Intercolonial Railway 1877 An Early Railway Rulebook

When the country of Canada was 10 years old, this book of Government Statutes and Orders in Council was printed. In it, one can find a fairly complete and detailed description of how early Canadian railway operations were standardized - at least for this well-engineered, well-built and expensive railway which was owned by the Government of Canada.

Comparing, as we like to do with the Americans, the effort to develop national 'best practices' for American railroad operating rules began when the Uniform Train Rules and Rules for the Movement of Trains by Telegraphic Orders was approved as the first authorized 'Standard Code' by the General Time Convention of the United States in July 1889. 

The aptly named Intercolonial Railway was federal project designed to help meet the demands of some of British North America's maritime colonies - as a condition of them agreeing to join the Canadian confederation.

Above, is the title page of the ragged and dusty 300-page, 146 year old 'law book'.

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Below, is a 'more recent' reference from 1887 which maps out the Intercolonial and its operations.

from Travellers' Official Guide, December 1887.

from: Travellers' Official Guide, December 1887.

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This is the second time I have posted these rules to the internet because of their historical value. About 20 years ago, I typed them out in full using the Netscape HTML editor because free internet websites were very limited in their size. 

'Oh, it was the good old days of the internet! ...'

To be more illustrative, about eight copies of the Intercolonial map (above) would have used up all of my 'free' website room. And that's why I typed all the rules out. They are still 'out there' - stored somewhere beyond my control on a Google server. Google kindly sends me monthly reports on traffic and the top keyword searches which lead people to my old website.

... Span the world, you tiny, efficient HTML characters of the original Rolly Martin Country!

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The 1877 Intercolonial Railway rules begin below:

Note: The 'brakesmen' apply hand brakes.

Rule 33. Most equipment had no compressed air train lines (but Rule 175 indicates some did). At least one serious loss of life incident occurred in Canada (February 28, 1874 on a Great Western Railway train operating between London and Komoka) when a fire started in the wooden coaches and the cord failed to work ... and the engine crew was apparently not looking back regularly to observe their train.

Here is an earlier illustrated article on the development of this important technology:

Reaching the Headend - Air Signal Equipment

from: Summer Tours and Excursions on the Intercolonial Railway, 1894. from archive.org

Rule 119. You can see all the supplies and equipment needed to maintain, cool and repair defective 'plain' bearings. Also, 6 Links and 6 Pins ... the coupler knuckles of their day.

Rule 121. Telescoping of cars into wooden coaches in the event of an accident was a significant hazard ... as were overturned wood/coke/coal stoves and kerosene lighting appliances.  

Rule 122. In the event of a link coupler breaking while ascending a grade on a non-air-brake consist ... you can imagine that it would be important to have someone who was readily aware of the situation, with an operating handbrake at the 'headend' of the reversing, descending cut of runaway cars. 

from: Souvenir of the Intercolonial Railway, 1896. archive.org

The seemingly tiny locomotive can pull all of those coaches because most of them are probably wooden.

Rule 176. Tallow kettle. Before the availability of cheap, plentiful supplies of lubricants derived from petroleum ... animal fats were used on some locomotive bearings and valves, and they were kept in a semi-liquid state in a 'kettle' on the hot locomotive backhead. As the power of locomotives increased, having 'engineered' petroleum lubricants became a necessity.

Rule 217: At a road crossing at grade, cattle guards were wooden or metal, slats or grids placed along both sides of the public road. They would also have been used at some farm crossings. The 'unsure footing' created by the guards prevented the cattle from venturing into the sometimes attractive and lush vegetation growing along the ditches between the railway right-of-way fences. 

In the past, public roads and farm crossings were often used to move livestock over railways. 

On an established farm which was split by one of the new railways ... animals might be moved between pastures, or, animals might be brought in twice a day for milking ... across a farm crossing.

Before the development of motor vehicles which could transport livestock, animals going away to a market or to a slaughterhouse ... might be driven along public roads from the farm to a settlement with a railway stock car loading ramp. 

Rule 220: Probably derails.

Rule 227: More detail than you'd ever want to know about telegraph history, and railway telegraph technology and telegraph line troubleshooting, can be found by pressing the 'radio button' at the very top of this page for the Railway Technology & Systems 04 Index ... and then scrolling down to 'T'. 

