"With the co-operation of all concerned, we shall establish another record that could not come at a better time for the producers and the country at large."

That was just over a year ago, August, 1965, and the speaker was then-federal trade minister Mitchell Sharp. He was referring to requirements for grain shipping, in the wake of a further Russian order for 187,000,000 bushels of Canadian wheat only a week after a 27,000,000-bushel order had been placed.

In all, some 600,000,000 bushels of grain had to be moved to export points by 31 Jul 1966, plus about 150,000,000 bushels for domestic use.

" ...I appeal to everyone concerned for a maximum effort," said Mr. Sharp.

The minister got maximum effort, and a bit more.

Despite a shortage of diesel locomotives which forced the railways to lease some units from the United States, and in the face of some of the most severe winter weather on record, Canada's railways moved more than 800,000,000 bushels in the crop year 1 Aug 1965-31 Jul 1966, well above commitments made by them to the federal government when the Soviet orders were first announced.

The volume of the grain movement was an all-time record for Canadian Pacific which loaded 213,887 cars with 433,241,000 bushels. This represented 53.3 percent of the total grain moved and was 15,463 cars and 30,242,000 bushels over the previous 1963-64 record set by the CPR.

Problems facing the railways resulted in public criticism on several occasions that they were falling behind. Canadian Pacific, in particular, came under fire towards the middle of the crop year when weather and elevator unloading problems caused the railway to lag behind Canadian Wheat Board targets.

However, as difficulties were overcome, the pace picked up and Canadian Pacific went on to surpass its overall target. By the end of June it had moved about 20 percent more grain from Prairie points to the Pacific and Lake-head in the three months preceding than it did in the same period in record 1963-1964. And, all this was done in spite of a record volume of other traffic the railway was required to move in the same period.

Already, in 1966, overall Canadian freight car loadings have climbed some seven percent over last year, with some commodities such as fertilizers (including potash), agricultural implements, auto products, lumber, newsprint, paper, chemicals, and manufactured iron and steel products as much as 25 percent higher.

At one time Canadian Pacific had up to 52 diesels under lease from U.S. roads to keep the flow of grain moving. However, railroads in the U.S., with traffic problems of their own, had to take many of their diesels back before the end of the crop year.

One result of the diesel shortage was a decision by the Company to purchase 65 new locomotives. The move was made with an eye both to future export grain orders and the increases in other domestic and export movements.

An earlier critic of Canadian Pacific's 1965-1966 grain performance was among the first to commend it for its job. Federal Agriculture Minister J.J. Greene, who in January said Canadian Pacific had failed to discharge its commitments, in June told Winnipeg interviewers:

"I think it is only fair, as I said I would if they did the job, to commend them on the wonderful job they did from the first of April in moving the wheat."

A letter from the Canadian Wheat Board to the railway said that " ...the overall grain movement during the crop year was an extremely successful one," and expressed the Board's appreciation for the "excellent co-operation that we have received to make this grain movement possible."

In a message to all railway employees, Canadian Pacific's President, Ian D. Sinclair, said "this high standard of performance is a tribute to the men and women of Canadian Pacific. It is no exaggeration to say that a year of hard work, imagination, innovation, and devotion to duty by all was required to bring us through to success. For a job well done it is my privilege to thank you all."

Now, it is the beginning of a new crop year, and a new wheat agreement with the Soviet Union assures exports of just about all the wheat Canada can grow during the next three years at least.

For the railways, just ending a year of maximum effort, 1966-1967 shapes up as more of the same. Δ