"Railroaders"- 1958

[@poodlesgalore2327]

Just discovered this old RR film. Fascinating. I can't imagine living so remote and alone like that. I'll be watching this one again.

[@michlo3393]

Dispatcher JHC and his immaculate penmanship.

[@simonf8902]

Delightful. Amazing people doing difficult work. And lonely too.

[@tpxchallenger]

You can still ride these cars. VIA Rail inherited them from Canadian Pacific and we still run them. The sleeper cars are as they were in the 1950s. Vancouver to Edmonton is a very popular and beautiful train ride, especially with rail fans. Our fleet of stainless steel Budd cars is road ready and was fully paid for 75 years ago. The fabrics and interior finish have been changed a few times over the decades but the steel is all original. We no longer use the Kicking Horse Pass route, as a certain government gave that to our arch enemies at RMR, but the Yellowhead is still spectacular. The bullet shaped Park cars are well worth it. No smoking on board anymore, of course.

[@fatlo8400]

Salute to the Canadian railway employee, who works in this video. Thanks for sharing.

[@cherylmugford4237]

Wow!! Look at that penmanship!! Great documentary

[@caseyjonessnr1200]

Excellent historical footage. The railroaders certainly had an interesting and in some cases a tough life. 20:13

[@terrymcnaughton1430]

Much respect for these men, working in those conditions..much respect. My toes hurt just looking at all that snow .

[@ThSandyRavage]

As a CN section foreman I can tell you my toes do in fact hurt working in the snow gotta love Raynauds disease hahaha

[@garyhersemeyer2642]

The Worst Job Award goes to the guy who has to climb up telegraph poles and knock the snow down from the tops of them.

[@Canada150Archive]

Sad but true, sure hope they were/are well compensated. Hoping we ha e since come up with a rig of some sort to do the job without endangering folks 🤞😬🤞...

[@evanstauffer4470]

@@Canada150Archive For the most part, communication lines are now buried. Some non-safety-critical communications are sent over microwave links.

[@JackF99]

Sam Romero did that for 42 years!

[@morganpayette3975]

The old boys were the real railroaders cleaning switches out , delivering train orders and lining track by eye and inspecting. Us railroaders now will never have to work ethic or knowledge like the old boys had if only we could have a sliver of what they had.

[@bobjohnson205]

Made back in the days of wooden cars and steel men! Now it's steel cars and wooden men!

[@bbbushhh]

....damn good...and nothing but respect for the fellows who did this work

[@Canada150Archive]

Amen 😊!!!

[@sitarnut]

I've got a Dr. Grabow "Bulldog" pipe just like the first Engineer...

[@captainmorgan757]

I found this video so enjoyable. Railroading goes back several generations, in my family. Thank you for posting!!

[@Canada150Archive]

We are so very glad to hear you enjoyed it, really means a lot 👍❤👍!!!

[@dauphinrailmuseum9485]

excellent

[@Canada150Archive]

Glad you like it, fellow Manitobans!

[@lindsayc5983]

That's my great grandfather, Walter Pavey.

[@gilliancain8640]

He's my great-Uncle :)

[@eoj2495]

Amazing !!!!

[@obkb1]

What a shame that the narrator was not credited. He could read the listings in the phone book and make it sound like the most fascinating subject you ever heard. And isn't that some exquisite penmanship by Mr. Harry Croft, although I imagine he would have plenty of practice.

[@Canada150Archive]

We quite enjoy this print as well and are thrilled to hear you do too 👍😊👍!!!

[@sitesurfer1]

Hello. A quick check of the National Film Board of Canada's website credits Geoffrey Hogwood as the narrator.

[@obkb1]

@@sitesurfer1 Thanks!

[@garyhersemeyer2642]

The beginning of the film is missing, but no big deal.

[@Canada150Archive]

@garyhersemeyer2642 We feel we should reupload this in better quality, though we regret we don't have the opening scenes. Thanks for understanding 🙏!!!

[@johnbland3642]

it was a great life.

[@Canada150Archive]

Indeed 😊!!!

[@waynechristian1251]

Those were the days,my friend...

[@Canada150Archive]

Indeed 😊!!!

[@tomharris8263]

I enjoyed your posting. Thanks

[@Canada150Archive]

Thanks so much for the kind words and very glad you liked it! We actually have a lot more where that came from, so please be sure to hit that subscribe button, eh?

[@simonf8902]

The Canadian when very new.

[@simonf8902]

Battery powered signals and telegraph wires. Wonderful. But all gone now.

