Kevin McDonald, age 56, drives the train, and has been an engineersince the late 1950's. "My grandfather Jim McDonald came over here as a locomotive engineer from P.E.I., " says Kevin, "then my father Guy was an engineer on the Newfoundland Railway."

• Format: Still Image
• Language: English
• Subjects: The Railway in Newfoundland; McDonald; Kevin; Newfoundland; Newfoundland studies
• Online Access: http://collections.mun.ca/cdm/ref/collection/decksphotos/id/7297

New All aboard for Argentia. With his left hand, Kevin works the automatic brake and the engine brake. Slowing the train seems quite tricky, as Kevin uses the automatic brake to brake both cars and engine, then with his forearm he releases the engine brake at certain times. "When you're rounding a turn or going down over a hill," he explains, "you've got to keep 'er stretched out as much as possible." By that he means that the cars should not catch up to the engine, causing all the couplings to clang together. "It's not too bad on a short train like this one, " Kevin adds, "but on a long train you might have a toatl of half a car-length of slack which could give quite a snap to anyone in the caboose." In 1950, Kevin recalls there were 108 engineers and firemen in the Eastern Division. Today there are only nine engineers and seven engine service brakemen. "This Argentia line is not in good shape anymore," he says. "Our speed limit is 20 miles per hour, but years ago we could travel at 30 or 35 no problem.