Passenger Trains > First all female West Coast Express Crew.

In February, Brenda Watson, engineer and Sandra McCartney, conductor were the first all female operating crew on a West Coast Express commuter train between Mission and Vancouver BC. Brenda was the first female locomotive engineer employed by the CPR in Western Canada.

Brenda was the third female train service employee hired by the CPR in Revelstoke in 1979, and she shortly moved to Vancouver and raised a family.

In her early years, she faced alot of resistance from the railroad "old boy network" both in management and the unions. Many of the other women hired around the same time quit rather than face the hostile work environment.

A comment was once made by someone about how fast things were changing in the CPR workplace in the 1970's, "Heck, now we have women conductors, we only started promoting Catholics to managers ten years ago".

Congratulations , Brenda and Sandra on achieving the seniority to hold down the passenger trains.

I didn't know CPR was a "Protty" road .... LOL (we almost had an all female crew on our last flight to Ireland on Aer Lingus ... except for the one male stewardess).


TCS - cool bit 'o news though

TopcoatSmith Wrote:
-------------------------------------------------------
> I didn't know CPR was a "Protty" road .... LOL (we
> almost had an all female crew on our last flight
> to Ireland on Aer Lingus ... except for the one
> male stewardess).
>
>
> TCS - cool bit 'o news though


In refernce to a "Protty" road: Heard stories from my grandfather, who was an engineer on a mid-western road, and retired with over 50 years service in the early 1950s. That, to get promoted to a supervisory or management position, you had to be a Protestent and a Mason. He was both. Turned down offers of promotion.Prefered to be just an "old hoghead" and run engines!