JUNE 2005   

     At Canadian National Railways terminals, branchline stations and on the roads and highways, a fleet of blue and orange trucks established an increasing presence in the years following the Second World War. In this article, we will present a brief historical overview of the fascinating Express and Cartage Departments of the CNR.

       Over the first three quarters of a century of their history in this country, railways held a predominant position in the movement of people and goods. A vast transportation and communications empire was established on the heels of railway tracks spiked over thousands of miles of mainline and branchline. From Day One, the movement of passengers assumed a priority for the railways in terms of speed, train preference and scheduling. The two principal types of revenue trains—passenger and freight—and a hybrid known as a mixed train generally reflected different levels of service for the transportation of goods.

       Until the 1920s, the railways were not seriously challenged by any other mode of transportation for small shipments. But beginning with the advent of the modern highway system, the CNR gradually began to develop a fleet of road vehicles to operate in conjunction with the movement of package freight or express on their train schedules. Previously, from the 1800s onward, local freight contractors, first employing horses and drays, and later early motor trucks, handled the task of picking up and delivering packages and shipments which the railway had moved from point A to point B (often through a series of connections and transfers among different rail carriers).

            The granting of highway operating licenses is a complicated subject, but suffice is to say that for a number of years, the CNR did not hold authority to operate highway cartage services. Thus, the railway depended upon local contractors. In 1931, the Canadian National Transportation Limited was granted its first charter for a trucking operation. Throughout the Great Depression and the Second World War, gradually expanding highway operations were for the most part confined to larger terminals such as Montreal and Toronto, and lightly frequented branchline territory or remote areas. Following the war, the CNR accelerated its acquisition of express and freight highway trucks, amassing a greatly expanded fleet of vehicles for both local pickup and delivery, and for dedicated routes. Indeed, the Company boasted that their highway vehicles with their "courteous drivers are becoming almost as familiar as the milk or bread wagon."

       The backbone of the CNR package freight business at that time, and for a few decades hence, was a network of railway branchlines and mainlines, connecting with other common carriers. At major points, freight and express transfer platforms and terminals existed. The movement of merchandise by freight trains had been long established, and hundreds of freight sheds had been constructed wherever traffic had warranted them. At virtually every other location, small stations provided combination freight and passenger facilities.

       Of the two means of shipping small lots, less-than-carload-lot (l.c.l.) and express, the latter represented the more lucrative trade for the CNR. Throughout the 1950s, a vast expansion of railway express facilities took place. Many passenger stations received additions to accommodate express offices, while at other locations brand new buildings were constructed. Throughout the CNR system, station agents received a ten percent commission on express shipments, ensuring a vigorous effort by these local representatives to attract and hold package freight business. Meanwhile, the fleet of highway vehicles expanded to suit the growing demand.

       In addition to being granted its own permits, the CNR systematically absorbed the operating licenses of small local freight express and cartage companies. Dark blue express trucks and bright orange freight trucks were increasingly seen on the highways in the post war years. In some cases they merely provided local pickup and delivery service. In other cases, they ranged farther afield, serving wider areas in cooperation with airline package freight carriers or in support of hot freight train movements. In still wider expansion of their services, they fully replaced branchline passenger and freight trains in the movement of package freight and express, while still calling at the established railway freight houses, express depots, and combination stations.

       The vehicles purchased by the CNR were suited to the territory and volume of business. A wide variety of road trucks were operated by the railway over the years. In this article, we will present several typical examples which satisfied a variety of demands.

     A most diverse and unusual array of merchandise was shipped by CNR express, and to a lesser extent its freight department. In addition to the usual assortment of business, household and commercial packages, perishables were commonly hauled by express refrigerator car. Fruit trains in the Niagara Peninsula and crates of salmon from Northern Ontario were common. Express reefers loaded with cut-up chickens, heading for grocery stores, travelled on overnight mainline passenger trains. These trains were met by CNR express trucks, and the goods landed on the receiving docks of the stores within hours. Fresh cut roses were hustled to major terminals to be placed on passenger trains or aircraft. Black bears, baby chicks, kangaroos and sheep were transported in the dark blue trucks, all requiring special care in transportation, packaging and storing. Christmas time was always busy for express and freight shed staff, with extra workers and assistant agents hired to accommodate the traffic swell.

       A typical day for a driver, or "motorman", on a highway route (that is, one which had replaced or supplemented the services of local trains), began at a railway freight or express shed, which might have been a separate building or part of a passenger station. After loading his truck at the dock, with or without the help of an assistant or the station agent and freight hand trucks, and collecting all the necessary paperwork, the driver set out upon his morning calls. Freight had been loaded in such a manner as to facilitate the easiest handling along the route. The motorman followed a circular route, delivering packages upon the first leg of his journey, and picking up others from the same clients on the return loop. Along the way, he stayed in touch with his home terminal, who relayed any new information about pickups to him. At each station en route, he made a regular call in both directions, and exchange express or freight consignments and paperwork with the agent or shed staff. Upon returning to his home terminal, freight from the truck was unloaded and sorted for loading onto passenger (in the case of express shipments) or freight trains (for  l.c.l. shipments).

