New era in railroading arrives as first diesel locomotive purred into CPR station at Chapleau pulling transcontinental passenger train Number 3 in 1949

A new era in railroading was witnessed by a large crowd as the first diesel powered passenger train pulled into the Canadian Pacific Railway station in Chapleau pulling westbound transcontinental train Number 3, the Chapleau Post reported.

The first diesel passenger train came through Chapleau on December 5th 1949, not January 9,1950 as I had reported earlier. Thanks to Ian Macdonald for the correction.

The Post described the diesel as a large three-unit blue and cream locomotive on loan from General Motors for test purposes in this "rugged terrain" that "purred in to the station and came to a smooth stop".

It was a 14-car passenger train with Wilfred Muske as the engineer and Raoul Comte as fireman from Cartier to Chapleau. Lawrence "Ton" Comte, has told me that his father had travelled to California for courses on the operation of diesel locomotives.

As permanent refuelling facilities had not been completed, the diesel was refuelled from a tank car on a siding.

The newspaper also reported that "veteran railwaymen were not entirely at home in the new locomotive. They felt it odd to be located in the nose of the locomotive with a clear view of the tracks ahead and at both sides.

"It was so quiet in the cab that the engineer, fireman and brakeman can talk normally without raising their voices".

While researching this article, it struck me that growing up in Chapleau in the !940s and 50s, it never dawned on me me that I lived in a part of Canada that William C. Van Horne,described as '200 miles of engineering impossibilities" because of rugged terrain between Cartier and Fort William, now Thunder Bay. My grandfather, Harry Morris, was a CPR conductor, and occasionally he would take me on a trip to Fort William or Toronto, depending which end he was working. What great experiences they were.

Mr. Van Horne was appointed general manager of the CPR and in 1884 became its vice-president. Rising to president in 1888, he is most famous for overseeing the major construction of the railway, according to Wikipedia.

The November 2010 issue of CPR Tracks explains that the rugged 517 mile long Schreiber division was selected as a testing ground by the CPR for diesel locomotives.

It was part of this stretch to which Mr. Van Horne was referring.

The article notes that if the diesel locomotive could make it there, it could make it anywhere on the CPR line.

Initially, the article explains, the CPR was very cautious about the use of diesels preferring the dependability of steam locomotives. They let railroads in the United States work out the many engineering difficulties and complexities of the electrical system.

The CPR then assigned 58 diesels to the Schreiber division where there were also 77 steam locomoties working at the time.

Yard engine diesels were assigned to Schreiber, White river and Cartier, and in Chapleau it was Alco S-2 7044, and went there in 1949.

Ian Macdonald advised that CPR President Norris Crump was a fanatic advocate of diesel power and he really moved the process along much more quickly than was originally intended.

As an aside, it was a really historic moment in 1964 when J.M. "Bud" Park was the engineer on CPR Locomotive 5433 as it was pushed by the yard engine by engineer Earle Freeborn across the tracks on a specially built rail line from about the roundhouse area to its new home in Chapleau Centennial Park.

Mr. Crump attended a ceremony in Chapleau to mark its arrival in the park. Sam Chappise presented Mr. Crump with a rifle.

"I wonder if anyone could have imagined that the old fifty car freight trains would eventually transition to the container unit trains that are now more than two miles in length," Ian added. So do Ian!

ROBERT NIXON ON DOMINION DAY

Louise Cooper, the daughter of Winnie (Nixon) Rosseter, sent me the attached Nixon family photo from Dominion Day in Chapleau, circa 1918. Her grandfather Robert Nixon arrived in Chapleau from England in 1912, and worked for the CPR. All the best for the Canada (Dominion) Day weekend.

I extend special thanks to Doug Greig, Ian Macdonald, Reginald Fitzpatrick (the last Mayor of Franz), Brian Westhouse (an expert on the CPR and railways generally), and Louise Cooper for their assistance. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

Sam Chappise from James Bay to Chapleau to presenting gift to CPR president N.R. Crump when 'Iron Horse Number 5433' arrives in Chapleau's Centennial Park in 1964

Sam Chappise with N.R. Crump

When N.R. Crump visited Chapleau in 1964 on the occasion of the placement of 'Iron Horse Number 5433" in Centennial Park, Sam Chappise presented the president of the Canadian Pacific Railway with an antique rifle as part of the ceremony.

