Volume 16    Number 16    10 December 1986

For Historian Lavallee Retirement Not in the Books

Omer Lavallee is not really one to sit around in his retirement but judging by his expression here, lounging in a sea of parlor car chairs at Angus Shops does have its good points. Mr. Lavallee is currently writing a history of the International of Maine to be published for the line's centennial next year.

by Michel Spenard
 
Trying to do justice to Omer Lavallee's 44-year career with Canadian Pacific in a single story is almost an impossible task. In fact, a book with several volumes might more adequately address Mr. Lavallee's long association with Canadian railroading.
 
Although officially retired, Mr. Lavallee's reputation and unlimited energy will mean his biography still has many chapters to come.
 
Recognized as one of Canada's foremost railway historians, Mr. Lavallee has authored five comprehensive books on rail transportation. He's also a special adviser to museums, historical societies, and government agencies. And, his special gift for public speaking has made him a much-sought-after guest speaker at numerous engagements across Canada and the United States.
 
But, Mr. Lavallee is probably best known throughout CP Rail as the company's penultimate historian and archivist.
 
Interestingly enough, Mr. Lavallee's career did not begin with the railway, but with Canadian Pacific Airlines, in 1942. However, later that year he left the airline and joined the Canadian Pacific Railway, carrying on a family railroading tradition that today totals nearly 140 years of service.
 
He served with the railway's finance department for nearly a quarter of a century, during which he criss-crossed Eastern Canada aboard a company pay car. He gained first-hand experience handling a wide range of financial services including banking, investment, and cash forecasting.
 
During his years on Pay Car 52, a wooden coach built in 1886, he travelled over the "International of Maine" section of the C.P.R. between Megantic, Quebec, and Mattawamkeag, Maine, handling a payroll that averaged about $65,000.
 
"Carrying that much money required that I be issued with a revolver, but I never was comfortable with it", he said in an interview with CP Rail News. "Thankfully I never had to use it. Some of my colleagues slept at night with their revolvers under their pillows. I never thought that was a good idea - what if the slack ran out of the train? I always locked up mine in the safe.
 
I worked on the pay car until that service ended on 6 July 1960. The C.P.R.'s pay car was the last car in this type of service in Canada or the United States".
 
Bygones
 

Prior to CP Bygones' first travelling sale in 1971, Omer Lavallee ( right ) shows then-Chairman of Canadian Pacific N.R. Crump a selection of the items that were to be disposed of by sale to collectors.

Six years later, Mr. Lavallee left the railway's financial world and joined the public relations department as an historical specialist. Mr. Lavallee's byline appeared frequently in Spanner, the forerunner of CP Rail News, above stories ranging from steam locomotives to the origin of the 24-hour clock. All the while, he served as the company's historical expert, clarifying facts for the railway's management and the general public.
 
During this time, he also honed his public speaking skills. He became a popular member of Canadian Pacific's speaker's bureau. His speaking style was - and still is - unique. Rarely using prepared notes, Mr. Lavallee's addresses were witty, off-the-cuff and informative. Audience reaction would determine which way his addresses would lead.
 
In 1970, Mr. Lavallee undertook a massive project. He was asked by then-chairman N.R. "Buck" Crump to determine if a British Rail project to dispose of used passenger service supplies could be applied to Canadian Pacific's huge inventory. Included were Canadian Pacific cutlery, dishes, blankets, lanterns, and a wide assortment of other articles from the C.P.R. and its varied interests including passenger train services, hotels, steamships, and telecommunications.
 
The result, CP Bygones, was a collectors' sales program, started in 1971.
 
In 1973, Corporate Archives was established as a sub-department of public relations and advertising.
 
The corporate archives mandate was to accumulate, catalogue, store, and research the millions of document, artifacts, artwork, and photographs generated by what for years had been known as the "World's Greatest Transportation System".
 
Also included were prototypical engines and cars used by the railway over the years. The community display trains, which have travelled back and forth across Canada since 1971, included some of this equipment as well as many of the railway's historical artifacts.
 
Mr. Lavallee was a natural choice to oversee the archives collection. His interest in such collections dates back to his childhood when he collected toy trains and railway memorabilia. So vast was his collection that he eventually had to expand his interests beyond North American railways.
 
Between 1945 and 1967, Mr. Lavallee was a principal participant in the founding of the Canadian Railway Museum at St. Constant, Quebec, where he worked to build up a large collection of North American and European motive power and rolling stock.
 
Given his encyclopedic knowledge of the railway industry and his sharp eye for accuracy, Mr. Lavallee often was called upon to act as a consultant on a number of motion picture and television productions - most notably the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's epic "The National Dream", based on the book by Pierre Burton.
 
"Working on that production brought to life a great many aspects of early railroading - things that had changed drastically in the years since the railway's construction", he said.
 
Perhaps Mr. Lavallee's crowning glory came during Canadian Pacific's centennial celebrations. In 1981, the company celebrated the 100th birthday founding of Canadian Pacific. Four years later, there was a huge celebration to mark the 100th anniversary of the driving of the Last Spike at Craigellachie, near Revelstoke, BC.
 
"In Revelstoke, during the November ( 1985 ) celebrations, I held a type of historians conclave or get-together where 85 of my colleagues, friends, and co-workers gathered for a fitting salute to the railway workers of 100 years ago. For railway historians, there is no more significant location in Canada than Craigellachie".
 
Mr. Lavallee is currently working on a history of his old pay car stomping grounds - the International of Maine Division. The book is to be published in time for the division's centennial in 1987. It will join Mr. Lavallee's other landmark volumes recording the history of the C.P.R. - "Van Horne's Road" and "Canadian Pacific Steam Locomotives".
 
"I've enjoyed my years with Canadian Pacific. The people I've met and worked with, and the people that have worked for me have made my 44 years something special - and I thank them".
 
Retired though he may be, Mr. Lavallee will continue to play an active and important role as one of Canada's most-respected railway historians. And, beginning next month, the wit and wisdom of the man known affectionately as "The Great One", will grace the pages of CP Rail News in a new column titled "Lavallee".

From:  George Wm. Roth - georoth@golden.net
To:  slim@pacificcoast.net
Subject:  Future book
Date:  Monday, 10 September 2001 07:05
 
This International of Maine was an intention only before Omer's death. As Omer was part of a group of authors who published under "Railfair Publications", dispute of the ownership of this manuscript arose. The Lavallee family wanted it returned to their possession, where it resides today. The request led to the dissolution of the partnership with only David Henderson now having publishing rights to previously published titles. It was not pretty. At times, discussion about publishing the history of the "International of Maine" has transpired with the Bytown group in Ottawa and the Lavallee family. But nothing has been finalized. Omer's manuscript was not complete at the time of his death. Hope that answers your questions.