24 February 2008
Proud of a Career in Stainless Steel
Railroading started for me in 1951, when I made my first working
trip out of Montreal's famous Windsor Station on the Canadian Pacific. A porter's job paid a good salary, gave job security if you
obeyed the rules, and had a pension plan. And a thing that most former porters will not tell you is how very well a porter could do by
giving good service to passengers, who usually tipped well.
Some porters may have complained about racist attitudes on the railways, but few bad encounters occurred on my many trips. The average
Canadian travellers in those days were good decent people who just wanted to enjoy the trip.
On 24 Apr 1955, I was assigned to the CPR's brand new Canadian on its first run across Canada. The Canadian had stainless
steel cars, and was the first train to operate dome cars in Canada. The interiors had modern luxuries and there were beautiful painted
Canadian scenes in the various cars.
Who were these men who stood so elegantly at the doors of these beautiful trains, in their clean white linen coats and shiny shoes,
with a welcoming smile that beamed from their dark faces? They were mostly from the Caribbean; some were born in Canada; many came from
the United States, trying to escape the tyranny of rampant racism.
A porter's job consisted of making up beds on his car, seeing to passengers' needs, and cleaning shoes that were left in a box. Men's
pants could be pressed in the club-car - where good tips were usually given.
Porters had to be very trustworthy; people left their valuables behind while they dined or sat in the club car. People might send their
sons and daughters to be looked after by a porter as they travelled until they arrived safely at the other end, to be picked up by
relatives. That's trust, I think.
The porter's uniform had to be clean and spotless at all times, and I remember bringing as many as six white shirts per trip, depending
on the distance. I recall people asking, "How can you guys dress so well all the time"? I had the opportunity to serve
provincial premiers, and some prime ministers. This included a trip with John Diefenbaker in 1957 - a two-week campaign
run across Canada. Diefenbaker and his wife would take afternoon tea in my car, and speak with reporters.
I met our great NHL hockey players of the 1950s and '60s, players like Maurice (Rocket) Richard. They were usually very tired after a
game, but I could get an autograph from any of them in the morning.
I have seen the National Film Board documentary The Road Taken, about my profession. As depicted, the black men suffered under
oppressive bosses and passengers, while in some sort of bondage to the railroads. Porters were portrayed as the lowest form of human
life.
This was not my experience. After the rail passenger business slipped I was able to stay in transportation, getting a good job at Air
Canada. Surprisingly I found more racial intolerance in this new industry.
I didn't see the men serving on the trains at the bottom of any pile. You met the odd bigot - you will in any situation. The legacy of
the African Canadian workers on the railways is a proud one. And I still believe a job on the railway is a plum.
A new edition of Gerald Archambeau's memoir, A Struggle to Walk with Dignity: The True Story of a
Jamaican-born Canadian, will be published in April by Blue Butterfly Books.
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