The life of a train engineer
Train conductors always have a few good stories to tell, especially those who work on the Northern Quebec line, which goes up to Jonquière: «It's a cowboy train», says, with a straight face, Jean-Pierre Beaudoin, an engineer with more than thirty years of experience behind him. Like a seaman, Jean-Pierre sports many tattoos on his arms, «remnants of my youth» explains the man who has travelled thousands of kilometers during his life, between Vancouver and Halifax.
«When you come from the Toronto to Montreal line, the Northern Quebec line seems like hell on earth! There are curves everywhere and you're in the middle of the forest. It's really a railway for hunters and fishermen.»
Comfortably seated in the passenger car, I've often told myself that the work of a train engineer must be rather easy: after all, once the engine's started, the train has no choice but to follow the rails! But since VIA has invited us to see the inside of the engine room, I've changed my mind: while they're driving, train conductors on the Northern Quebec line don't have time to think about their sweethearts waiting for them at the station, I assure you!
Pulled by a 1500 horsepower diesel motor,which runs a powerful 3000 horsepower generator, passenger trains riding the Northern Quebec line can travel at speeds of 75 miles per hour. Huddled in their small cabin at the top of the locomotive, engineers, who always work in pairs, must handle, among other things, an acceleration lever and a braking system for both the front and rear wagons.
«Trains don't drive themselves!», says Jean-Pierre. For example, when you turn, you have to brake a little in the rear of the train so that there will be more space between the cars. It's that tension between the wagons that keeps the train stable during the turn.»
As we step off the train, still dizzy from our adventure at the "stern" of the train, we asked the VIA representatives if we could repeat the experience. After a long day of hiking and an all-terrain vehicule expedition, our wish was granted as we climbed aboard another train riding the same Northern Quebec line.
«Driving a passenger train is live driving a sports car!», says Campbell Graeer, who has spent twenty-five years "behind the wheel" of a locomotive. «On the other hand, conducting a cargo train feels the same as driving a truck.»
Throughout the trip, engineers must also follow numerous instructions about drive orders and rights of passage: «We keep constant radio contact, explains Campbell Graeer. There sometimes are changes in the switching, and controlers can be found all along the railway to guide the train.»
In the engineer's cabin, messages are always coming in on the radio:
-Yellow flag, going to 40 miles per hour, says the pilot.
-Yes sir, answer the controler.
During the trip, we had time to look at the scenery rushing by: a flock of birds taking off just before they are crushed by the advancing wheels, cows crossing slowly a little further along the way, forests as far as the eye can see.
«A few years ago, on this line, I saw about forty deers jumping around near the tracks, says an enthusiastic Campbell. I had never seen that before!»
I ask him: «So, you don't have time to think about your girlfriends, but you do have time to watch the scenery?.»
«Watching the scenery is part of the pleasure of conducting a train, explains Campbell. Look, the leaves are starting to change,» he says, in a slightly melancholic tone of voice, as he points to the forest, where the foliage bears the first signs of fall, which always arrives a little earlier in Northern Quebec.
