Now one thing the railway union has been strong since the turn of the
century railway people have a very tough job but a very lucrative one and
operating on the Coqquihalla probably got the highest pay on the whole CPR
system it was trully very dangerous especially in the winter /spring months
. So reducing wages by 2/3 from the operating budget was NOT nickels and
DIMES . Now a steam engine is a unique machine un to its self each one had
its own way it was put together . It required very skilled machinists to
fabricate new parts .If you have ever read some of Newton Rossiters stories
of replacing a fallen brick arch in a Royal Hudson,s fire box which had
cooled to150 degrees F thats hot !!!!!!! Also ever re tube a steam engine
just lifting the tubes and they are dirty as the devil I have had the
experence myself not fun andI was not in the boiler welding each tube in .
I remeber this I had been a apprentice tool maker got out of it caus the
job was so dirty goit a job in sales wore a suit nice and clean got
involved with Ontario Rail found myself down at John Round house slugging
it out and geting dirtier than a pig lol . I,m not saying working on Diesels
is any picnic but there is so much less maintenence that a steamer.
Diesels are much more assembly line manufactured machines parts can can be
called up from stores(parts DEPT) and bolted in place without fabricating
a very large reduction in costs . Would be interesting if someone had
records to compare. steam to diesel maintence costs Maybe in the TH&B
archives I know the TH&B Historical Society has them in their possesion
regards DAVID HILL
----- Original Message -----
From: "KVRailway" <kvrailway@xxxxxxx>
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 8:30 PM
Subject: Re: [cpsig] RE: CPR D-10 from sunset
Believe me, Wally, the cost of another engine crew was NOT 'nickles and
dimes! .... most especially as collective agreements became firmer. Crew
costs were long a major factor in operating expenses and the diesel electric
locomotive's ability to run in multiple unit consists operated by a single
engineman was a huge motivator for the railways to make the changeover from
steam to diesel. In 1950, a train leaving Hope, BC. for Brookmere might
have two, three and sometimes even four steam locomotives to climb the
Coquihalla. A 40-50 car train could often require three engines, ergo,
three engine crews. By 1959, one engine crew routinely handled trains
exceeding 55 cars up the same hill. Two enginemen versus six. As for
maintenance, even new steam engines required much more servicing than did
diesel locomotives, both on the road and during terminal stops.
Dieselisation easily cut shop staff requirements in half - at least.
Joe Smuin
1. - "Joey, the secret to telling a good railway story is to always try to
stick just as close to the facts as possible." --- (the late) Cliff
Inkster; CPR Engineman, raconteur and philosopher.
2. - The secret to contacting Joe by email is to be sure to insert "Joe" or
"Smuin" into the main text portion of any message you send to him, and thus
your message should percolate through his spam filters.
----- Original Message ----- From: "Wally" <wdowrie@xxxxxxxxxxx>
To: <cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx>
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 3:04 PM
Subject: Re: [cpsig] RE: CPR D-10 from sunset
I wonder given the cost of another crew ( really nickles, and dimes
although company accountants have always been the same ) Would the
maintainance be a bigger isue?Given the time frame, and the fact that the
roster was so old?
Wally
----- Original Message ----- From: dave hill
To: cpsig@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Saturday, February 07, 2009 12:33 AM
Subject: Re: [cpsig] RE: CPR D-10 from sunset
This is one giant reason steam diappeared as fast as it did . a large
train
needs to get over thr division one steam engine won,t do it so you call
up
a second steam engine you need another enginereer and fireman two more
shifs to pay for . now with deisels you couple 2 -3 -4 5 units together
and
they are connected electrially so one crew can run them and its easier to
make them run together . so good bye to steam even though the CPR
management
weren,t that sold on steam they kept a numbervof steam engine in storage
till 1966 thats why so many wen t tt he states they were available long
after the USlocos were chopped up CPR was a small power railroad d10s all
over the place no berkshires or mallets, Only a couple for a short time
in
the rockies . but imagine trying to run a challenger thru spiral tunnels
.
actually R Bowden did have a plan for Berkshires but the diesels took
over
regards DAVID HILL
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