is very little to no background information available to me. My father never left any notes so if anyone who visits this blog can offer some insight to the various locomotives please feel free to comment. These initial four images were captured from his album - there are a number that he developed in his darkroom - actually the basement of our house in Winnipeg. Until I can transfer the many images in the form of negatives some of the initial shots will be somewhat less than optimum quality. From the bottom, Nos. 6051, 3535, 6056 and 6043 have the honor of being the first in what will be part of a growing collection. One area of dismay for many steam enthusiasts is the actual scraping process, sad as it was my father took quite a few pictures in late 1959 and into 1960, most again, are in black and white but a number are on color slide film. I will be adding what I can as time permits.

The Man Behind The Camera

Although it is my intention to focus on as many photographs of steam engines that I can, my first post is just to recognize the person who made it possible, my Father Earl W. Avery. He was well known by many of the crew members and other personnel at Symington Yard in Winnipeg where he worked in Administration until taking early retirement in 1975. Our Family moved out to Vancouver, B.C. that year and he lived on the West Coast until passing away in 1999 at age 74.
The picture above of him was taken in 1960 - the engine, No. 3525 - was a favorite type of his and was awaiting the scraper's torch in the Fort Rouge Yard. As for the CNR locomotive gracing the title of this blog, it is a "Mountain"type Class U1e 4-8-2 built in 1929-1930 by the Montreal Locomotive Works. It was eventually scrapped.
The internet has now made it much easier for almost anyone to create personal blogs and many are very informative. I hope those with an interest in Steam will derive as much pleasure as I have had in viewing the photos to come.