Vol. 12 Number 2 Feb 3, 1982

What Say you: John Cooper, of public relations' distribution department, jokingly confers with the statue of his great, great uncle, Lord Mount Stephen, about a newspaper story on the economy. George Stephen was the first president of the company. Mr. Cooper has retired after 41 years service - Bob Kennell.

MONTREAL - If Lord Mount Stephen were still president of Canadian Pacific, he would summon John Cooper to his executive suite for a chat.

Together they would smoke cigars, down a celebration drink or two, and discuss company and family matters.

For after all, Lord Mount Stephen, first president of the railway, is Mr. Cooper's great great uncle on his mother's side. And Mr. Cooper, who has been with the company for 41 years, retired last month at the age of 60.

NEVER MET HIM

Mind you, Mr. Cooper, who worked in the public relations department's distribution centre, never met Lord Mount Stephen. He died in 1921, the year before Mr. Cooper was born.

"My mother's grandmother and Lord Mount Stephen were brother and sister, and my mother used to sit on his knee," says Mr. Cooper, adding that the great railway financier used to live on Dorchester near Stanley, not too far from Windsor Station, before moving to what is now the Mount Stephen Club on Drummond.

The old Dorchester mansion has been demolished, but the great man has not been forgotten by his heirs. Mr. Cooper notes that he and many other descendants still collect financial benefits from Lord Mount Stephen's estate, as will their children in the future.

OTHER PERSONAGES

The Alberta government is mulling over the idea of a highspeed "super train" to whisk passengers between Calgary and Edmonton. A 60 foot wide median along Highway 2 between Red Deer and Edmonton beckons to be used as a natural right-of-way, says the Alberta Report magazine, adding that the tracks could run adjacent to the highway the rest of the way. The train service, should preliminary studies bear fruit, could be patterned after France's new TGV "Train a Grande Vitesse" which made its debut last year. Advocates of the Alberta project would like to see the 178 mile train trip along the Calgary-Edmonton Corridor completed in 90 minutes, the time it now takes to travel the distance by air. The TGV, the pride and joy of French National Railroad, travels the 260 miles from Paris to Lyon in a shade under two hours, surpassing Japan's famed, 130 mph Shinkansen super express, for a long time the world record holder.

Once upon a time: There was a story of the young assistant superintendent who approached an old locomotive engineer oiling up his locomotive outside the roundhouse, using the light of a flare to illuminate his task. The young man said, "My good man, do you realize that those flares cost this railroad $1.35 each?" The oldster paused, cast a good look at the blazing fusee and replied, "Yep, I guess they would... Well worth it too."

While Mr. Cooper never had the opportunity of rubbing shoulders with Lord Mount Stephen, he has met a number of other formidable personages in the public relations department, or what used to be called the general publicity department.

Joining the company during the period when Sir Edward Beatty was chairman and D.C. Coleman was president, Mr. Cooper worked for Dr. John Murray Gibbon, the general publicity agent, and an accomplished author, composer, folklore enthusiast, and nature lover

"Mr. Gibbon had a buzzer on his desk, and if he buzzed once, he wanted his secretary, and if he buzzed twice, he wanted an office boy," Mr. Cooper recalls.

"He buzzed me one day and I came in. Mr. Gibbon kept working and mumbled, then pointed to his inkwell. He wanted it filled. That was the first time I saw him."

Mr. Cooper left the department to join the Royal Canadian Air Force in 1942, and when he came back in 1946 J.H. Campbell was the manager. J.E. March was the next manager, then general managers D.B. Wallace, I.B. Scott, and Robert Rice.

During the last four decades the public relations operation changed considerably as it undertook a wide variety of projects, Mr. Cooper recalls.

Some landmark activities include the establishment of a motion picture bureau, the transfer of the company's exhibition unit to public relations, and organization of the centennial Family Days.

CLOSE LINKS

During his career, Mr. Cooper has managed to establish close links with the company in his personal life. He recalls meeting his future wife in the coffee shop near the old Alouette Room in Windsor Station. She worked in the car accounting department.

Married in 1949, the Coopers have three children, two girls and a boy. One of the girls is married and teaches in Powell River, B.C. Their youngest daughter lives at home and their son recently moved to Powell River.

When he retires, Mr. Cooper plans to move west, to the Okanagan region. He is looking for a place with a few fruit trees to keep him busy.

"I have enjoyed working with Canadian Pacific," says Mr. Cooper, who may well be the only descendant of Lord Mount Stephen working for the company. At one time, there was another descendant working for the sleeping car department, he recalls. It seems quite clear that Mr. Cooper has been through the years "a company man", in a praiseworthy sense. Certainly, Lord Mount Stephen would have approved of the way Mr. Cooper has kept up the company and family traditions.

This CP Rail News article is copyright 1982 by Canadian Pacific Railway Limited and is reprinted here with their permission. All photographs, logos, and trademarks are the property of the Canadian Pacific Railway Company.