Canada is a country built on rail. Canadian railways’ wheels are always turning – moving people, goods, and Canada’s economy forward.
The Railway Association of Canada recognizes significant contributions to Canada’s strong and vibrant rail network with its annual inductions into the Canadian Railway Hall of Fame. Inductees for 2019 are:
- The Hamel Family in the Rail Heroes Four generations of Hamels have contributed a total of 570 years of cumulative service to the Grand Trunk, CN, CP, and Ontario Northland railways. Third-generationer J.G. Hamel is credited with saving the lives of 150 people aboard a disabled passenger train by alerting an oncoming freight train. Three of his brethren – James, Steve, and Perry Hamel – continue to serve Canadians today as CN employees.
- Toronto Terminals Railway (TTR) in the Industry Trailblazer The TTR has been moving people and freight in and out of Canada’s largest city for more than a century. It was the TTR that build, maintained, and developed Union Station, and the TTR still manages the movement of more than 700 trains per day out of that busy hub. In recent years, the TTR has diversified to provide signaling operations at container terminals in B.C.’s Lower Mainland.
- The P-811 Track Renewal Machine in the Technological Innovation Developed in the 1970s in response to increased rail traffic and heavier loads, the P-811 allowed CN to more efficiently replace large numbers of wooden rail ties with concrete ones on curved sections of track. The P-811, in fact, made it possible to do five replacement steps at once meaning operators could produce two miles of renewed track in an eight-hour shift. This cutting-edge machine transformed CN’s long-haul track into the most technological advanced track in North America.
“This year’s inductees speak to the people and technology that power Canadian rail,” says Janet Greene, chair of the Canadian Hall of Fame and Director, Outreach and Education, Railway Association of Canada. “The Hall of Fame pays tribute to those who’ve developed Canada’s railways into some of the world’s most formidable economic engines – ones that play critical roles in Canadians’ daily lives.”
