Canadian Railroads > Bad Pay - Good Benefits

Travelling around western Canada back in 1979, me and a friend cruised into Lake Louise and saw a 'Help Wanted' sign. Our oil rig was shut down for the summer and we were just killing time, so why not get a job with Canadian Pacific Hotels.  The pay was minimum wage - which I believe was $4.25 an hour - and we paid $1.00 a day for room and food.  The benefits were walking down from the Chateau to the town of Lake Louise and spending quality time trackside.  Here's three from August 28, 1979.

Cheers,
Dwayne

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very nice.  thanks

Piggyback, vans, and black & white - ahhh.
Fred

Wow ... what a nice blast from the "recent" past ...
And the B&W makes it even better!

Thanks for sharing ...

Odyssey
Evergreen, CO

That $1.00 a day for room and food at that place floored me. Fantastic benefit!

JG

Posted from Android

Wow, $4.25 per hour minimum wage.  In 1973 I made a grand $4.04 per hour as a yard helper banging out boxcars and $28.59 per hundred miles (8 hours) on the road.
Doug

During my college years, I went west every summer to work as a trainman on the CPR. I would ride west from Montreal on the "Canadian", often with the sons and daughters of CP head office employees. I remember bidding them farewell at Banff and the Lake, realizing that I would earn two or three times what they would earn at the hotels. They had a lot of fun,though and got tips.

I don't remember what I was making as a 19 yr old brakeman working out of Sterling, CO on the BN in '73, but I remember thinking I was living like a king. I think my overhead was pretty low, and my cash flow had never been better.