[@James_Knott]

I used to work for CN Telecommunications. Back in the mid 70s, when I worked in Northern Ontario, I maintained the equipment those wires connected to. As mentioned in the film, they carried the CBC radio feed, telegrams, dispatchers traffic, phone calls and much more. With that equipment, you could get 16 voice circuits over a pair of wires. You'll see the cross arms on the poles in that film. Each cross arm would carry 5 pairs, which meant 80 voice circuits per cross arm and there were usually a few cross arms on the pole. There would also be one pair, on the lowest cross arm, marked with the letter "D". This designated the dispatchers phone and the rail employees could connect a portable phone to that pair. When I was working along the CN main line, somewhere between Capreol and Armstrong, I would often get on that phone (inside, I didn't have to climb a pole 🙂) to arrange for a train, often a freight, to stop and give me a ride.

[@erbewayne6868]

Milwaukee road communications.

[@TheCanadaBoose]

Media back then was so trippy lmao Love the railroad and work for them myself :3

[@Canada150Archive]

We so second what you mean, super spell-casting almost with the narrators' voices and what not 😂... That having been said, it is one of the reasons we ourselves are suckers and thank you in advance for please subscribing as we have hundreds more on the way where that came from 😊!!!

[@paulmatulavich7321]

Truly enjoyed this video. Wonder if any of the younger guys in this film are still around. Would be in their mid to late 80's now.

[@moggridge1]

Goodness, the tough jobs they had in those days!

[@Canada150Archive]

No kidding, eh, phew... Canada FTW!!!

[@christopherlucy1772]

Neat 🎥 film🚂

[@Canada150Archive]

Glad you like it as well and please stay safe put there in this crazy world we're living in!

[@bestfriendhank1424]

The amount of liquor drank was never mentioned

[@Canada150Archive]

👍🤣👍!!!

[@ianmedium]

I used to live in BC and have travelled many times the Trans Canada between Revelstoke and Banff and to experience the bightingly cold temperatures and winds along Rogers pass in the winter only goes to strengthen my admiration for the guys who worked the line there. Of and Field has a really good cafe I highly recommend! Thank you for uploading this, I have always loved this one. Do you have Cavendish Country? NFB no longer have it on their site. It’s a wonderful documentary on the Canadian country singer Cal Cavendish!

[@Canada150Archive]

Hi there, and thank you for the kind words. While we regret we do not have Cavendish country, we invite you to please check out the other titles we have already uploaded and more still on the way 👍😊👍!!!

[@simonf8902]

Does anyone do this kind of work today ?

[@marcomarrone174]

Train#7!!

[@daveyboy_]

Don't know bout Kiking horse Pass but I wanna hit up The Valey of the Beaver

[@JackF99]

Couple of questions for someone: Is that line still a single track today? I've heard of a beautiful East-West passenger train trip through Canada. Is this the route?

[@MrNostalgiabuff]

🤷‍♂️

[@simonf8902]

And you could die very fast out there by exposure.

[@johnanderson9494]

looks like the railroad hasn't improved since then lol

[@OKFrax-ys2op]

Is That a steam locomotive no just a pipe smoker!

[@bradjames6748]

Can't believe JHCs penmanship!!!! back in the time teacher's actually taught and gave beatdowns to bad children

[@James_Knott]

In grade 3, many, many years ago, my teacher would rap my knuckles with a ruler, for writing with my left hand. She ruined my handwriting.

[@Canada150Archive]

So sorry to hear about that, so glad we have come a long way in certain aspects, eh!

[@James_Knott]

@@Canada150Archive You can thank religion for that. Some people believed it was the sign of the devil. I wouldn't be surprised if some still do.

[@obkb1]

Writing train orders all day long gave him plenty of practice. He probably developed a few flourishes of his own as well to relieve the monotony.

[@joepalooka2145]

Look at all the beautiful deep snow. Back in the days before global warming! It ain't like that any more!

[@Canada150Archive]

Sad but true 😭!!!

[@Indica902]

As a railroader in Canada, I can assure you that there’s just as much snow in the rockies.

[@tpxchallenger]

As my fellow Canadian railroader above has mentioned, there is still plenty of snow in the Rockies.

[@Belleville197]

do you always proclaim your stupidity and ignorance so loudly?

[@lindsayc5983]

As a former track maintainer in that area, I can assure you it is

[@bradjames6748]

Was he doing covid19 protection on the grab irons?, in 1958 it was covid 18

[@Canada150Archive]

👍🤣👍!!!

[@thomasklimchuk441]

The conductor or brakeman was wiping down diesel oil film that might have gotten onto to handles

[@BR-bj3ot]

One need only watch one of these old films to recognize the progression of mankind’s Sin and moral decline over the years.

[@edwardgray154]

amazing and now today all those wires are buried under ground, now no one can steal them or vandalize them.

[@James_Knott]

These days, it would be fibre.