Bob Dickson, one of our TRHA volunteers, unearthed a bit of the roundhouse’s past. Here is his story:

“While talking to a co-worker of mine about the roundhouse he mentioned that his grandfather, Rubin Kerr, had worked there. He also mentioned that he had a group photo that belonged to his grandfather of the CPR Roundhouse mechanical Staff in 1937 posed in front of a CPR steam engine. Mr. Kerr is no. 27 in the photograph, unfortunately eight of the names are unreadable.

The photo was a contact print taken from a glass negative, had been rolled up for a very long time and had many cracks in it. I took it to a professional photographer for an opinion and even though it was cracked, the photo itself was really clear and not beyond repair. It was flattened, secured to stiff cardboard and then scanned. After scanning the cracks were digitally removed and the names on the photo were enhanced. The photo was then reprinted on archival paper and a copy given back to the donor, Mr. Ted Terrion, who has generously presented the original to us to be displayed with a repaired copy in the roundhouse.”

TRHA thanks Bob for his fine detective work and for donating a copy of this very interesting photograph to the museum.

Below can be found a list of all of the discernable names in the above photograph:

H. Broadstock H. Tucker
T. Friend F. Olden
A. Goulden – Timekeeper P. Smith – Car Foreman
S. Taggart – Locomotive Foreman F. Pritchard – Assistant GM
W. Campbell – Boiler Foreman L. Crauks – Assistant Timekeeper
F. Mark – Storekeeper K. Reid – Assistant Storekeeper
J. McKeown T. Frew
J. Jeffries Illegible
J. Thompson H. Dutton
A. Gibson N. Jackson
D. Walker F. Haley
Illegible R. Shields
G. Smith – Locomotive Fireman’s Clerk R. Bennett
R. Kerr Illegible
W. Crotty G. Divro
C. Crocker T. Ide
E. Collins Illegible
W. Black R. Currie
J. Campbell W. Carson
T. Yunagawa Illegible
D. Clark W. Raven
H. Lane J. Laird
E. Clark Illegible
P. Rushton W. Jackson
J. Ashworth J. Paquette
W. Rally Illegible
B. Bynez E. Ross
L. Battisto W. Brown
W. McConnell R. Young
Illegible E. Dillon
R. Godwin H. Taragi
W. Hancox T. McAfee
R. McKinley K. Starr