Rule 228: Engine crews often tried to make as few water stops as possible. If water was not available where it was expected to be ... the engine might have to run light (i.e. running faster and consuming less water/steam) to the next water tank. In rare, extreme cases, the fire might have to be 'dropped' to avoid damage to the boiler or a boiler explosion - probably followed by 'paperwork' to account to the Superintendent for this deviation from efficient operations.

End of the Intercolonial Railway section of the book.

The Evolution of Rules 1, 2, 3 and Times

Traditionally, having the correct time out on the road meant that you would avoid a faceful of freight train.

Consider the march of technology. A local newspaper columnist once wrote about the traffic radar equipment being introduced in the City of Kingston. In the past, a speeder could reportedly beat a speeding ticket if it could be demonstrated in court that the police officer had not calibrated the radar set with the supplied tuning fork before beginning work that day.

'Forget it. They use this new radar to calibrate the tuning forks.'

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It seems that the railway rule books are usually a couple of decades out of date with cutting-edge reality. Historically, railways were often profitable and safe because of their tendency to be conservative. 

This online portion of the CROR (2015) currently (2021) states:

Every conductor, assistant conductor, locomotive engineer, pilot, foreman, snow plow foreman and such other employees as the company may direct, shall, when on duty, use a reliable watch that indicates hours, minutes and seconds and shall;

(i) be responsible to ensure that it is kept in proper working condition so that it does not reflect a variation of more than 30 seconds in a 24 hour period;

(ii) set it to reflect the correct time if it reflects a variation of more than 30 seconds;

(iii) before commencing work, compare the time on their watch with a railway approved time source. Where a railway approved time source is not accessible, obtain the correct time from the RTC or by comparing with another employee who has obtained the correct time. Every crew member assigned to train, transfer or yard service shall compare the time with one another as soon as possible after commencing work.

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While every employee is held individually responsible for always having the correct time, one wonders if the prescribed personal timepiece is actually the least reliable source of railway time within a fusee's throw of the locomotive - given all the GPSed electronic telemetric gadgetry therein.

By the same token, employees flagging the headend of a steam-powered train (with the fire therein always threatening to melt the steel around it), ironically, were required to have matches.

Obviously, when one is 'all alone' out in a snowstorm, one must know the correct time, or be able to light a kerosene flagging lantern without using the locomotive's resources. You are individually responsible. You and your crew will also be held collectively responsible. 

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I am interested in the concept of time(s). Like many of you, I also enjoy reading old rulebooks and timetables as they allow me to imagine other (probably idealized) periods in railway history. Very small settlements like Schreiber, Ontario once had prosperous watchmaker shops to supply, and to regularly inspect and regulate, the timepieces of all the local running trades personnel and other employees affected by the rules. 

... So what could be better than a 'history book' of the time rules which was designed to provide the 'bureaucratic memory' to the AAR and its members?

This little old book is about 4 inches x 6 inches x 1.6 inches thick and does not like to be scanned.

... pardon my gutters.

[above: not exceed 30 seconds per week - not merely 30 seconds in 24 hours cf 2015 CROR]

The 'current rules' (1940) and Page 20 (referred to above) follow ...

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Moving on from rule book time, to time(s) ...

One period of railway history which I find particularly interesting is the nightmare period before railways and railroads began to standardize their individual or collective times ... and before national time zones were established across continents. 

... Solar time was 'our city's time' or 'God's time' ... and it stood preeminent. If you had an actual appointment (rather than a simple 'walk-in and wait'), the city's chiming clock towers could guide your temporal journey to the public building or private office ... where you'd find the affluent professionals, their fancy clocks and watches, and their 'time is money' ethic. 

... Church bells and other calls to worship were also intended to regulate people's temporal journeys back then ... but I digress.

Consider the march of technology. Society required more and more people to be able to tell time from a 12-hour clock face. People became more educated and affluent. People travelled longer distances away from their homes via faster and faster railway networks. 

... People began to notice that their personal timepieces were matching neither the position of the sun, nor the carefully-kept local solar time at the settlements where they detrained ...

And don't even get Sandford Fleming started on railways using only a 12 hour clock!

Did you spot the 5 Canadian cities?

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To travel farther through the looking glass of North American railways during the era of local solar time, up trains, down trains, noon guns, and time balls ... perhaps try this earlier post ...

Canadian Railways - Public Timetables from 1874

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from: GWR Company Servants: Janet KL Russell; 1983; Wild Swan Publications.

Finally, on the Great Western Railway (UK), here is an undated view of a watchmaker within its little shop of horologists. With all the mechanical time-keeping machines located throughout the GWR's dense little railway system, it made sense to have a centralized staff of experts to repair and oversee their use.

