CP Employee Pass from 1942

I purchased this Canadian Pacific Railway Lines employee pass recently from an online auction site. It was issued to an F.A. Nason, Signal Helper, and expired on December 31, 1942. It was signed by W.E. Merchant.

Employee passes were a perk of working for railways. Generally they gave free passage to the employees on any train, and often included their families.

This particular pass also allowed riding on freight trains (see the red stamped lettering) and included the use of CP’s extensive telegram system to send free messages “pertaining to Company’s business only”.

It specifically excluded riding on four trains – 6, 15, 355 and 356. If you know me at all, you know I could not resist looking up those trains. Here they are:

• Train 6: Quebec City to New York (Quebec Central / CP / B&M / New Haven)
• Train 15: Pooled CN-CP train between Montreal and Toronto (“The Canadian”)
• Trains 355, 356: Pooled CN-CP trains between Montreal and Quebec City

I think these restrictions were to keep the employees from riding free on the busiest trains. Other trains were available over these routes.

This pass says “Between Stations New Brunswick District” so perhaps this restricted Mr. Nason to that area only.

I wonder if F. A. Nason was related to David Nason, author of Railways of New Brunswick. Nason is a pretty common last name in New Brunswick.

Passes were often given to executives of other railways. Witness this 1886 pass from the New Brunswick Railway to a W. C. Van Horne, President of the Canadian Pacific Railway. Yes, that Van Horne. The CPR was expanding east and no doubt the New Brunswick Railway was courting the CPR. image from my collection; I do not own the original pass.

With railways no longer providing their own passenger service, most railway passes in North America are a thing of the past. However, some retirees can still enjoy discounted or free passage on Amtrak! This BNSF retiree page indicates that older retirees can ride free on Amtrak trains on BNSF property, and get up to a 50% discount on fares on other Amtrak trains. VIA Rail retirees do get a pass.

Passes outside North America still exist. For example, Indian Railway employees are entitled to 1, 2 or 3 complimentary passes per year.

An Update!

I purchased three more passes:

• 1935, Mr. F.A. Nason, Signal Helper – McAdam, NB – not good on Pool Trains 15 and 6
• 1941, Mr. F.A. Nason, Signal Helper – New Brunswick District – Not good on trains 6 and 15
• 1943, Mr. F.A.Nason Jr., Student Operator-Fredericton Jct – Fredericton Jct & Welsford & Harvey – Not good on trains 6, 15, 355 and 356

Maybe Mr. F.A.Nason Jr. was the “senior’s” son?

Just One More Thing

I just finished reading The Rose Code by Kate Quinn. This is a novel about three women working at Bletchley Park during World War 2. The women are loosely based on actual women who worked there, as are other characters, and some of the characters were real people, like Prince Philip, Dilly Knox and Alan Turing. I really enjoyed it.

Amazon links are affiliate links, meaning I earn a small commission on anything you purchase using my link, at no cost to you.

Although it is a work of fiction, there’s enough real events and details throughout the book to satisfy a WW2 nerd like me. I was nodding along when they talked about Convoy PQ17 (I wrote an essay about that in grade 7) and the bombe machine.

If you enjoy a good thriller – with some romantic elements – and are a WW2 geek, then you might like this book! Buy it on Amazon