Order of Mount Robson

Mt-robsonIn 2014, the Canadian Northern Society introduced “The Order of Mount Robson.” In addition to the preservation of our heritage railway stations, there are several members of the Canadian Northern Society who have been active for many years in researching the corporate and operating history of our namesake railway—the Canadian Northern. Further, several of our members have family ties to the old Canadian Northern—something the society executive felt should be recognized. Thanks to the design work of Lorrie and Dean Tiegs, we now have a special way to honour those individuals with a special connection to the Canadian Northern Railway through our “Order of Mount Robson.” Mount Robson, of course, located some 50 miles west of Jasper on the original Canadian Northern Railway main line, is a fitting symbol in many ways for the order.

We are very pleased to announce the first two inductees in 2014 to the Order of Mount Robson. Founding member and railway historian Leslie S. Kozma. Les has spent years researching and documenting many facets of the history and operation of the Canadian Northern, as well as other CN predecessor lines. His research work has been featured in several books and publications and has been invaluable in our preservation efforts.

Harry R.J. Home, retired CN locomotive engineer from Jasper is our second inductee. Through Harry’s work in the preservation of ex-CN locomotive 6060 for the last 40 years, Harry has always maintained a special place in his heart for the Canadian Northern. Harry’s father, John Cameron (Jack) Home, was a locomotive engineer who hired out on the Canadian Northern in 1913—and we have honoured Harry for this special family connection, in addition to his love for the old road.

Our inductee for 2015 is Ronald M. Bailey, P. Eng.  Ron began his railway career as a surveyor under Major J.L. Charles – a veteran railway builder who was engaged in the construction of the Grand Trunk Pacific.  He retired in 1984 as Regional Chief Engineer on the CN’s Mountain Region.  During his career and since his retirement he has been active in documenting and writing about the history of the Canadian Northern.  Ron’s father, Mr. W.R. Bailey, was a locomotive engineer from Wakopa, Manitoba who started railroading on the Canadian Northern.

We are pleased to announce a 2018 inductee, Charles W. Bohi. Charles W. (“Chuck”) Bohi of White River Jct., Vermont, is a railway historian and author who has a definitive love for the Canadian prairies, its railways, and in particular the Canadian Northern and its depots. A latent interest in Western Canadian depots was awakened in the summer of 1969 when Chuck made the first of a series of trips to the Prairie Provinces. Since then Chuck and his lovely wife Lynn have travelled extensively in the West, photographing hundreds of depots, rail operations, and writing articles and books including the original and now classic Canadian National’s Western Depots, published in 1977. Together with our Vice President Leslie S. Kozma the pair wrote a second edition to the original volume plus a similar book on the Canadian Pacific. In total, across North America, Chuck has photographed over 3000 depots from coast to coast. His favourite depot design is the standard Canadian Northern Third Class station with its distinctive high pitched pyramid roof, an example being our Meeting Creek depot. Chuck is a charter member of our Society and has kindly provided permission for use of his depot photo collection for many of our efforts including the Chronicle.