Canadian Rail no437 1993 - Exporail

1 Canadian rail , I 3<{' $ 4DO No. 437 NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 1993 Canadian Railway Troops I .e..'.,/ 1918 75th Anniversary of the End of World War I 1993 \ ~ .'<. e;;,-' ".----- , Canadian rail IS$N 0008~!5 PUBLISHED BI MQNTHl Y BY THE Canadian RAILROAD HISTORICAL ASSOCIATION EDITOR: Fred F. Angus CO-EDITOR: Douglas N,W. Smith ASSOCIAT E EDITOR (Motive Power): Hugues W. Bonin DISTRIBUTION: Gerard Frechene For your memb9rship in the C RHA, which incl udes a subscription \0 Canadian rail , write 10 : CRHA, 120 Rue St-Pierre, 51. Constant. Ove. J5A 2G9 CARTOGRAPHER: Willi am A. Gcrmaniuk Rates: In Canada: $30 (including GST).}

2 LAYOUT: Fred F. Angus outside Canada: $ " l funds. Printing: Procel Printing r---------TABLE OF CONTENTS THE Canadian RAILWAY TROOPS IN WORLD WAR .. FRED F. ANGUS .. 191 THE 75TH ANNIVERSARY OF THE MOUNT ROYAL TUNNEL .. 215 Canadian NATIONAL'S NEW ST CLAIR TUNNEL .. : .. " .. 216 THE RESTORATION OF TANK CAR 112Q4 .. , .. , .. ROB BLACKBURN .. 220 THE 1993 CRHA CONFERENCE .. JEREMY SPORRING .. 221 BOOK REViEWS", .. , .. ", .. ", .. " .. , .. ""."" .. ,', .. ,', .. , .. , .. ".,., .. ", .. 222 THE PAST AND FUTURE OF THE CRHA .. ", .. ,',., .. ,', .. ,', .. , .. w " " w.

3 _ .. _ 227 Canadian rail is continually in need 01 news, stories. histoncal data. photos. maps and olner material. Please send ali contributions 10 the editor: Fred F. Angus. 3021 Trafalgar Ave. Montreal. H3Y 1 H3. No payment can be made 101 contributions, but the contributar win be given credit lor material submitted. Material will be returned to the contributor il requested. Remember "Knowledge is ollittlevalueunless it is shared with others". DIRECTORS PRESIDENT: Waller J . Bedbrook Frederick F, Angus J. Christopher Kyle Douglas . Smith VICE PRES.: Charles De Jean Alan C.

4 Blackburn William Le Surl William Thomson VICE PRES : Davi d W. Johnson James Bouchard Aobert Nicholls Richard Viberg TAEASURER: Robert Carlson Gerard Frechelle Ernest Ottewell A. Stephen Walbridge S ECRETARY: Bernard Martin Mervyn T. G reen Andrew W . Panko Michael Westran The CRHA has a number of local divisions across lhe country. Many hold regular meetings and Issue newslellers. Further information may be obtained by writing to the division. FRONT COVER: A narrow-g{m,~~ NEW BRlINSWICK DIVISION PObll62 John Ell 407 ST LAWRENCf: VAU Y DIVISION P O. 6cx 22. St;tlion "II' ~ H3B3J~ RIDeAU VAlLEY OIVISION Box 962 Sm/ItI', F.}

5 Ont. K7" ~ KINGSTON DIVISION PO Bot: 1714 ~ K715V6 TORONTO l YORK DNISION , Box 5649. TemW\aI''''' ~5W lP3 I'lIAGARA ()(VISION 51 ~ l2R6W8 CAlG.\AY l SOUTH WESTERN ()(vlSlOtl CIO IiIn Mio::hn:Ie. :r-, '912~ ;Iry. Albefla T2N 3M7 A(X;.j(Y MQUNT"IN DiVISION PO. Box 611l2. SIaIIoo-C-~~TStl2NO """'" """""" PO Box 3\1 ~. VOE 2SO CROWSNEST" K TTLE VAllEY OIVISION PO. Bo. ~oo Cranbrool. VIC ~H9 NELSON ELECTRIC TRAMW"Y SOCI(1Y 123 V .. SIt_ Nelson. B C. VIL 2VB PRINCE OEORGE-NECHAl< DIVISION PO Box 2408 Prn::e George. B C V2'N 2S6 PACIFIC COAST OIVISiON PO. 1\0): H)06, S!alioo -".)))

6 V~. B,C, Y6C 21'1 ESOUlMAl T AND Nl\ OIVlSION 1148 AI d VIctorIa, Be veT IBI ammul/ilion I rain o/Ilre Calladian rail -way Troops {Qkill,~ al'lillelY shells (0 I"~ /ron/line through a shaaercd I'il-lo ge "somewhere in France" ill Sep-!I'm"('/', 19/7, Nalionaf Archiv/!,~ (if Canada. PhOlO No. PA-1757. As part of its activities. the CRHA operates the Canadian Railway Museum al Oelson I SI. Constant. Que. which is about t 4 miles (23 Km.) from downtown MontrCQI. It is open Irom late May to early October (daily until Labour Day). Members. and their im-mediate 'ami~. are admitted lree 0' charge.)))}

7 GOAL OF 'THE ASSOCtATION THE PAESERV"TION ANO D!SSE~INATION OF ITEMS RELATINQ TO THE HISTORY OF RALWAYS IN CAK4DA \ \ , NOVEMBER - DECEMBER 1993 Canadian rail Page 191 The Canadian Railway Troops in World War I "Lest We Forget" By Fred F. Angus I. INTRODUCTION November II, 1993 marks the 75th anniversary of the end of World War 1. After more than four years of incredible bloodshed, destruction and suffering, an armistice was signed at 5:00 on Monday, November II, 1918 and six hours later, the eleve nth hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month, the guns fell silent and the greatest war in history, up to that time, was over.

8 This significant anniversary is an appropriate occasion for an article on the Canadian Railway Troops, and other units associated with them, during the First World War. This article does not seek to glorify or justify war, neither does it discuss the political and moral factors which led to the outbreak of such a disasterous conflict. The reader will, no doubt, have his own information and opinions on these matters. It is certainly not a history of World War I; only enough background information has been given to place the work of the Canadian Railway Troops in proper perspective.

9 It is intended to tell of an amazing feat of Canadian railroading, with some quotations from people who were actually there. This is the story of the construction, operation and maintenance, carried out under the worst possible conditions, of thousands of miles of railway line, both narrow and standard gauge, along the lines of the Western Front in France and Belgium between 1915 and 1918. World War I was, of course, fought throughout many different areas of the world, as far south as the Falkland Islands and as far north as the Arctic Circle, including the interior of Africa, the South Pacific islands, the eastern Mediterranean, and the coasts of Turkey.

10 However, it was on the Western Front, a line hundreds of miles long from Switzerland to the North Sea, where so many of the battles were fought and where the war was eventually decided. For almost three and a half years, November 1914 to March 1918, the line was more or less stabilized, scarcely moving more than a few miles, while the opposing sides dug in and engaged in trench warfare. This involved constant attacks, often of vast proportions, upon the enemy entrenchments and, despite huge losses and appalling casualties, gains were measured in yards rather than miles. It was not until the great German offensive of March 21,1918 broke through the Allied lines that some mobility was restored to the battles.