Volume 13    Number 8    15 June 1983

Writing E&N's Colourful History an Extension of Retiree's Career

Locomotive Engineer Don MacLachlan recently retired from the Esquimalt & Nanaimo Railway where he worked on a dayliner.

By Jane Mudry
 
Victoria - After a lifetime career as a railroader on Vancouver Island, 42 years to be exact, Locomotive Engineer Don MacLachlan has retired from running the Esquimalt & Nanaimo ( E&N ) dayliner.
 
But Don's immediate plans do not include sitting back and taking it easy. For the past several months he has been compiling a history of the E&N from its inauguration to its takeover by the Canadian Pacific Railway in 1905.
 
"I hope to have the book ready for publication by this summer", he says. "This is the first volume of a two volume set I plan; the second will cover the years from 1905 to the present".
 
"One thing most people don't realize about the E&N is that Sir John A. MacDonald drove the last spike at mile 25.0. That was in 1888", he said.
 
Earliest Memories
 
Don is eminently qualified to write a history of the line. His father was a 48-year veteran with the railway before his retirement in 1958. Don's brother, Alan, is the third locomotive engineer in the family and still drives the dayliner on the E&N; the three combined have to date 130 years service with the railway.
 
Don's earliest memories include the time when he was four years old and would stand waiting by the track for his father's train to com in ( the track ran right by the MacLachlan home ).
 
His father would stop the train, the brakeman would lift him into the engine and Don would complete the ride into the Victoria roundhouse.
 
Another unique childhood experience was the time when he was two years old and was in a derailment - that he slept right through. He was travelling in the caboose at the time; the caboose tipped over but Don didn't wake up. The locomotive engineer was his father.
 
Don's career began with CP Rail in 1941 as a fireman and he became locomotive engineer 15 years later. The E&N passenger run is a day-long trip from Victoria to Courtenay and back again over 9 1/2 hours.
 
"The trip is very popular with tourists and with Islanders. The tracks look different from one time of the year to the next with each season having its own particular beauty", he says.
 
The E&N's popularity with tourists is evidenced by comments found in the dayliner guest book, which contains remarks such as, "Engineer Don MacLachlan wields the train through a fantastic dimension... Our congratulations to a man who knows every tie on the railroad".
 
Don's familiarity with the line prompted him to write a booklet entitled "Trackside" which details for passengers the various points of interest outside their windows.
 
"I was asked all kinds of questions by tourists so I decided to write the guidebook. Typical questions are "How do you stay on the track?", "How much do you make?", and "How do you steer it?", he says".
 
"Trackside" begins with a bit of history about the E&N and continues with a mileage description such as:  "Every railway has to have at least one tunnel and we are now approaching at Mile 15.6 the only one on the Esquimalt & Nanaimo... as we come out of the tunnel on the right an excellent view may be had of the Island Highway and Saanich Inlet below".
 
"I've included a section on what each station name means. For example, Qualicum is an Indian word meaning "Where the dog salmon run", he says".
 
Island-Wide Party
 
The booklet is completed by a section on most asked questions such as "How long does it take to walk to the beach at Qualicum?".
 
When Don retired on 8 January 1983, it was a testament to his popularity that the entire run was a day-long, island-wide party.
 
An extra car was added to the train and 100 well-wishers and railway supporters, including Mayor Peter Pollen of Victoria, travelled the 280 return trip miles with Don. Others on the train were members of various railway historical associations and friends from as far away as San Gabriel, California.
 
The front of the dayliner was draped with a huge banner entitled, "1941 - 1983, Donny's last run". Over the entire trip, friends he had made over the years were at stations and whistle stops to wish him the best in his retirement.
 
That evening, a formal reception was held at the Empress Hotel that was attended by scores of railroad friends.
 
"Even though I've retired I intend to remain active in railroading", he says. Besides writing his books, Don is active in railway historical clubs and has a scale model train in his basement that has been fashioned to look as authentic as possible.