Doug Hamilton’s machine memories (Part Eight)

Fri 09 Aug 2019

Doug Hamilton’s machine memories (Part Eight)

“While still working in Canada I was sent over to one of the gravel pits outside of the city as a greaser for a few days, “Have you any problem with snakes I was asked, I don’t know was my reply, I should’ve left right then!”

“They weren’t poisonous, but we were in their migrating path and laying under a conveyor with thousands of snakes wasn’t any fun, in fact it was creepy, really creepy. In case you are wondering they were Red back garter snakes and I was really glad when that assignment was finished I can tell you!”

“I was then moved up to a job in Jenpeg where a large dam was being built. During my first day on the job in the dispatch office there was a fella calling out names, I know that fella I thought to myself, he kept looking over at me too so when everyone else had gone he approached me and said, did you used to work for Frenchy’s in the UK? you look familiar to me too l said, after a bit of pondering he said, yes I know now I was a foreman then and you drove a truck for Larry Webb, you were on loan to us, small world isn’t it!”

“Turned out the guy’s name was Iain Sutherland he was living in the marriage quarters with his wife and two children Scott and Aisling. Back in those days I smoked a pipe and so did he. Some time on I ran out of tobacco and there was nowhere to buy any, as I become more and more desperate I saw his pick-up truck with his tobacco on the dashboard, he wasn’t anywhere to be seen so I sneaked a bowl full out of his pouch, it was strong Condor ready rubbed so from then on, whenever I had a chance I would steal a bowl full until one day he caught me in the act!” “Having been rumbled Iain said to me” “My wife’s going to town in Thompson, can she buy you a month’s supply, then you can pay me back what you had taken from me‘’ “OK yes please make it Condor I’m getting to like it” I said, “On another day I had to meet him at the sites gravel pit when I got there he said “Can you run a loader“ “There can’t be much in it my friend Bill runs-one” I said jokingly, “Ok load this here and run it to the concrete plant but if you’re stopped by anyone I know nothing OK” “The machine was a Cat 988A, I never figured out why all those Cat men back home in the UK thought it was the cats whiskers”.

“Another time I was having a lazy day when Iain shouts” “Hey are you a team player?” “Yes why I replied” “we’re short of a bus driver, take that bus down to the spillway and pick up the last load of men take them to camp then come back OK“. “So off I went and sure enough there were about 40 men waiting for me, they all got on and off I went on the gravel road towards the camp". "About 5 km on some idiot was coming right at me, I held my ground but by then everyone on the bus was screaming their heads off, they were Portuguese and Russians so I had no idea what they were saying. When I got to the camp the gate a guard came over, by then everyone on the bus got off and it was only then that I saw the stop sign was on the other side of the road oops!”.

Pictured Above: Foreman Ian Sutherland in the white hard hat. “Another day he wanted me to take a semi-trailer to Thompson, but like a fool I said no. Had I known I would’ve had my class one license without having to take a test! Instead he put me on a boom truck to hoist up a man grinding the concrete in the spillway as shown in the photo that was a good job, but like any other good job they all come to an end eventually”.

“I left Jenpeg on a twin engined Otter plane heading back to Winnipeg, we weren’t flying for much more than a half hour and I had just started to nod off, when there was an almighty explosion! I woke up suddenly to find the engine on my left was on fire and blowing smoke! They quickly extinguished it and the co-pilot looked back at me, I’m sure he was laughing “don’t worry he said we have another engine” It was two hours before we got to Winnipeg and I was biting my nails and grinding my teeth all the way back!”. Lookout for more memories from Doug in a future edition of this series.

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