Number 173 / January 1966 Canadian Rai 1 Page 3 Railway magazines occasion­ from the last pay car to run ally carry rollicking and adven­ regularly in the United States turous accounts of a particular or Canada. phase of old-time railroading -­ pay cars. Such stories are in­ My experiences as a paymaster variably full of the ginger of are in contrast to those in the the past on the frontier, re­ "adventure" stories; rather, plete with holdups, robberies, they are ones in which the shootings, and grim-faced rail­ pleasantest recollections play way paymasters riding herd on the most important role. I thousands of dollars in gold, thank my lucky stars that I nev­ silver and specie, facing death er had recourse to the loaded at the hands of thieves with ev­ .32 revolver which lay constant­ ery turn of the road. ly at my side; in fact, I have never fired a firearm in my life It is all "true", of course, nor have I any wish to. The and very entertaining, but I story of the pay car which serv­ read it much as a modern-day ed Canadian Pacific employees cowboy reads a western magazine working on the "International of -- and well I might, because on Maine" section between Megantic, July 6, 1960, the era of the pay Que., and Mattawamkeag, Me., for car and the profession of the forty-six years, is one of peace pay car paymaster closed for and of solitude, like the ter­ good at Brownville Junction, ritory it served. Contrary to Maine, on the Canadian Pacific what one might normally expect, Railway, when I paid the last the weekly pay car on that pic­ employee in cold, hard currency turesque line of railway which Opposite: Canadian Pacific P-2 class 2-8-2 No. 533 9 , ~otive power on an eastbound extra which has just brought the pay car to Mattawamkeag from Brownville Junction switches car 52 at ¢ destination. Cover: ;"![any in Canada are saddened or indignant over recent changes in Canadian Pacific's passenger service. }Iowever, there is no cause for concern over C.P.'s freight service as roanifested by this multi­ unit freight winding through the magnificent "Canadian Pacific" Rockies. ••...•..• ~ ' ..... CAlIAOIAN PACIFIC R~. OnlE2 RAlc'<l~~S t~9T,~G 1960. +++++ MooS~He",J> '-liKE KATAMDIII 0" IRoN W"~KS '< '< "- "- x ,.. --I­ !lA1W1WU> + BWSOIl " .. Jc CP ~ JCr. '" t ?­ ~ 0\­ o 5" ,0 "'LE$ Iiii Iiiiiii ...... ~ 1- SCALE Jc " " Canadian Rai 1 Page 5 was begun in August, 1914 and The "Fort Simpson" made its ended in 1960 may claim as its trip every week, starting out most distinctive feature that it every Tuesday morning from Meg­ was one of the best-kept employ­ antic, Que., on mixed-train No. ees' secrets of all time. De­ 518, known far and wide through spite the fact that as many as northern Maine by the generi,~ five-hundred employees knew the mixed-train title 0 f "The Scoot. day-to-day movements of the pay The train would make its way 117 car at any given time, few out­ miles to Brownville Junction, siders knew about it; during arrive there during the after­ its career it was never written noon, a nd the pay car would be up for publication, as it must tied up there, on its special be quite obvious to the reader siding, for the rest of the day. that security depended upon sec­ On Wednesday, we used to be tak­ recy. As a railway historian, I en, overnight, t o r.lattawamkeag, have hundreds of friends among some 34 miles further east-­ railway amateurs and historians, whence the CPR used Maine Cent­ but only my closest acquaintan­ ral rails for the rest of the ces knew the real nature of my State of Maine journey to Vance­ railway job at that time, and boro, on the eastern border with they treated the matter as dis­ New Brunswick. In recent years, creetly as the employees who ap­ h owever, owing to dieselization peared at the car each week. and longer and less frequent trains, the Mattawamkeag Subdiv­ On the last trip, four mem­ ision payment was made by auto­ bers, as usual, formed the staff mobile on Wednesday. On l'rednes­ of the steel observation-sleep­ day night, we would return to ing car "Fort Simpson" which we Montreal on the '~tlantic Limit­ had used as a pay car for two­ ed"No. 41, and the Pray car and-a-half years. Beside me, would be brought back 'dead" to handling the payrolls and making Megantic on the following day, sure that each _employee wrote Thursday, there to remain until his signature legibly on the the following Tuesday when it sheets, calling the amounts to would roll again once more, me as I made the