Alberni Pacific hosts conductors in training

I have a habit of waking up around 3 am every day. Sometimes I try to get back to sleep. However when that proves unsuccessful I’ll open my laptop to write a blog, answer some emails, pay a few bills or read the Vancouver, Victoria and Port Alberni newspapers online. If I have a concert or show coming up I’ll use the early awakenings to practise on my electric piano using earphones, so as not to disturb my wife Pat. To maintain this nocturnal routine, most days I’ll grab a nap during the day. 

However, Friday morning I forced myself to sleep in until 5 am as I had a 9-hour shift aboard the Alberni Pacific Railway and any mid-day siesta was out of the question. I left our Nanaimo home at 6:00 am in order to arrive in plenty of time for an 8 am departure from the APR Roundhouse in Port Alberni aboard Loci #8427 with Rollie Hurst at the throttle heading to McLean Mill.

I was spending the day in the diesel’s fireman’s chair watching out for the safety of the students taking part in a B.C. Institute of Technology’s Railway Conductor’s training course. The program has been developed by the institute to fill a demand by the country’s major railway companies (CPR & CNR) as they begin to face an increasing number of employee retirements coming within the next five years. Using the Alberni Pacific Railway for the practical training component of the BCIT program is becoming a major revenue source for the Industrial Heritage Society, particularly in view of the Liberal government drastically cutting the society’s community access gaming grant through the local Chances Casino. I’ll stay clear of my thoughts on that subject for the time being, at least for this blog.

Although most folk know me as a conductor of the musical ilk, when they find out that I’m also a conductor on an operational railway they usually assume I drive the train. Not so. The conductor assigned to a passenger or freight train actually has authority over that of the engineer who operates the locomotive. In reality the conductor is in charge of the entire train and its crew. It’s his or her responsibility to inspect the mechanical equipment onboard such as the brakes, air hoses, couplings etc. and keep track of the train order paperwork. Train orders can come by way of a supervisor or can be radioed to the conductor from a dispatcher whose job it is to control meets at sidings, have certain trains wait in sidings for priority trains to pass, as well as maintain spacing (called blocks) between trains going the same direction. There’s a lot more to it than that, but basically it gives you some idea what railroad conducting is about. 

Since I’m on the subject of railroads and also a film freak, I’d like to recommend a new movie to readers entitled Unstoppable which just opened in theatres. The basic premise has an unmanned diesel locomotive hauling a consist of toxic cargo roaring its way along a mainline track in the state of Ohio. Fortunately a veteran engineer played by Denzel Washington and a young conductor (Chris Pine) aboard another train in the runaway's path devise a far-fetched plan to stop it -- therein preventing certain disaster in a heavily populated area. 

Although I’m not encouraging the BCIT student conductors I was working with on Friday to rush out and see the film, since a runaway is not something they’d ever want to have happen in their future conducting careers, I recommend it for anyone up for a good dose of adrenaline-infused action that will keep you on the edge of your seat.

Returning home over ‘the hump’ later in the evening, the first snowfall of winter was threading its way through the Cameron Lake Valley. By morning the North Nanaimo cul-de-sac where we live had become a winter wonderland. Time to locate my snow shovel.

Class photo of BCIT conductor students aboard APR Diesel #8427 with engineer'instructor Rollie Hurst, On the ground (L to R) are APR conductors Kevin Hunter and myself with Irving McIntyre who assisted with instruction. Behind Irving is BCIT instructor John Wetzel.

Rollie Hurst at the throttle of Diesel #8427. An engineer with the patience of a saint, never letting a student error cause him any stress.

BCIT students learning to safely spot rail cars on a steep grade on the McLean Mill siding.

Students observe a smooth coupling by the locomotive.

Arriving home, winter's first snowfall had blanketed our house.