1955 CPR Maintenance of Way, Rules & Instructions - Rail

In 1955, the Sperry Car is mentioned in this CPR booklet (see rule 432). 

Shimming, bracing and spiking diagrams are included within an interesting chart at the end of the booklet. The wide variety of track hardware depicted there also provides a glimpse back into the early light rail branch line era. 

Decades ago, using simple tools and muscle power, the section gangs ensured that the road remained open and safe throughout the year - regardless of the time of day or the weather conditions. 

Today's track and roadbed is homogenous by design and renewed by heavy specialized equipment to make it relatively 'maintenance free'. 

These rules show that 1950s track gangs worked with standard-length rails which were delivered on standard cars. An assortment of connecting hardware, spikes and anchoring hardware ensured that the rail stayed in place on its wooden ties in spite of the longitudinal, vertical and centrifugal forces of passing trains. If the trains didn't slide, hammer or spread all these bits and pieces out of place on their own ... there were also the forces of nature to contend with.

If you are interested in steel rails, an earlier, more elaborate CNR rulebook section with photos and diagrams of rail defects (probably pre-Sperry Rail Service in Canada) can be found here:

CNR 1939 Maintenance of Way, Rules & Instructions - Rail Failure Reports

The manual shown below spent a good deal of time on the job and in its owner's pocket. Over a period of years, a number of pre-gummed sections were affixed over regulations which had been revised (see Rule 422). I resisted any temptation to peel up these well-glued patches. This front-stapled booklet did not lend itself to complete flattening on the scanner glass, so the gutter is quite pronounced in most of the images. 

 

CNR 1939 Maintenance of Way, Rules & Instructions - Rail Failure Reports

Imagine the task of standardizing the maintenance of thousands of miles of individual bolted rails across Canada. That was just one of the goals of this book of rules and instructions. Standard new rails were 39 feet long in 1939, however the book also prescribed expansion gaps for older 33 foot rail. A couple of decades earlier, the CNR had inherited the lines, equipment and employees of many different railways.

In most cases in 1939, railway lines in Canada were maintained by section gangs whose sections (patrol areas) were numbered, beginning from Mile 0.0 of a subdivision. The section gang was supervised by a section foreman. Section foremen reported to the roadmaster. In this book, by rule, the section foreman was personally to travel over his section twice per week. 

It is reasonable to conclude that most transportation for section gangs during this era was provided by muscle power applied to a hand car. Rules are provided for motor cars, but gas-powered speeders were probably not common until after World War 2 - particularly on Canada's thousands of miles of secondary lines and branches.

The pages below first deal with the specific identification of rails (eg. recording which manufacturer, date, lot, etc) when defects were found. Obviously, one could not dump all the examples of a bad batch of rails on the roadmaster's desk, so he could send them to headquarters, so accounting could demand compensation. There had to be a reliable system on paper - particularly to allow headquarters to identify when many defects were developing in a particular batch, for the sake of safety.

The next group of pages is particularly interesting as it has many photographs showing what the various defects looked like. Back in the days when Canada's steel industry was populated by 'bounty hunters' (the nickname given to companies cashing in on generous government subsidies to promote domestic steel production) steel metallurgy was less sophisticated and all kinds of interesting defects occurred in rails. Early diagnostic pre-failure features and actual failure classifications are illustrated by photos and diagrams.

Unique to the period of steam locomotive operation is the extensive rail damage which could be done by poorly-balanced steam locomotive driving wheels (i.e. a shop maintenance error) or unauthorized over-speed operation of a given type. The safety risk to workers associated with unspiking this type of damaged rail is also interesting to consider.

... In the late 1950s, with the regular transport of dead steam locomotives, driving rods removed, in trains, to scrapping centres ... there were extensive cautions and restrictive speed limits published in employee timetables to govern these movements of locomotives with unbalanced driving wheels.

Back to 1939: If you were wondering ... Dr Elmer A Sperry had been contracting his company's unique rail defect detecting services to some American railroads for around a decade. However, there is no mention of rail defect detector cars in this book. 

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This particular book was addressed for pickup by either our father, or Eric, or me, as a gift from our photo finisher of long standing - 30 years ago. By the early 1990s, it was quite apparent to him that an old book from his former employer would be of interest to people who took such an awful lot of train photographs ... including photos of the markings on the sides of rails !

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