I write regarding the closure of the Newfoundland Railway Coastal Museum.
I was 17 when I first went to work for CN in 1965 as a train dispatcher’s clerk.
Train dispatchers at the time were still using Morse code to communicate with the stations along the line. I would receive messages from the dispatcher (the late Pat Dwyer comes to mind) and deliver them to the departments of the railway.
I also gave the “Steamer Report” each day to all the radio stations in St. John’s. These reports were vital for all the people living along the south coast. They went something like this: “Bar Haven storm-bound en route to Burgeo.” People on the coast depended heavily on coastal boats for goods and travel, especially around Christmas.
What was a summer job turned out to be 33 years with CN. I loved every bit of it. I never thought of it as just a job but a journey in history. I have read every book written about the railway.
During the close-out years, there were only four managers left working in the station building. As the human resources guy, I was asked to do the archiving. Afterward I turned it over to the provincial government. I recall sometimes sitting alone in the building, going through various documents. It was so quiet that you could hear a mouse running down the hall. I swear I could still hear old Pat Dwyer on the Morse key on the next floor. I say “Old Pat” because we had two Pat Dwyers — Young Pat and Old Pat. I loved every minute of my time in that building.
Recently, I joined a group of people protesting the closure and found myself standing near a gentleman. He told me that he hadn’t worked for the railway but was encouraged to join the others on account of his nine-year-old grandson. He said that his grandson, ever since he was two, always had his birthday parties in the station building. He said he’d known nothing about the railway, but by taking his grandson there he had learned so much.
The railway goes back over 100 years. The history of the old coastal boats and the Bullet are better told in that building than somewhere with no connection.
St. John’s city council should rethink this move.
People said the demise of the railway was due to the “narrow gauge” track. I suggest council is being “narrow minded” in this decision.
Mayor Danny Breen, let’s get back on track and find some way to keep this very important building open as a museum, so the sons and daughters of nine-year-olds, like that gentleman’s grandson, can visit many years down the road. I remind you that it is the Newfoundland Railway Coastal Museum and not the St. John’s Railway Coastal Museum.
G.J. Heffernan
Mount Pearl
