Vol. 12 Number 4 March 17, 1982

The names of the different trade classifications covered by CP Rail's apprenticeship training program could raise a few questions in the mind of a prospective employee.

It has been decades since the railway used horses, yet the company still has blacksmiths. And what does a "carman" do anyways?

Here is a list of the seven crafts and a few of the responsibilities of the skilled people who occupy these positions:

• An electrician is responsible for general diesel locomotive, freight, and passenger car wiring, electrical wiring inside and outside of buildings, and overhead wiring. He also does motor field and armature rewinding.

• In addition to general machinist work in machine shops and on diesel locomotives, rail diesel cars, and mechanical refrigerator cars, the machinist also does oxy-acetylene and electrical welding and repairs and tests locomotive air brake equipment.

• A carman is responsible for maintaining, repairing, painting, upholstering, and inspection of all freight and passenger cars, including their air-brake equipment.

• A boilermaker is charged with the general inspection and repair of steam generators and associated equipment on diesel locomotives, hydrostatic testing of air reservoirs and the repair of damaged locomotive body structures.

• A pipefitter does all the pipe work on diesel locomotives, freight, and passenger car equipment including cutting, welding, brazing, bending and flanging of all piping. The pipes are part of the equipments' steam, water, fuel, and compressed air systems.

• A blacksmith manufactures metal pieces by punching, pressing, welding, forging, and cutting. He operates the forges, and in addition to heat and electrical welding, does such heat treatments to metal as annealing, tempering, and hardening.

• A sheetmetal worker, on the other hand, manufactures lighter metal objects, including tinware, fabricated by cutting, soldering, bending, forming, reaming, edging, and other general sheet metal processes. He is also responsible for the testing and repair of radiators.