Stuck in a rail car for days at a time with no hi-speed internet connection, no cell phones, no “Words With Friends” and certainly, no cable TV!! The cold snap continues!
Here’s what Clem had to say about Thursday, Januaary 9, 1913…one hundred years ago today:
Stayed in the 7 spot all day keeping on the fires. 28 below. Cullerne thought it to (sic) cold to work. Only left the car for our meals. It snowed just a little in the morning.
Nothing to do. We talked till 9.30 then all went to rest.
Keep in mind that when my grandfather, Clem Dickson, wrote this diary 100 years ago, he was working on the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific Railroad in northwest Canada, a bitterly cold and primal wilderness . He worked with the team that was responsible for construction westward from Winnipeg, Manitoba toward the team that began in Prince Rupert, British Columbia and worked eastward toward Winnipeg a total distance of about 1,500 miles.
[NOTE: I make no attempt to interpret what he wrote. What I’ll be posting every day this year is a simple transcription of each page of the diary as he wrote it.]
Here’s the entry:
Stayed in the 7 spot all day and kept on the fire all day. Weather was about 24 below and a cold wind blowing the same as day before and snow blowing. Wrote two letters in the afternoon one to J/A/ R. Bob Dickson Nan(?)
The sign reads: “SUMMIT of YELLOWHEAD PASS and WEST BOUNDARY of JASPER PARK ALTA.” Each corner has the name of the railroad, “GRAND TRUNK PACIFIC RAILWAY”. Clem Dickson, arms folded, stands just above the word “TRUNK” over the upper right hand corner.
The left side of the sign reads, “PRINCE RUPERT 498 MILES” and the right reads, “WINNIPEG 1045 MILES”. It looks as though the team heading west out of Winnipeg was making better time than the eastbound team out of Prince Rupert. That makes sense as the Prince Rupert team had a much more difficult job!
Here’s Clem’s diary entry for Tuesday,January 7, 1913
Left north yards at 930 for Story Plan (sic). Arrived at Stony Plain 11 oclock had dinner at the hotel. The weather a little colder. The wind was very high and cold. Snowed a little all day. Weather about 23 below. Cullerne went to town was in all day came out on the 1118 train.
