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 ~ ~ Memories of the trains

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These are a few memories that my two sisters and I have of the trains.

Our parents, Kathy and George Halksworth ran the store and post office in Grindrod so our lives revolved around the arrival and departure of the CPR train. Every morning at 11 and every evening at 7 the train had to be met.

There were times during the winter that the train was late. The station had a small waiting room with an old stove, a bench and no lights, so the mail carrier spent many long hours waiting for the evening train in the dark.

The carriers included most of the members of our family starting with our grandfather, John Monk, our uncle Bill, his wife Nora, our dad George, and mother Kathy and my two sisters, Joan and Betty (I wasn't allowed). The only non-member of the family was William Folkard, a Boer War veteran.

The most important part of the mail was the locked mail bag which contained first class and registered mail. Betty remembers one morning when Dad discovered he had left the bag back at the post office, just as the train appeared in the distance. He dumped Betty very unceremoniously into the truck and drove like mad to get the bag. He dumped Betty out of the truck again, grabbed the bag and headed for Enderby as the train had already pulled out. Somehow he managed to beat the train to Enderby and handed the bag to the mailman. At that time the road wasn't paved and was washboard all the way, so this was quite a feat.

The station was the gathering place for all the young people. We never seemed to tire of watching the old engine come puffing into the station. There was usually a baggage car, the mail car, a couple of passenger cars and a freight car. Tuesday was pig and cattle day, so there were cars loaded with pigs and cows. You could not only see the train coming you could smell it too. About twice a year the CPR superintendent would come through so a special passenger car was put on for that occasion. It had an observation platform on the back. I can remember going to Sicamous to see the King and Queen. There were riding in a car like that and they were standing on the observation platform giving us the royal wave.

It was most interesting at night when we could look into the lighted cars and see who was on board. It was like looking into another world. Entertainment was very limited in Grindrod. Sometimes we would go to the station early and read all the graffiti on the station walls. We learned a few things our parents didn't appreciate.

Betty and I spent a lot of time playing on the box cars that were parked on the siding. We would have conversations through the brake hoses. When we got home we'd have dirt around our ears and mouths. Betty was a bit of a day dreamer and she and Isabel Lowes would spend hours sitting on top of the cars dreaming about all the wonderful things they were going to do in their lives and how they were going to travel, etc. They had a great view of Grindrod from that vantage point.

Joan remembers one day when Roy Tomkinson fell out of one of the box cars and landed on the ground between the car and the loading ramp. He lay on the ground, not moving and the group stood looking down at him when he could finally breath again , he sat up and declared, "I'm dead!" Perhaps they should have given him CPR!

We remember the troop trains. They had a different whistle. When we heard that whistle down by the river bend the cry would go up. "Troop Train"! and we'd all run to the station to wave to the soldiers. It made our day when they would lean out the windows and whistle and yell, "Hubba Hubba"! at us. Betty and I always hoped it was us they were whistling at, but I was only eight or nine and Betty was very shy and hid behind the station most times, so I guess it was out beautiful blond sister Joan they were whistling at.

One evening a bunch of young people were waiting for the evening train when we spotted two tiny children walking down the middle of the track and the train coming right behind them. Thank goodness Louise Hyam raced down the track and snatched them off just in time. The children's mother had been running towards the children too, so Louise handed them over to her and she promptly spanked the two of them. I suppose some psychologist today would declare that she had scarred them emotionally and physically for life, but I'm sure they never walked on the tracks again.

Another exciting event was when the passenger train derailed at the Grindrod station. Of course, all the passengers got off the train and wandered around Grindrod while a work train was sent to right the engine. It took quite awhile, so when they finally got on their way one group of ladies had wandered a bit too far and the train left without them. But Domonic Miletto came to their rescue and drove them to Enderby to catch the train. It must have been quite a ride because Domonic always drove with the windows down and his head stuck out the side window. He didn't seem to like looking through the windshield.

We remember a car being hit at the crossing. The engineer blew the whistle over and over again, a long mournful sound. It was the distress call. I'm not quite sure the purpose of it except anyone within earshot knew there was trouble on the line.

On one occasion we can remember the evening train being met by a grave group of people. When the train arrived a coffin was taken out of the baggage car and loaded onto a waiting truck. I believe it was one of the Mikalishen boys. It was a very sad event.

There were quite a few happier occasions when young, just married couples boarded the train to start out on their honeymoons. There was much merriment then. Our parents were one of those couples. Of course, we weren't there, but we have a news paper clipping stating that, "...after the wedding supper the bride and groom left for a short honeymoon to Vancouver....To the accompaniment of jubilant whistling by the passenger engine the couple were given a great send off by their friends and relatives as well as by the train crew on the mainline as Mr. Halksworth was an employee of the CPR. It is reported he is still shedding confetti."

That was Christmas day so, yes, we had to meet the train even on Christmas day. On the special day Grandmother always baked a batch of mince tarts for the train crew. They looked forward to them every year.

One of the very convenient things was that you could order a roast from the butchers in Enderby and it would be on the evening train. You could send a letter on the morning train to Vernon and receive a reply on the evening train.

All our supplies for the store were delivered to the station either by the passenger train or by freight train. In those days things could be left on the station and nothing was ever stolen.

Saturday night you could always expect the train crew to be very very merry on their way back to Sicamous. The town drunk always fell off that train and spent the night in the ditch.

Bill Bailey, who finally married our beautiful blond sister, remembers his brother Alan and he (in the winter time) grabbing onto the last car of the train and riding it as far as the crossing, then jumping off and sliding down the road on the ice.

We were very skilled at walking on the rails and putting pennies and nails on the tracks to be flattened. I was very surprised to learn from an engineer last summer that you can feel those pennies on the big diesels of today.

Sometimes if there was trouble on the mainline the trains would be sent up the valley line. They were never sure of the condition of the rails and track, so they would just creep along.

During the depression our Grandmother told us of the "hobos" who rode the rails. They were just poor fellows looking for work and were usually very hungry. When they came begging at the door, Grandmother would put them to work chopping wood while she cooked them a nourishing meal.

I can't remember the date when the first diesel came through, but I can remember my dad always sat at the dinner table with the newspaper propped up in front of him. On that day, when the first diesel blew its horn at the crossing, my dad dropped the paper and stood bolt upright. I can remember what he said, too. "What the hell is that"!

Lois Roberts
Enderby Museum 1998