       The motormen employed by Canadian National were well trained and rigorously put to the test day in, day out. Often they participated in local driving competitions, staged in congested traffic areas rife with one-way streets, and usually win such contests. Not only were these men in charge of handling freight expediently and safely, they were also front line public relations staff for the railway. In the steam era, the CNR and other railways actively sought local business.

       Depending on the volume of freight or express, the motorman could be in charge of anything from a 1-1/2 ton Divco delivery truck to a tractor trailer, but typically sat behind the wheel of a stake-type truck of 3- to 10-ton capacity, with a tarpaulin over the truck body. Fargo (a Canadian product virtually identical to the American Dodge), Ford and International were typical models. Sometimes the run was overnight, as opposed to a conventional daylight assignment. In public timetables of the period, the CNR listed their express motor truck routes and schedules. In cases of unusually precious shipments (for example gold, money in bags, or prescription drugs), the local station agent grabbed the 38-calibre revolver from the safe and ride "shotgun" with the motorman!

       As with way freight and passenger services in the steam era, express or freight runs were typically "daily except Sunday", with Saturday being a light day, often half as long in duration. With the advent of the 40-hour (or five-day) work week in the early 1950s, the six-days-per-week schedule was maintained, through the use of a "swing shift". This simply meant that a worker put in a six-day week for five weeks, and on the sixth week a relief or "swing man" was employed. In many cases, the railway stations which were called upon by the express and freight vehicles were closed on the Saturday, but it was the responsibility of the agent/operator to make arrangements to meet the truck for its regular call. In some cases, the motorman let himself in, exchange parcels, and leave the paperwork in a box. In one known instance, arrangements were made for a driver to throw a few lumps of coal on the station stove, to maintain heat for crates of chicks awaiting pickup by local farmers!

       A typical length of run for a daily loop might be about 100 miles, with about 50 calls on each leg of the journey, including station stops. In urban areas such as Toronto, Montreal, Hamilton, Moncton and Winnipeg, dozens of trucks (both freight and express, but mostly the latter) served the neighbouring shippers. In larger cities, express highway trucks, bypassing the customary local passenger trains, often picked up hot shipments from outlying communities to be loaded on overnight time freight or passenger trains, or, increasingly through the 1950s, Trans-Canada Airlines flights (such vehicles working in cooperative service carried both the herald of CN Express and TCA Express Services).

       The CN Express vehicles were painted dark blue throughout the steam era. From their inception in 1931, a large tilted gold "Canadian National Express" wafer herald adorned the truck body, with a smaller matching herald under the cab. Below the body wafer were the words "Canadian National Express" in gold block lettering. Depending on the vehicle, "Canadian National Express" in gold lettering could also be seen across the front of the truck body, behind the cab. Underneath the cab herald in gold lettering was a three or four digit vehicle number, preceded by the letter "G". On August 18, 1953, the maple leaf herald was introduced on company trucks, replacing the wafer. From this time forward, all large lettering in the new scheme was in red against either a gold maple leaf or rectangular background, with the single word "Express" replacing the longer appellation under the herald. The numbering on the cab was maintained in gold. As previously mentioned, where cooperative services existed, the round TCA herald was painted alongside the CN Express herald on the dark blue trucks, both in the CNR wafer and maple leaf eras.

       The CN freight vehicles were orange in colour, with a tilted "Canadian National" wafer herald on the body and cab, similar to the express vehicles. At this point in our research, we are unable to determine the colour of the herald, but it is likely gold lettering on either a red or green background. Underneath the body wafer were the words "Transportation Ltd" or "Cartage Services", depending on the vehicle. The same type of numbering as the express vehicles was emblazoned under the cab herald. As with the express trucks, the maple leaf herald was introduced on the freight trucks in August of 1953, with the word "Freight" in block lettering under both the body and cab heralds replacing the former titles. Again, we are unclear at this point on the exact colours of the maple leaf, but we suspect it to be green. In addition to standard markings, freight vehicles often carried CNR advertising in the form of colourful posters occupying the better part of the rearmost panel on the sides of the truck body.

       The canvas tarpaulins for both classes of vehicle were lettered in black with a "Canadian National" wafer herald being flanked by either "Express" and "Services" or "Cartage" and "Services" in block lettering. It is to be noted that these tarps were often seen interchanged between the two different arms of road service vehicles.

       As evident in the photographs, there was a wide range of cab and body types for both the freight and express trucks. Indeed, it would be hard to prove that the CNR did not operate a given truck.

Ian Wilson
June 7, 2005

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