I would presume the report on the Sault branch was studied at headquarters. In
April 1959 a detailed report on CP passenger services (60 pages plus 14
appendices of statistics) was prepared for President N.R. Crump by G.F.
Buckingham, Vice-President, Traffic. This report noted the significant
reduction in lesser or unprofitable passenger services over the preceding years
and made optimistic predictions respecting the future of certain remaining
services, based on reinterpreting revenue and cost figures more realistically.
The report recommended reduction or elimination of certain others. It should be
noted that some of the doubtful services which he suggested should be studied
further were nevertheless discontinued within the next year. While source
material was not discussed, the Sault service is included and it can be assumed
that all relevant material was consulted in the preparation of the Report. Was
the 1957 Sault branch study initiated at local/regional level or requested by
HQ?
It is interesting that the report compares CP’s passenger business favourably
to CN and to U.S. carriers in the measured elimination of uneconomic services
and the resulting comparatively healthy position of remaining services.
Don Thomas
From: cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <cpha-bounce@xxxxxxxxxxxxx> On Behalf Of Dale
Wilson
Sent: February 25, 2021 7:16 AM
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx
Subject: [cpha] Re: 1950s transition modelling
Some years ago, in conversation with a retired CP Superintendent here in
Sudbury, I learned how the company had a number of years of change and
re-education regarding diesels even after they were very much in place and
clearly succeeding steam. He compared routine tasks such as a spring movement
of long cuts of cars that had been parked for the winter and how much
better/faster the diesels were. His general comment was that, despite the best
efforts of GM, Alco/MLW and CLC, steam railroaders were sometimes slow to see
what could really be done with multiple units, reduction of servicing times and
overall reduction in the cost of labour and facility maintenance due to steam
disappearing.
There were clear ”corporate mindsets” during the 1950s and 1960s. As someone
has already pointed out, the railways did serve passengers on other than main
lines with mixed trains and seemed surprised in the period when those branch
line trains were disappearing and former passengers didn’t just drive to the
nearest main line point and finish their trip by rail — once a halfway decent
read was available at home, you got in your vehicle and made the whole trip
[usually to the big city} in it.
A passenger nightmare occurred with service on CPR to and from Sault Ste. Marie
in the brief period when RDCs had replaced the conventional train. The schedule
to and from "the Sault" had always been closely linked with that of The
Dominion and related transcon service — leaving the Sault late afternoon and
arriving in Sudbury mid-evening in time for some part of the consist to be
forwarded to Toronto on one or another of the transcon or add-on trains on that
route. The westbound version left Sudbury c. 9 a.m. with some cars from the
westbound transcon trains. In 1965, after a number of seasons of erratic
service, The Dominion disappeared and HQ, now looking at bare bones RDC trains,
decided a ‘connecting service’ to/from Toronto must be maintained between the
Sault and Toronto. Since that connection was by then The Canadian, it arrived
from Toronto in Sudbury late evening and the connecting RDC left, to arrive in
the Sault at a really inconvenient hour. The RDC was then rushed through a
turnaround to return to Sudbury quite early, delivering what few passengers
liked the schedule in time for connection to Toronto and/or Montreal generally
before noon.
Then came 1967, an CPR’s Expo Limited — The Dominion, briefly, with a new alias
— and the old schedule. Of course, that only lasted a short time and then
returned to the impossible set up for most passengers. During this period there
was steady pressure on politicians at all levels to spend more money on
highways — never mind that traffic volumes didn’t warrant much attention — and
it was easier to drive!
Then the RDC schedule was briefly returned to morning westbound ex Sudbury,
late afternoon eastbound ex Sault — and a few passengers to local points (maybe
not having discovered the joys of car ownership and operation) began to
returned.
Then the spectre of VIA Rail loomed and CPR cancelled the service and thus
something possibly from the 1880s was gone forever.
Did CPR ever look seriously at reforming what was by then approaching a
‘losing’ proposition, and the answer is yes. In mid-1957 a detailed draft of a
study on how to re-structure passenger, express, etc services of the Sault
branch and service to/from Manitoulin Island appeared. Was it ever read by
anyone at HQ?
Dale Wilson
dale.wilson@xxxxxxxxxx <mailto:dale.wilson@xxxxxxxxxx>
On Feb 24, 2021, at 3:10 PM, pbsmith@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:pbsmith@xxxxxxxxx>
wrote:
Guys,
This is an interesting question and some great answers are given here.
Lately, I have been focusing my interest on passenger trains rather than
freight trains. So, in that vein, the 1950's were an era of big changes in
passenger train service on CPR and other railways. Looking at employee
timetables for CPR operations in the prairies shows huge changes to passenger
train service. In the early 1950's, you could go almost everywhere in Manitoba
(that CPR served) by passenger train or mixed train as a passenger. Reductions
in service were seen in the later 1950's, but looking at a timetable for 1961
shows that basically, only trains on the mainline were still available to be
ridden. By 1970, further reductions were seen, and today we have (before
Covid), only 2 trains a week across the country and two trains a week going to
Churchill MB. None of them on CPR, mind you.
These days, even bus service is almost non-existent, so unless you own a
vehicle, pretty hard to go to these places.
Paul Smith
Winnipeg
----- Original Message -----
From: "Gerald Henriksen" <ghenriks@xxxxxxxxx <mailto:ghenriks@xxxxxxxxx> >
To: cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx <mailto:cpha@xxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Wednesday, February 24, 2021 11:15:41 AM
Subject: [cpha] Re: 1950s transition modelling
On Tue, 23 Feb 2021 20:12:24 -0500, you wrote:
So, what do you think are the principal features of the decade?
Interesting question, and I suspect the answer will depend on why one
is interested in it.
From a model railroader perspective, it offers a lot of advantages
that define the decade:
- an abundance of railroads. Not only to choose from (more for those
modelling south of the border, though obviously there were some US
operations in Canada during that decade), but for variety of potential
rolling stock for trains.
- it was still, though not as in your face as previous periods, a time
where the rolling stock was viewed as advertising - compare to much of
the non-descript gray rolling stock of today.
- railways were still an integral part of the economy, both passenger
and freight. The jet age was just starting and thus still expensive,
and similarly the vast highway networks were still in their early
stages.
- related to the previous point, the railways weren't yet in decline
as they struggled between regulators opposed to change and the
realities of losses to road (though we in Canada avoided the worst of
this as we didn't have an equivalent to the overbuilt US NE).
- no graffiti
- the various changes post-depression and post-WW2 that meant there
was more ability (in terms of disposable income for the average
person, time to travel, and the flexibility of the in so many ways
dreaded car/road) for the people of that era to document it for us 80+
years later to enjoy.
