Canadian Railroads > #2 at Onward

Train No.2, RDC southbound at Onward BC, ah those were the days. Doug

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I miss riding that rig! (John the Jet at the helm!)

Yes "John the Jet" was a fast runner and always could make up time enroute, sometimes to the dismay of the crew and passengers. The image I posted was at Onward on the Lillooet Sub, some exceptional gentlemen operated the RDC on that sub as well, John ran on the Prince George sub. The Budd cars always exuded a wonderful aroma on there passage, diesel exhaust, dust and hot metal smell. Doug

Back in the mid 60s I spent three plus years working on a ranch outside of Williams Lake. Whenever I came home to the coast I always tried to talk my parents into picking me up at the station in North Van. Riding the RDCs back and forth was soooo much more enjoyable than taking the bus. I saw the line in all four seasons and in lots of different weather conditions and I never regretted a single second of the time I spent onboard. My only regret is that I wasn't really a railfan back then and I never took any pictures.

For a lot of small communities the RDCs were a real lifeline. Even though it took longer I really liked the runs that stopped at all the small stations along the way--the variety of riders and cargo that one saw on those trips was more than enough entertainment to make up for the extra length of the trip...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

Which ranch did you work on,just curious. Doug

Worked at a place out at Miocene, about half way between 150 Mile and Horsefly--called, not surprisingly, "Miocene Ranch". The son and grandson of the people I worked for still operate it today. I loved it out there. I sometimes kick my ass for ever returning to the coast.

Of course there aren't many trains in the area...

Keith Robertson
Langley, BC

BC Rail, and the PGE before that was a close knit operation, very friendly and outspoken.

There were some classic characters, and interesting names too.. Johnny the Jet, Double Doors Morrison, Lefty Morgan, and many, many others.

With different work rules and in some cases, different union representation, plus coming under BC Labour Law , the BCR people were slightly different in outlook from their CN and CP counterparts.

Yes I knew John the Jet, Double Doors, Lefty, Tanglefoot, MK, Captain Crunch and all the others, all good guys. Lefty had a great involvement in forming the best Union I ever worked with CUTE 1. Some of the other gentlemen mentioned here or not mentioned had a lot of intelligent ideas of how a Union ought to work for the members and the employer, CUTE 1 had a good rapore with the employees and management, was very successful with all interests concerned. Also I received some great insight as to the demise of the "fireman" after diesels arrived. It was railroad history that I was not familiar with. They were all "old school" but I sure learned a lot from them and put their lessons to practice right up to the day I retired. Sadly the "new generation of railroaders" will not have that experience or insight. Doug