His parents, James and Rebeckah Chappise, with their family, were among the Cree First Nation people who made the arduous canoe trip from James Bay to Chapleau around the beginning of the 20th century.

Wilf Simpson, writing in his history of Chapleau and area published in the 1970s noted that Sam Chappise had an excellent memory of the trip and told stories of the portages, the fishing and wildlife, "for in those days, the food that could be carried in a birch bark canoe, with a family, was of necessity limited and it was necessary to live off the land. Everyone had a direct hand on a trip of this magnitude and Sam recalled his chore of collecting the wood for cooking fires."

Mr. Chappise's parents were expert crafters building birch bark canoes, according to Ian White writing in Chapleau Trails, and after they set up home in Chapleau, at least two canoes were in production at amy time and could be viewed in their yard.

In Wilf Simpson's story he writes that Mr. Chappise noted that in the early days of birch bark canoe construction, the gunwales of the canoe were made solid and he watched his father empty any water in the canoe at every portage. Due to the solid gunwhale there was always water that could not be dumped out.

"Sam remembered this and in later years developed the gunwhale in use today with openings in the gunwhale to permit all the water to be dumped out." This may sound like a minor detail but it sure wasn't to people whose only way of travel was by canoe.

Wilf relates the story that Mr. Chappise told of making the transition from "wilderness to civilization" after his family had completed the trip from the James Bay area and at first settled in the area of Nicholson, about 20 miles west of Chapleau on the CPR line.

"He (Mr. Chappise) recalled that for the first weeks after settling there, every time a train whistled, he would race to the shelter of the forest, throw himself down and peer through the underbrush as the iron monster, belching smoke and sparks steamed by. Needless to say, Sam had never heard of, let alone seen a railway engine. for the Ontario Northland, now serving Moosonee, was not even a dream in those far off days."

In fact, as I wrote in my book Sons of Thunder... Apostles of Love, at about this time in the early 20th century, Robert J. Renison, later an Archbishop in the Anglican church noted that Chapleau on the CPR main line was "the only window on the outside world" for the church's Diocese of Moosonee. Chapleau had a railway station, telegraph office and post office.

In 1964 when "Iron Horse 5433" had been obtained for Chapleau in large measure through the efforts of Arthur and Nettie Grout, Mr. Chappise's boyhood story about his introduction to trains was recalled and he was invited to participate in the ceremony.

The engine had actually worked on the CPR line through Chapleau, while Mr. Crump had worked for the CPR in Chapleau some years earlier.

In 1967, Canada's Centennial, Mr. Chappise returned to the CPR station for "one of great thrills of his life" according to Wilf, to sound the 'O Canada' whistle when the Centennial Caravan train arrived in Chapleau.

Mr. Chappise's brother Peter served in Canadian Forces in World War I. He was killed in action on June 23, 1916, and is buried at Menin Gate (Ypres) Memorial, Belgium. He was 22.

Samuel Chappise served in World War I with the 227th Battalion, Canadian Forces.

Samuel and Dina Chappise stand out among the pioneers of Chapleau who established the community in its early years and made a contribution to its life for many years. Their son Richard Robert Chappise, enlisted in the Royal Canadian Air Force in World War II, became a Flying Officer and became part of Number 99 RAF Squadron in the Pacific area of the war. He was killed in action on June 5, 1945, after the war in Europe had ended but Japan had not yet surrendered.

Richard is honoured on the Singapore Memorial along with over 24000 who have no known grave who were involved in operations over the whole of southern and eastern Asia and surrounding seas and oceans. Richard Chappise was 20.

Let us never forget the good people of Chapleau who have done so much for their community and the world beyond home. My email is mj.morris@live.ca

FORMER CHAPLEAU RESIDENT GERRY BOWLAND SENT THE FOLLOWING. GERRY RUNS THE N.R. CRUMP CENTRE AT SAIT IN CALGARY

It is good that some of these stories are getting told. A lot of history is getting lost and it appears that some of the next generation do not value the past to the same degree as we do.

In a strange quirk….. I actually run the N.R. ' Buck Crump' Centre for Rail Training and Technology here at Southern Alberta Institute of Technogy. (SAIT).  We actually have a bust of him in the foyer and also have a “lathe” that he highly valued and that he gave to the centre in his last will. When the centre was originally set up, CPR training and development was co-located in the building. They moved from here back onto CPR property last December as SAIT needed the space.

I look forward to your “blogs” as they certainly set up a trip down memory lane.