Cochrane Alberta - The railway was central to the development of communities throughout western Canada, and Cochrane was no exception.
 
Stu Bradley has fond memories of coming to Cochrane as a kid in the 1950s, standing on the tracks of the Canadian Pacific Railway (CP) platform as trains thundered through.
 
"I started tagging along with my dad all during the summer holidays because he was district manager of the power company, and one of the thrills was going right from the old hotel right across from the station, and standing on the platform when the steam engine came through this town," he recalled.
 
"When you're on that platform, those engines were so big and so powerful, when it came through, it used to rattle the platform. That was amazing, you'd think, Wow!"
 
Sometimes the trains would stop for passengers, but often they'd carry on right on through to Glenbow, or elsewhere, perhaps with a load of grain or cattle.
 
"And part of the thrill as a kid was, lots of times, it came right straight through, and they used to use a wooden hoop," Bradley added, the hoop being used to send instructions to the train crew on what to do further up the line.
 
"They'd hold it up there and the fireman would have to hold out his arm and pick up the hoop, grab the orders, and then throw the hoop back to the ground. It always used to intrigue me how he (operator/agent) did that, stand that close when that train came blowing right through."
 
The hoop was bamboo, Bradley said, which meant it was durable.

Bamboo... well maybe... has anyone seen a CP bamboo order hoop?

"The station master here would have the orders they needed and tuck it onto that thing, and he'd stand on the platform when it came through, and the engineer would hold his hand out and as it roared through, the engineer would have to pick up the pole because it had a hoop on the end. They'd grab the orders, and then you'd throw the damn thing back, and of course the train would keep going right on through until it had to stop further up the line, because another train was coming the other way."
 
"I'll never forget the excitement of just being right out there on that platform, and that train came through. The weight and everything else used to rattle every damn thing, it was a thrill."
 
Patrick Gibson.