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March-April, 1951
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They've All Heard About Schreiber!
by A.J. Esling
A diesel-powered freight
train rumbles over Middleton Bridge near Schreiber. The rugged scenery is typical of the Schreiber division which
was built through rock, streams, bush, and muskeg. All freight service on the 511 mile division is now
dieselized.
It is doubtful if there is anyone on the CPR who has not some knowledge of
Schreiber and the division that bears its name.
Travellers remember the division for its scenery, especially the Jackfish Curve, and the lake trout served aboard
diners through the territory in the fishing season. Industrialists know the territory for its recent pulp and paper
expansion as exemplified at Marathon and Terrace Bay. People snug in their homes in Canada's more comfortable climes
have read with awe of temperature at White River plunging down to 50 degrees below zero with remarkable frequency.
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Superintendent T.E.
Wheeler, who took over the division in 1948, started his railroading career in
1914.
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The division is 511 miles in length, built through rock, streams, bush, and muskeg. It stretches from Cartier in
the east to Current River in the west, near Fort William ( now Thunder Bay ). Though hardly considered mountainous
country, the division has six tunnels totalling approximately 1,200 feet, and has more than its share of curves and
grades to limit the tonnage of freight trains and generally make operating difficult.
Riding in a passenger train, travellers are struck by the rugged beauty and loneliness of the country. Dotted with
lakes and streams to the north, bounded on the south by cold-looking Lake Superior the view both
attracts and repels the spectator.
Schreiber, headquarters of the division, appears typical of any railroad divisional point, interesting for its
railroad activity but otherwise dull. Wags have quoted a mythical rule that anyone caught in a Schreiber night club
after 9:00 p.m. would be instantly dismissed from service. Despite such jibes and first impressions Schreiber offers
a well-rounded variety of off duty pastimes.
Schreiber's statistics also tend to conceal its attractions. The town boasts only about 1,600 souls and householders
number 350. There are no manufacturing industries, 12 stores, 2 hotels, a railway YMCA, and a municipal building.
The railway plant is typical of a busy divisional point, a 20-stall engine house, 90-foot
turntable, 420-ton capacity ice house, and a yard capacity of 370 cars. Much of the plant is in the
process of change to take care of the recent diesel program which now leaves only the passenger trains hauled by
steam power and even then some of the helper service over difficult grades is supplied by diesel.
This Spanner article is
copyright 1951 by the Canadian Pacific Railway and is reprinted here with
their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway
Company.
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