payments, was Robert Dunlop, a young man who, Payment on a weekly basis on like myself, is a second gener­ this line was made by virtue of ation Canadian Pacific man; both the laws of the State of Maine. our fathers worked for the CPR. Everyone else on the CPR working in Ca nada ~ ets paid twice a Cooking for us was our genial month. The -reason for the cash steward/chef, Mike Vincelli, a payment was the lack of settle­ veteran of forty-eight years ments with bankin ~ facilities with the CPR Dining Car service. along the line. There are only Mike's railway career ended with two communities worthy of note a well-deserved pension when the for size along the whole 117- pay car was withdrawn. Last, mile J..loosehead Subdivision, be­ but by no means least, a good tween Me gantic and Brownville friend and confidant of many Junction, spaced about equally. State of Maine employees was The first, eastbound, is Jackman Constable Murdo Maclean, who Me., on the Quebec-Portland closed and locked the rear door highway. The se~nd is Green­ of the "Fort Simpson" at just 7 ville Junction at the f oot of PM on July 6, 1960, and, thereby Moosehead Lake. symbolically, closed the door of history on a money distributing In between t hese p laces, at system which had its origins reg ular intervals, were spaced with those of the Canadian Pac­ tiny clusters of sectionmen's ific itself, nearly eighty years homes for the men who maintain before. this scenic and twisting , ever- Page 6 Canadian Ra i l The simple and praotioal exter­ ior lines of pay oar No. 52, belie a oomfortable interior, though they betray its origins as an l886-vlntage ooaoh. The author oounts money beside the wioket, overshadowed by a pintsoh gas fixture. The photo was taken by eleotric light whioh was available only when the oar was "plugged in" at Brownville Junotion. Canadian Rail Page 7 changing single-track, whose supplemented regular traffic. traffic varies extremely between summer and winter. Away from Every time the pay car would these section houses, there was come up to a meet with another nothing but the huge wilderness train, we would stop, the ~ of the second-growth forests -_ and train crew would climb ab­ all logged out more than hal$ a oard and get their pay. After a century ago and now left for long winter's journey playing nature's reclamation project. "musical chairs" with trains and Spotted here and there in the sidings, the pay car would some­ rocks and evergreens, silvery times arrive in Brownville Junc­ ponds and cool rushing streams tion hours late the men un­ punctuated the landscape, making derstandably grumpy after having it, all in all, a pleasant es­ waited in a queue in the oold cape from the civilization of (as much as forty below) for towns and highways; when autumn three or four hours. crept into this Maine wilderness during the month of September, No bank in existence kept the the colours of the forests de­ generous hours of the pay car; fied description, and an occas­ we were up and open for business ional glimps of a moose, deer, at seven a.m. -- an hour before or bear only served to accentu­ breakfast. We used to close for ate the inaccessibility of this the night at about ten fifteen region which is still one of the p.m. Not oonstant duty, mind last frontiers of the continen­ you, but there were myriad lit­ tal United States. tle chores to occupy the pay­ master and his crew in the res­ As I stated previously, traf­ pites between delivering cash fic varied widely between summer into eager hands. and winter. In summer, before dieselization. our "Scoot" would Few bank cashiers would ao­ make only two meets in all of cept the conditions under which the 118-mile, seven-hour trip -­ we worked, either. Bad enough one with the opposite "Scoot" to have sixteen hours of open No. 517, the other with the shop, without having the "bank" daily Saint John - Montreal man­ rolling, pitching and Jumping ifest. With the coming of win­ with every turn of the rails. ter and the closing of ocean One of the characteristics of shipf,ing at Montreal due to ice, the Job was the vexing exper-· the 'winterport" season at Saint ience of breaking open a roll of John opened up. Almost over­ coins to oount them when, sud­ night, the International of denly, the slack ran in, the car Maine became a dense traffic ar­ bumped, and U.S. dimes were all tery, trains following one upon over the floor, into every nook another, bringing the freight of and cranny of the car.